A Guide for Daily Prayer and Meditation
April 23-30, 2023
Pray and confess out loud as much as you are able or based on your family size and ages. You may follow the “Morning” or the “Close of the Day” according to time of day. (Alternative orders are in the LSB hymnal pp. 295-298)
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The sign of the cross + may be made by all in remembrance of their baptism.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
| Morning | Close of the Day |
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In the morning, O Lord, You hear my voice; In the morning I prepare a sacrifice for You and watch |
The Lord Almighty grant us a quiet night and peace at the last. Amen. |
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My mouth is filled with Your praise, And with Your glory all the day. |
It is good to give thanks to the Lord, To sing praise to Your name, O Most High; |
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O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth will declare Your praise. |
To herald Your love in the morning; Your truth at the close of the day. |
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Hymn of the Month for April: LSB 493 A Hymn of Glory Let Us Sing
One or more verses from the hymn of the month are sung, or another hymn may be chosen.
Verse of the Week: Romans 6:9; Luke 24:32
We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?
Daily Lectionary
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | |
| Old Testament |
Exodus 20:1-24 |
Exodus 33:1-23 |
Exodus 34:1-28 |
Exodus 34:29-35:21 |
Exodus 38:21-39:8,22-23,27-31 |
Exodus 39:32-40:16 |
Exodus 40:17-38 |
Leviticus 8:1-13, 30-36 |
| Psalms | 119:9-16; 91 | 80; 27 | 86; 34 | 84; 23 | 119:145-152; 20 | 107; 115 | 41; 76 | 45; 132 |
| New Testament |
Luke 4:1-15 |
Luke 7:1-17 |
Luke 7:18-35 |
Luke 7:36-50 |
Luke 8:1-21 |
Luke 8:22-39 |
Luke 8:40-56 |
Luke 9:1-17 |
The Lord’s Prayer: The Fifth Petition
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
What does this mean?
We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look at our sins, or deny our prayer because of them. We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He would give them all by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment. So we too will sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us.
The Apostles’ Creed is confessed
Lord’s Prayer
Prayers for Others and Ourselves
Collect for the Third Sunday of Easter
O God, through the humiliation of Your Son You raised up the fallen world. Grant to Your faithful people, rescued from the peril of everlasting death, perpetual gladness and eternal joys; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Prayer based on the Fifth Petition
O dear God and Father, do not judge us, for in Your sight no person is justified. Neither number us among sinners, because we are so ungrateful for Your unspeakable goodness to body and soul. Daily and often we stray, and we sin more than we know and are able to understand. Psalm 19:13. Consider not how good or evil we are, but remember Your infinite mercy granted to us in Christ, Your dear Son. Amen. (Martin Luther, 1483-1546)
| Morning | Close of the Day |
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Almighty God, merciful Father, who created and completed all things, on this day when the work of our calling begins anew, we implore You to create its beginning, direct its continuance, and bless its end, that our doings may be preserved from sin, our life sanctified, and our work be well pleasing to you; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. I thank you my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen |
Visit our dwellings, O Lord, and in Your great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of Your only Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that You would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen. |
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Excerpts from the Large Catechism on the Fifth Petition
- [This [petition] applies to our poor miserable life. Although we have and believe God’s Word, do and submit to His will, and are supported by His gifts and blessings, our life is still not sinless. We still stumble daily and transgress because we live in the world among people. They do us much harm and give us reasons for impatience, anger, revenge, and such. (419:86)
- There is here again great need for us to call upon God and pray, “Dear Father, forgive us our trespasses.” It is not as though He did not forgive sin without and even before our prayer. (He has given us the Gospel, in which is pure forgiveness before we prayed or ever thought about it.) But the purpose of this prayer is that we may recognize and receive such forgiveness. The flesh in which we daily live is of such a nature that it neither trusts nor believes God. It is ever active in evil lusts and devices, so that we sin daily in word and deed, by what we do and fail to do. By this the conscience is thrown into unrest, so that it is afraid of God’s wrath and displeasure. So it loses the comfort and confidence derived from the Gospel. Therefore, it is always necessary that we run here and receive consolation to comfort the conscience again. (419:88-89)
Bible Verses for Meditation on the Fifth Petition
- For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. Galatians 5:17
- For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. Romans 7:18
- The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 1 Timothy 1:15