Praying at Home Today: Friday 11 December 2020
Praying at home today: Selah – Pause!
A warm welcome to PrayingAtHome.com, where you can find 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.
Everything is optional!
We follow the Track 2 “related” Old Testament reading and psalm (or equivalent response).
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
Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.Converte, Domine, captivitatem nostram,
sicut torrens in austro.Eternel, ramène nos déportés
comme tu ramènes les ruisseaux dans le Néguev!
Psalm 125 (126):4
The Liturgy of the Word *
Here are today’s Bible readings.
You can read just one, or all three if you have time.
One link to all three readings
Separate links to each reading
Short Reflection
Advent hope
Selah!
There’s a Hebrew word that occurs in the Bible, mainly in the psalms: that word is ‘Selah’.
This word, indicating a pause, is an opportunity to reflect, refresh, reboot.
When you have a non-functioning computer or program(me), you will know that the stock answer from IT Support is always “Have you turned it off and on again?”.
This turning off and on again, gives the computer an opportunity to reset itself, clear its previous instructions and have a fresh start.
There’s a parallel with the spiritual life too, although unlike a computer doing a cold reboot, the new covenant between God and God’s people doesn’t negate the previous one. God’s people are still God’s people.
So we need to be careful not to take metaphors too far!
Nevertheless, the idea of taking time to refresh and to realign our priorities is vital and life-giving.
And this is true not only for individuals but for human society and indeed for the planet.
The two disciples on the way to Emmaus, following the Easter event, were invited to “Selah”. Indeed they were inspired to say to their guest
Stay with us.
It is nearly evening
and the day is almost over.
Luke 24:28-29
In that pause, Jesus reveals himself, not through words but through an action: breaking the bread and blessing it.
They recognised him and this changed their lives.
On the shoot of Jesse, a winter rose is springing:
Jesus,
born of Mary,
born of her parents
(traditionally named as Anne and Joachim),
children of Abraham.
Maranatha
Come, Lord Jesus
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Music for reflection *
Prayer Suggestions
We pray at home today, bringing before God the needs of the world:
- for artists, writers and musicians
- for those who travel
whether voluntarily or by necessity
that they may find rest - for those readjusting to changed lockdown conditions
- for the Brexit negotiators.
(In Holy Trinity, Stirling, we invite you to pray today
for our Altar Servers: Brian, Mike & Suzanne
and for those who keep church buildings safe.)
For all who have asked for our prayers.
a moment of silence
Pray for us all
Amen.
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
Stir up our hearts, Lord,
to prepare the way of your only-begotten Son:
that, in his coming,
we might serve you with our hearts made pure;
through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end.
Amen.
Returning to the world
Maranatha!
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
Thank you for joining us in praying at home.
Oremus pro invicem.
In these strange times, we are called to trust
* 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.
You can buy The Complete Chronicles of Narnia at Bookshop.org
Other worship resources
Praying at Home Today: Acknowledgements
* The lectionary for weekdays in Ordinary Time is taken from the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, following the related readings (Track 2).
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 usually 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 usually 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.
Descriptions for the Advent art images can be found at the Art in the Christian Tradition image library, a service of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library. All of these images are available via Creative Commons 3.0 License.
Music engraved by The Art of Music.
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