Welcome to PrayingAtHome.com, where you can find some worship resources for praying at home today or wherever you are.

We hope these readings, prayers, music and the short reflection will help you stay in touch with the Church and to sustain you on your journey through life.

If this is your first visit to this website, then you might like to read about the common elements and the suggested structure for each day’s prayer.

Please note that with effect from Monday 29 June 2020, we have reverted to the Track 1 “semi-continuous” Old Testament readings (this also affects the psalm); the New Testament and Gospel readings remain unchanged.

Opening to the Word

You can spend a few moments in silence,
focussing on your breathing
to become more mindful of the present moment
and to open yourself more fully
to God’s presence within you.

In the name of the living God,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Short reading

Answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God,
and that you have turned their hearts back [to you].

Exaudi me: ut discat populus iste quia tu es Dominus Deus,
et tu convertisti cor eorum iterum.

Réponds-moi, afin que ce peuple reconnaisse que c’est toi, Eternel, qui es Dieu,
et que c’est toi qui ramènes leur cœur vers toi!

1 Kings 18:37

The Liturgy of the Word *

Here are today’s Bible readings.
You can read just one, or all of them if you have time.

• 1 Kings 18:36-39
• Psalm 46 (47)
• 1 John 4:1-6  

Short Reflection

Anyone who has heard Felix Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah will recall our Old Testament passage today.

The false prophets (and, oh boy, are we hearing lots about these characters at this time!) have been challenged to make a burnt offering to Baal, their god, but without fire to set light to the offering.

Time after time, the false prophets fail and Elijah taunts them: “Perhaps he is asleep!”

Then Elijah, having prepared his offering and poured water into the trench to make the task even more difficult, turns in prayer to God.

It is a simple prayer: he calls on the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel (Jacob) to vindicate God’s servant so that the people may recognise the true God and that God has turned their hearts back to him.

Then we read that the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the offering, even the stones, the dust and the water in the trenches.

So no half measures here!

At last, the people recognise Elijah as the true prophet and turn on the false propets who have misled them.

John’s warning in the New Testament

John’s letter (in the New Testament reading) warns about false prophets. There will be many who will attempt to deceive us. However, he says,

By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.

Sometimes we might wonder about the wisdom of that statement when we see some of the TV evangelists and read about other scandals in the Church.

Unfortunately, the Church is not immune to scandal and wrong-doing, when some of its representatives put themselves first, forgetting that they are called to serve and bear witness to a world crying out to hear Good News.

Fortunately, there are true prophets in our time and we need to heed their warnings and re-turn our hearts to the living God.

Prayer Suggestions

We pray for people of faith,
that in their search for God they may encounter the God who gives us life.

We pray for people who are persecuted for their faith,
including Uyghur Muslims in China.

We pray for those who are seriously ill,
those who worry about them
and those who care for them.

We pray for people addicted to gambling
and those in recovery.

Six months after the discovery of SARS-CoV2,
we pray for so many people who grieve one they love who who has died,

for the people of Leicester, England,
back in lockdown following increased rates of infection;

for our politicians seeking to guide a path of safety for us,
and for scientists who try to advise them;

that we may all do our part to keep others safe from the virus;

for those who work in our countries’ National Health Services,
for essential workers,
those in care homes,
and all of us.

Music for reflection *

The Lord’s Prayer

We can say the Lord’s Prayer in any language or version we choose.
Here it is, in English, Latin and French.

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your Kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom,
the power and the glory are yours.
Now and for ever. Amen.

Pater noster, qui es in cælis;
sanctificatur nomen tuum:
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua,
sicut in cælo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie:
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris:
et ne nos inducas in tentationem:
sed libera nos a malo.

Quia tuum est regnum,
et potestas, et gloria, in saecula.
Amen.

Notre Père qui es aux cieux,
que ton nom soit sanctifié.
Que ton règne vienne.
Que ta volonté soit faite sur la terre comme au ciel.
Donne-nous aujourd’hui notre pain de ce jour.
Pardonne-nous nos offences
comme nous pardonnons aussi
à ceux qui nous ont offensés.
Et ne nous soumets pas à la tentation,
mais délivre-nous du mal.

Car c’est à toi qu’appartiennent le règne,
la puissance et la gloire
pour les siècles des siècles. Amen.

Concluding prayer

Lord Jesus,
you invite us to re-turn to you
and live our lives for others;
give us grace to listen to your voice
in the scriptures,
and in your body,
especially the little ones of your creation.
Amen.

Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Benedicamus Domino.
Deo gratias.

Thank you for joining us in praying at home today.
Oremus pro invicem.

* You can find more organ music from Holy Trinity Church, Stirling
on Alistair Warwick‘s website and on SoundCloud

There are several books by Brother Roger of the Taizé Community from many booksellers (Amazon link)

In these strange times, we are called to trust

Praying at Home Today: Acknowledgements

* Beginning with the week after Pentecost, the lectionary for weekdays is taken from the Vanderbilt Divinity Library. Currently, we’re following the semi-continuous readings (Track 1).

In that lectionary, the readings are in the following order: Old Testament reading, Psalm, New Testament reading; we have changed the order to the more usual OT, Psalm and NT.

English Bible texts are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Latin Bible texts are from Biblia Sacra Vulgata, and are in the Public Domain.

French Bible texts are from Version Segond 21 Copyright © 2007 Société Biblique de Genève by Société Biblique de Genève.

Images, unless otherwise stated, are from lockdown in Scotland, by Alistair Warwick.

Music engraved by The Art of Music.

Purchases made by clicking links on this website will cost you no more than buying directly from the supplier; we may receive a small commission, which helps with the costs of maintaining and running this website.

Praying at Home (part of The Art of Music) is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.

Liturgy | Lectionary