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.

To Pray as Jesus Prayed--Dec. 11, 2012


God, how often I believe I am wise and shrewd,
even though my wisdom and shrewdness
reside only in my own eyes!

Let your steadfast love be upon me,
even as I hope in you, that I may be so filled
with your presence that I am able to forget my ego.

To find strength and resources for his teaching,
Jesus prayed.  I need to pray as he did.

Help me rejoice always, pray without ceasing,
and give thanks in all circumstances.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 33; 146; 85; 94

Isa. 5:18-25
1 Thess. 5:12-28
Luke 21:29-38

Selected Verses

Ps. 33:22

Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us,
            even as we hope in you.

Isa. 5:21
Ah, you who are wise in your own eyes,
            and shrewd in your own sight!

1 Thess. 5:16-18
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Luke 21:37
Every day [Jesus] was teaching in the temple, and at night he would go out and spend the night on the Mount of Olives, as it was called.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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