Morning Prayer

Morning Prayer is wonderful for use in a private devotional setting, but we encourage you to gather with others as often as you can and enjoy this time of prayer in community. Morning Prayer may be started with a short time of worship in song. The pastor or leader should stand to read the opening sentence, while those gathered may be seated.

The pastor or leader will read aloud the opening sentence of Scripture

I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.” Psalm 122:1

The pastor or leader says

Let us humbly confess our sins to Almighty God.

This general Confession is said by all those gathered along with the pastor or leader

Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from Your ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the evil inclinations and desires of our own hearts. We have broken Your holy laws. We have left undone what we ought to have done, and we have done what we ought not to have done, and there is no wholeness in us. Lord, have mercy on us broken sinners. Spare those, O God, who confess their faults. Restore those who truly repent, as You have promised through Jesus Christ our Lord. And grant, merciful Father, for His sake, that we may live a godly, righteous and abundant life, to the praise of Your holy name. AMEN.

A short period of silence may be kept. Then the pastor or leader says

Merciful God, grant to Your faithful people pardon and peace; that we may be cleansed from all our sins and serve You with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.

All those gathered stand and everyone says the Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. AMEN.

The pastor or leader along with all those gathered, remain standing and say or sing

Open our lips, O Lord.
And our mouths shall declare Your praise. (2x)
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us. (2x)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Let us praise the Lord.

The Lord’s Name be praised.

Psalm 95 is said with all still standing

1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
3 For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
7 for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.  

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

All those gathered may be seated, the pastor or leader may sit or stand
The Psalm or Psalms of the day are said or sung. At the end of each Psalm is said

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Click here for the Psalms of the day

The chapter of Proverbs of the day is said. At the end of the chapter of Proverbs is said

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Click here for the chapter of Proverbs of the day

The First Reading from the Old Testament
The readings are introduced by saying, the _____ verse of the _____ chapter of the Book of ______. After the reading, the reader says, Here ends the first reading.

Click here for the First Reading

The following Hymn, Te Deum is said after the first reading

You are God: we praise You.
You are the Lord: we acclaim You;
You are the eternal Father,
All creation worships You.
To You all angels, all the powers of heaven,
Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
Heaven and earth are full of Your glory.
The glorious company of apostles praises You.
The noble fellowship of prophets praises You.
The white-robed army of martyrs praises You.
Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims You:
Father, of majesty unbounded,
Your true and only Son, worthy of all worship,
And the Holy spirit, advocate and guide.
You, Christ, are the king of glory,
Eternal Son of the Father.
When You became man to set us free
You did not disdain the virgin’s womb.
You overcame death,
And opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You are seated at God’s right hand in glory.
We believe that You will come, and be our judge.
Come then, Lord, sustain Your people,
Bought with the price of Your own blood,
And bring us with Your saints
To everlasting glory.

The Second Reading from the New Testament or Psalms
The readings are introduced by saying, the _____ verse of the _____ chapter of the Book of ______. After the reading, the reader says, Here ends the second reading.

Click here for the Second Reading

The Song of Zechariah (Luke 1:68-79), is said

68 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people.
69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David
70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us–
72 to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear
75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
79 to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

The Apostles’ Creed is said by all standing

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. * 
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 universal Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Prayers follow

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Let us pray.

Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy on us.

Our Father, in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. AMEN.

Lord show us Your mercy.

And grant us Your salvation.

Create in us clean hearts, O God.

And renew us by Your Holy Spirit.

Three Collects are said. The pastor or leader reads the Collect of the day which changes every week. The Collect for Peace and the Collect for Grace stay the same and are said by all those gathered

Click here for the Collect of the Day

The Second Collect, for Peace

O God, the author of peace and the lover of harmony, whom to know is eternal life and to serve is perfect freedom: defend us Your humble servants against all assaults of our enemies, that trusting in Your defense, we may not fear the power of any adversary; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.

The Third Collect, for Grace

O Lord our heavenly Father, Almighty and Eternal God, we praise You for bringing us safely to the beginning of this day: defend us with Your mighty power, and grant that we fall into no sin, nor run into any kind of danger, but govern and guide us at all times, so that we may do what is right in Your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.

This General Thanksgiving may be said by all those gathered along with the pastor or leader

Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we Your unworthy servants give You humble and hearty thanks for all Your goodness and loving kindness to us, and to all people. We bless You for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for Your boundless love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, for the means of grace, and the hope of glory. Give us, we pray, such a sense of all Your mercies that with truly thankful hearts we may declare Your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to Your service, by walking before You in holiness and righteousness all our days, and in living by trying to do the next right thing; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with You and the Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory, for ever and ever. AMEN.

The Jesus Moment Journal (click here for the Jesus Moment Journal).

The pastor or leader may include a time of spontaneous prayers here.

A Prayer of St. Chrysostom is said by all those gathered along with the pastor or leader

Almighty God, You have given us grace in our time of need to bring before You our common requests; and promise that when two or three are gathered together in Your name You will grant their requests; fulfill now, Lord, the desires and petitions of Your servants in ways that are most suitable for them; granting us in this world knowledge of Your truth, and in the world to come life everlasting. AMEN.

The Doxology may be sung by all those gathered along with the pastor or leader

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. AMEN.

The Grace is said by the pastor or leader

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. AMEN. 2 Corinthians 13:14.