Evening Prayer
The Second Week of Lent
March 10, 2022
Prelude
Opening
Behold, now is the acceptable time;
now is the day of salvation.
Turn us again, O God of our salvation,
that the light of your face may shine on us.
May your justice shine like the sun;
and may the poor be lifted up.
Confession and Forgiveness
In the name of God,who makes a way in the wilderness,walks with us,and guides us in our pilgrimage.
Amen.
Silence is kept for reflection
Holy One,
we confess that we have wandered far from you:
we have not trusted your promises,
we have ignored your prophets in our own day,
we have squandered our inheritance of grace,
we have failed to recognize you in our midst.
Have mercy on us!
Forgive us and turn us again to you.
Teach us to follow in your ways,
assure us again of your love,
and help us to love our neighbor.
Amen.
Beloved in Christ, the Word draws near to you,
and all who call out to God shall be saved.
In Jesus, God comes to you again and again
and gathers you under wings of love.
In Jesus’ name, your sins are forgiven.
God journeys with you and teaches you how to live in love.
Amen.
Psalms and Reading
Psalm 27
1The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
2When evildoers assail me
to devour my flesh —
my adversaries and foes —
they shall stumble and fall.
3Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war rise up against me,
yet I will be confident.
4One thing I asked of the LORD,
that will I seek after:
to live in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the LORD,
and to inquire in his temple.
5For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will set me high on a rock.
6Now my head is lifted up
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the LORD.
7Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud,
be gracious to me and answer me!
8"Come," my heart says, "seek his face!"
Your face, LORD, do I seek.
9Do not hide your face from me.
Do not turn your servant away in anger,
you who have been my help.
Do not cast me off, do not forsake me,
O God of my salvation!
10If my father and mother forsake me,
the LORD will take me up.
11Teach me your way, O LORD,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
12Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,
for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they are breathing out violence.
13I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
14Wait for the LORD;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the LORD!
Psalm 28
1To you, O LORD, I call;
my rock, do not refuse to hear me,
for if you are silent to me,
I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
2Hear the voice of my supplication,
as I cry to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
toward your most holy sanctuary.
3Do not drag me away with the wicked,
with those who are workers of evil,
who speak peace with their neighbors,
while mischief is in their hearts.
4Repay them according to their work,
and according to the evil of their deeds;
repay them according to the work of their hands;
render them their due reward.
5Because they do not regard the works of the LORD,
or the work of his hands,
he will break them down and build them up no more.
6Blessed be the LORD,
for he has heard the sound of my pleadings.
7The LORD is my strength and my shield;
in him my heart trusts;
so I am helped, and my heart exults,
and with my song I give thanks to him.
8The LORD is the strength of his people;
he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
9O save your people, and bless your heritage;
be their shepherd, and carry them forever.
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. Amen.
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
1The word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great." 2But Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3And Abram said, "You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir." 4But the word of the LORD came to him, "This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir." 5He brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your descendants be." 6And he believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness.
7Then he said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess." 8But he said, "O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?" 9He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." 10He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. 11And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. 17When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Reflection
May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this. 1 Thessalonians 5: 23-24
Dialogue
Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Into your hands I commend my spirit.
You have redeemed me, O Lord, God of truth.
Into your hands I commend my spirit.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Into your hands I commend my spirit.
A prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi
Lord make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine master grant that I may
Not so much seek to be consoled as to console,
To be understood, as to understand.To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
And it is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Make me an instrument of your peace.
Amen.
Prayers
In peace, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the peace from above, and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the church of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For this holy house, and for all who offer here their worship and praise, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the health of the creation, for abundant harvests that all may share, and for the peaceful times, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For public servants, the government, and those who protect us; for those who work to bring peace, justice, healing, and protection in this and every place, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For those who travel, for those who are sick and suffering, and for those who are in captivity, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For deliverance in the time of affliction, wrath, danger, and need, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For all servants of the church, for this assembly, and for all people who await from the Lord great and abundant mercy, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy
Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.
O God, where hearts are fearful and constricted, grant courage and hope. Where anxiety is infectious and widening, grant peace and reassurance. Where impossibilities close every door and window, grant imagination and resistance. Where distrust twists our thinking, grant healing and illumination. Where spirits are daunted and weakened, grant soaring wings and strengthened dreams. All these things we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
A Blessing by Jan Richardson
Beloved Is Where We Begin
If you would enter into the wilderness;
do not begin without a blessing.
Do not leave without hearing who you are:
Beloved, named by the One who has traveled this path before us.
Do not go without letting it echo in your ears, and if you find it is hard to let it into your heart, do not despair. That is what this journey is for.
I cannot promise this blessing will free you from danger, from fear, from hunger, or thirst, from the scorching of sun or the fall of the night.
But I can tell you that on this path there will be help.
I can tell you that on this way there will be rest.
I can tell you that you will know the strange graces that come to our aid only on a road such as this, that fly to meet us bearing comfort and strength, that come alongside us for no other cause than to lean themselves toward our ear and with their curious insistence whisper our name:
Beloved. Beloved. Beloved.
Lord’s Prayer
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.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen.
Benediction
Postlude O Lord, Now Let Your Servant
ELW 313
O Lord, now let your servant
depart in heav'nly peace,
for I have seen the glory
of your redeeming grace:
a light to lead the nations
unto your holy hill,
the glory of your people,
your chosen Israel.
Then grant that I may follow
your gleam, O glorious Light,
till earthly shadows scatter,
and faith is changed to sight;
till raptured saints shall gather
upon that shining shore,
where Christ, the blessed daystar,
shall light them evermore.
Liturgical Text and Music from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, © 2006 and 2020 Augsburg Fortress. Reprinted and/or streamed with permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies License #SAS016761. All rights reserved.
Circle of Grace, A Book of Blessings for the Seasons by Jan Richardson, © 12015, by Jan Richardson, Wanton Gospeller Press, Orlando, Florida. Used with permission.
O Lord, Now Let Your Servant, Text: Ernest E. Ryden, 1886-1981, alt., based on the Nunc dimittis. Text © 1925 Board of Publication, Lutheran Church in America, admin. Augsburg Fortress. Music: Finnish folk tune; arr. hymnal version. Arr.© 2006 Augsburg Fortress. Reprinted and/or streamed with permission under OneLicense #A-722274. All rights reserved.
