Friday, Sept. 16

Welcome to the daily prayer guide for the month of September! Today is Friday, Sept. 16.

Morning

Let’s draw from another prayer book to open our morning. You also can lift praises on your own, in your own words, of course.

These words are from “Prayers of Hildegard of Bingen.” She was a 12th century abbess and what some people call a Christian “mystic.”

O elemental power of eternity,
in your heart
you have ordered the universe.
You have created the universe through your Word,
according to your will.
And your Word became flesh
in the form
that descended from Adam.
In this way the deepest pain
was taken from our body.

Indeed, how marvelous is your goodness, O Savior!
Through your incarnation
you have set all things free.
From the breath of God you became man
freed from the bondage of sin.
Glory to you, Father, and your Son,
with the Holy Spirit.

In this way the deepest pain was taken from our body.

Having considered the power of the incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection, once again confess your sins, knowing they are forgiven. And again, pray from a global perspective down to a personal perspective.

Take time to read these Bible verses in a contemplative and meaningful way: Psalm 84:10-12; Romans 8:31-39.

Give yourself a few minutes of silence before resuming your day.

Noon

Pray the Lord’s Prayer. Let’s also repeat the midday prayer from “A Celtic Primer,” a compilation by Brendan O’Malley:

Father, at noontime on this day
hallowed by the Resurrection of your Son,
we give you thanks for your presence among us.
Yours is the earth and its fullness.
May the hearts and desires of all peoples
be turned to you, through Jesus, the Christ, our Lord.

Again, give yourself a few minutes of silence before resuming your day.

Night

We continue to try to understand and immerse ourselves in meditative prayer, as described earlier. I realize this distinct way of praying is foreign to most of us, but we are moving toward better discernment of God’s will, and times like this will be important to that process. Revelations do sometimes come to us in a flash, but I also think meditative prayer is like preparing soil for seed. We don’t always associate the early work with the later fruit, but we’re far more likely to get results when we’ve made the ground as fertile as possible.

May your dreams reflect God’s reality.