Invitatory:  Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he,

humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.  Zech 9.9

Prayer for the 1st week of Advent: “Almighty God and Lord, come to us with all your power and help us who are anxious and troubled.  Send us the Savior, that he may enter our hearts, and with your light illumine our night, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.” (K.B. Ritter, Gebete fur das Jahr der Kirche, 1^st ed.  Kassel: Barenreiter Verlag, 1933, p.35.)

Bible reading for the day:  Isaiah 64.1-12

¹Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
    that the mountains might quake at your presence—
²  as when fire kindles brushwood
    and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
    and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
³ When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
    you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
⁴ From of old no one has heard
    or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
    who acts for those who wait for him.
⁵ You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
    those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
    in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?
⁶ We have all become like one who is unclean,
    and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
    and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
⁷ There is no one who calls upon your name,
    who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
    and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.

⁸ But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
    we are the clay, and you are our potter;
    we are all the work of your hand.
⁹ Be not so terribly angry, O Lord,
    and remember not iniquity forever.
    Behold, please look, we are all your people.
¹⁰ Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
    Zion has become a wilderness,
    Jerusalem a desolation.
¹¹ Our holy and beautiful house,
    where our fathers praised you,
has been burned by fire,
    and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
¹² Will you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord?
    Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?

Prayer (based on T.R.I.P. method**): Gracious and almighty Father, even when we do not look for it, you do awesome things… you are the potter and we are the clay… thank you!  Repent me and my congregation of wanting it the other way around… and of not calling on your name. Come down, O Lord, rescue us from our iniquities and do not keep silent…for it is only when you speak that we receive death and new life.  I ask this in Jesus’ name, O Lord. Amen.

Benediction: (1 Pet 5:10)  And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you this day.  To him be the power forever and ever.  Amen.   

*There are many patterns for devotions.  This pattern has been followed by God’s people for centuries.

**The T.R.I.P. approach to prayer is based on the way Martin Luther prayed and taught others to pray.  It was later developed by Walter and Ingrid Trobisch and then adapted by Mount Carmel Ministries (Alexandria, MN www.dailytext.com).  The method is founded on scripture and easy to remember:

T: thanksgiving

                                                                R: regret (repentance)

                                                                I: intercession (asking God to take a specific action)

                                                                P: plan or purpose

Reading a biblical text and then applying this method gives one a sound, simple way to form one’s prayers...not to mention that it helps one learn how to faithfully reflect on God’s Word and talk to God.