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New every morning is your love, great God of light, and all day long you are working for good in the world. Stir up in us desire to serve you, to live peacefully with our neighbors and all your creation, and to devote each day to your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

"A Liturgy for Morning Prayer," Upper Room Worshipbook

Used by permission from the Book of Common Worship, © 2018 Westminster John Knox Press. All rights reserved. This prayer appears in “A Liturgy for Morning Prayer” in Upper Room Worshipbook.

 

Today’s Reflection

We can live in connection with the God who wants to give us grace, help, forgiveness, salvation. There is a human temptation to keep God at a distance. And yet, to be a Christian is to admit that we need a Savior; it is to say, “I cannot do this on my own.” Here is the good news: When we ask for help, we discover that God’s grace is present in our weakness and that this grace is sufficient.

—Kenneth H. Carter Jr., A Beginner’s Guide to Practicing Scriptural Imagination (Upper Room Books, 2019)

Today’s Question

How often do you try to live a spiritual life on your own power? Join the conversation.

Today’s Scripture

[Jesus said] I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.
—John 15:5 (NRSV)

Prayer for the Week

Give us grateful hearts, our Father, for all thy mercies, and make us mindful of the needs of others; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
From the Book of Common Prayer
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Something More

Based on the Revised Common Lectionary, The Upper Room Disciplines has been a trusted companion for personal prayer and study and an essential resource for pastors and Christian educators for nearly 65 years. Learn more here.

Lectionary Readings

(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)

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5 Comments

  • robert moeller Posted October 11, 2022 7:26 am

    An excellent question today, hopefully I don’t try to live a spiritual life on my own power. Able to read many posts this morning. Safe travel for Jill to Florida and a grand time celebrating your Dad’s birthday and playing golf, great to have a Believer tennis partner. Julie, perhaps the consignment boat seller knows people who could haul your boat, I like bookstore visits too. Have a good bookstore here and a super one in Portland ME. Just getting started with the coordinating pastor, have a ways to go before we know enough. Have to remember we are told not to judge. Prayers for Ally’s health. Glad you have seen great fall foliage even if you don’t have it where you are. Great that your church is staying UMC. How we missed all these years that God loves everyone, we are told to pray for enemies, and somehow want to leave out some people whose love is different from ours is hard to fathom. Humans make mistakes, we need God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Learning more than I ever knew about John Wesley, strange to call myself Methodist and know so little. This week is a quick prep week for another worship service. Can appreciate what pastors do on a regular basis. Thankful for help from UMC Discipleship – Worship. Prayers for America, We have a spectrum of issues that all started when the “New World” was found by people from another continent . We are making our way to resolving these issues, but it has been a tough road and more to be done. Prayerfully may we make progress as God would have us do. Thank You, Lord.

  • Julie Posted October 11, 2022 9:12 am

    I seek God’s help daily as I know how weak I am and that I cannot meet the challenges of each day alone.
    I continue to argue with h regarding his hoarding. He is trying to fill the basement again with things he does not need. He has so many boat parts that he bought in anticipation of needing them in the future. Well there is no future for him and the boat but he still tries to keep them.
    Prayers for Ally and David, may their health and finances improve. Prayers for Jill and her family and Lou and her family. Prayers for Robert as he prepares another message to deliver to his fellow congregants, may God speak through him and may his words be well received.

  • Jill Posted October 11, 2022 6:33 pm

    I trust the Spirit to guide me back to the right path, to not lean on my own understanding nor strength – when I am trying to do a solo thing.
    I met with my new spiritual director today – and I am very pleased with this person. I was able to kinda finish my story, from what I had shared in the first session. The groundwork is laid. I believe she will be a tool in His hands, guiding me to thoughts I should pursue, desires which are pure. I am looking for balance – and feel that I have shared deeply, authentically – and that now we can work together taking me deeper into relationship with my Heavenly Father.
    We had a brief staff meeting after school, and were addressed by our union rep. We are currently without a contract and the talks are going very poorly. We currently have a federal mediator hearing from both sides. A week from tomorrow there is a big meeting of my school and its feeder middle school and all the feeder elementary schools. Strike is not out of the realm of possibility.
    Father God – thank You for this space, for all the work Upper Room does connecting people to resources and to You, Father. Bless their work. Continue to grant Robert and Julie strength and wisdom in their situations. Also, the same for – Ally, Lou, April, Rick and others who frequent this spot. May You be honored in our lives.

  • Ally Posted October 11, 2022 11:18 pm

    I think trying to do it all myself is my default setting. I need constant reminders to give things to God. Zechariah 4:6 says, “not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord”. Help me a learn this, Lord.
    David starts outpatient PT tomorrow. I pray for progress and restoration of function. Burdens feel so heavy right now. There is a family wedding back home on the 29th. I want to go so I can my family, but David isn’t ready for travel for a number of reasons and I can’t leave him. I’m so sad and homesick. I feel David’s daughters should be helping us, but the oldest has a demanding job and the youngest is only interested in what she can get out of us. We have nothing to give right now, so….I’m so angry.

  • Ally Posted October 12, 2022 12:15 am

    Please forgive me for ending so abruptly and on a bad note. It was a rough day. Thanks so much to you all for your prayers for us.

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