Morning Prayer: You Are Listened To | Ordinary Time, Proper 17

You are listened to. You are heard. Your voice is important to God. Let’s pray together with that in mind and heart. He is listening…

This is Ordinary Time, Proper 17, in the Church Calendar. 

Our general order comes from the Book of Common Prayer (1979) Daily Office and Scripture readings from the Revised Common Lectionary. We’ll sing “Always Amazing” written by me throughout today’s time of prayer. We’ll read Psalm 15 followed by the Gloria Patri. Our Lesson is Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23. We’ll say the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Collect of the Day. We’ll then have a time of prompted prayer.

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Photo by me in Chamblee, GA :).

Always Amazing
Ben Ward

Always amazing
Always glorious
Always awesome in power
Make Your ways known to us
Always forgiving
Always setting free
Offering new life
And faith to believe
I’m always praising
‘Cause You’re always amazing

Always amazing
Even when it hurts
When I don’t understand
When the blessing feels a curse
Always creating
Even when I don’t see
Offering me peace
When I’m bound and don’t feel free
You can always change me
You’re always amazing

I don’t have the words to describe You
I can only say what I see
The rhythm and the wonder of Your lightning and Your thunder
Go on and on
What came before
The here and now
Forevermore

Always amazing
How You never leave
How you lead me down the path
Where I can’t see
Always patient
When I complain
You must laugh at how 
I can’t seem to trust
Unless someone explains
How You always save me – when I’m lost
You’re always amazing

Prayer of Confession

Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Psalm 15

1 Lord, who may dwell in your tabernacle? *
who may abide upon your holy hill?

2 Whoever leads a blameless life and does what is right, *
who speaks the truth from his heart.

3 There is no guile upon his tongue;
he does no evil to his friend; *
he does not heap contempt upon his neighbor.

4 In his sight the wicked is rejected, * 
but he honors those who fear the Lord.

5 He has sworn to do no wrong *
and does not take back his word.

6 He does not give his money in hope of gain, *
nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.

7 Whoever does these things *
shall never be overthrown.

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 (NRSV)

Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’ You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

Collect of the Day
Proper 17, Rite Two

Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen. (2 Corinthians 13:14)