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.

A Prayer when I Am Faint of Heart--Sept. 18, 2018



Teach me your way, Lord, to walk in your truth.
Some things do not seem humanly possible,
but if, with an undivided heart, we come
before you, O God, and listen to you,
then you will open our heart for
eager listening, and nothing--
nothing in all the world--
will be able to stop
what happens.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 123; 146; 30; 86
Job 40:1, 41:1-11
Acts 16:6-15
John 12:9-19

Selected Verses
Ps. 86:11
Teach me your way, O LORD,
          that I may walk in your truth;
          give me an undivided heart to revere your name. 

Job 41:1
"Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook, or press down its tongue with a cord?  …" [The LORD to Job]

Acts 16:14
A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth.  The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.

John 12:19
The Pharisees then said to one another, "You see, you can do nothing.  Look, the world has gone after him!"

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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