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.

The Prayer of a Present Day Prodigal--May 29, 2013


 O gracious God, I am in much distress;
hear my prayer, answer me when I call.

You have promised that if we seek you,
if we search after you with all our heart
and soul, then we shall surely find you.

Like the prodigal who came to himself,
I will get up and go to you, my Father,
because I am dying of spiritual hunger.

Although in tears and anguish of heart,
help me to know your abundant love.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 15; 147:1-11; 48; 4
Deut. 4:25-31
2 Cor. 1:23-2:11
Luke 15:1-2, 11-32

Selected Verses

Ps. 4:1
Answer me when I call, O God of my right!
          You gave me room when I was in distress.
          Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer.

Deut. 4:29
From there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and soul.

2 Cor. 2:4
For I wrote you out of much distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain, but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

Luke 15:17-18a
"…But when [the younger son] came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!  I will get up and go to my father…'"

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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