Little Prayers 3

“If only there were more than 24 hours in a day.”  How many times have we said that or heard someone say that?  “I would love to do _________, but there just isn’t any time to do it!”  How many times have we said that?  We are busy people!  We have jobs that aren’t the traditional 9-5, eight-hour day anymore; meals to prepare and a house and laundry to clean; extra-curricular activities to run the kids back and forth as well as our own outside activities.  Even retired people are busy— “I’m busier now than when I was working! I don’t know how I got it all done before!”

And while it’s true we are busy, we do tend (if we are truly honest with ourselves) to make time for the things that are important to us. I find that there are times in the day when we are busy but not busy!  Such as when you are in the car and going somewhere.  Now it doesn’t take more than 15 or 20 minutes to get around to most places in the metro, so that is the perfect time to get off the cell phone or stop listening to the radio and pray.

On my way in to church during the week and especially on Sunday morning, I leave the radio off and use the time to sing and pray—because some wise person once said that those who sing pray twice!  There are beautiful little prayers that are parts of the liturgy or verses out of hymns that we can use to pray twice!  Talk about bang for your buck!

For example, on Sunday morning I have time to sing/ pray Matins.  I usually finish about the time I turn into the parking lot.  Matins opens with little prayers: “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.”  That little prayer is followed by, “Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me O Lord.”  What a great way to start the day on your morning commute or your first errand run of the day.  We ask to open our lips and loose our tongue that we might praise him in all that we think, say, or do.  And we follow that with asking him to be at our side all day for the purpose of keeping us safe from all that would hurt or harm us.

The Te Deum is a great prayer of praise to God for all that he done for us in Christ.  But the last three verses are especially beautiful little prayers asking God to look down, not only on our own life, but the lives of all who are our neighbor.

We therefore pray You to help Your servants,

Whom you have redeemed with Your precious blood.

Make them to be numbered with Your saints

In glory everlasting.

O Lord, save Your people and bless your heritage.

Govern then and lift them up forever.

Day by day we magnify You.

And we worship Your name,

And we worship You name forever and ever.

Grant, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin.

O Lord, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us.

O Lord, let Your mercy be upon us, as our trust is in You.

O Lord, in You have I trusted; let me never be confounded.

In these three short verses we are asking God to help us and all believers to remain in the faith and be led safely to their heavenly home.  We are asking God to govern our lives and to rule and reign in our hearts that we might not sin against him and our neighbor.  We are asking that by his grace we might not be confounded—that is, confused, perplexed, filled with doubt—but that we always be sure and certain of his ever-present grace, mercy, strength, and power in our lives.

Matins concludes with a series of short prayers, beginning with the Kyrie—again, a call for mercy and grace.  We pray the Lord’s Prayer, that prayer that encompasses all that we should pray to God!  We then pray Psalm 102:1 in which we are asking God to hear our prayers, let us come into his presence and pour out our heart to him with all of our frustrations, fears and doubts, cares and concerns:  “O Lord, hear my prayer and let my cry come to You.”  We can pray whatever else we want and then pray the Collect for Grace which is the most beautiful prayer to pray at the beginning of each day.  We can even sing/ pray the New Testament benediction, asking God’s blessing and presence on our lives for the day: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us (not the usual “you” spoken by the pastor) all.”

I leave for church most Sundays around 7:45 at 19 & Ryan.  By the time I get to church at 12½ and Ryan it is just about 8:00 and I have time left over after having prayed and sung through Matins.  Now I’m not patting myself on the back and saying what a good boy am I; not by any means.  I could have used the time to listen to the radio or just let my mind wander to wherever it wanted to wander.  But I use it for prayer.  Now there are some other benefits than just that of prayer time.  As all but the Te Deum are right out of the Scriptures, not only have I prayed but I have meditated and pondered on God’s Word at the same time.  I have spoken to God in prayer and he has responded back by speaking to me through his Word!  My soul has been fed and nourished!  My voice has been warmed up and ready for preaching and teaching through prayer and song!  My attitude, my frame of mind has moved from the things of the world to the things of God!  Talk about killing two birds with one stone!

Coming into the parking lot I am ready to meet with my people, lead them in worship, and serve the Lord with a joyful heart!