The prayer of the righteous, we are told, is powerful and effective.
We would like our prayer to be like that, powerful and effective;
but we become righteous by humbling, not by exalting, ourselves.
Make us revere your name; let your sun of righteousness rise upon us.
Make us thirst for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Then if you hear our prayer we will go out leaping like calves from the stall!
Lectionary Readings
Psalms 122, 149, 100, 63
Malachi 3:13-4:6
James 5:13-20
Luke 18:9-14
Selected Verses
Psalm 63:1
O God, you are my God, I seek you,
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Malachi 4:2
But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.
James 5:16b
The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
Luke 18:9
[Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt…
Meditations inspired by readings from the Daily Lectionary as found in the Mission Yearbook of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
- Elmer E. Ewing
- I am an emeritus professor from Cornell University and was a Commissioned Lay Preacher in the Presbyterian Church (USA). For many years I have followed the Daily Lectionary as printed in the Mission Yearbook of my church. For each day of a two-year cycle, the lectionary lists four psalms and three other scriptural passages--usually one from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament. My practice is to copy down a verse or two from one of the psalms and from each of the other three passages. After I have written out all four selections, I reflect upon them, rearrange their order, and incorporate them into a meditation. Sometimes I retain much of the original wording; sometimes all that remains of a selection is an idea that was stimulated when I read the original words. All selections are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. For the Daily Lectionary, see the link below.
"Elijah" - A bronze sculpture by a friend, the late Reverend Gurdon Brewster. Click on the image to see more of his sculptures.
Archives
Samples from the archives
- 3/19/18 Remedy for Hubris--A Child Could Do It
- 2/25/14 Unbind me, Jesus
- 10/26/13 Refreshing hearts, in Christ
- 8/9/13 When things I do displease you, God
- 2/7/13 Freed, saved, gathered in
- 1/1/13 For a joy that is complete
- 11/20/12 Though the fig tree does not blossom
- 11/19/12 Alas, my house is set on high
- 10/14/12 Held in your arms
- 9/14/12 The land cries out against us
- 8/29/12 The snare of false accusation
- 8/5/12 Tie up the strong man
- 4/5/12 We who dip bread
- 9/23/10 The right to be joyful
- 9/18/10 Chief cornerstone
- 7/27/10 Triumph over enemies
- 10/9/08 Our iniquity is great
- 5/14/08 When at night
- 2/17/08 The thin and ugly
- 1/17/07 We do not know you
- 1/3/07 Promises
- 1/2/07 For things not seen
- 10/3/06 Fear of you
- 10/2/06 Little we know
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