A Guide for Daily Prayer and Meditation
April 30-May 7, 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 May: LSB 549 All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name
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; John 10:14
We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.
Daily Lectionary
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | |
| Old Testament |
Leviticus 8:1-13, 30-36 |
Leviticus 9:1-24 |
Leviticus 10:1-20 |
Leviticus 16:1-24 |
Leviticus 17:1-16 |
Leviticus 18:1-7, 20-19:8 |
Leviticus 19:9-18, 26-37 |
Leviticus 20:1-16, 22-27 |
| Psalms | 45; 132 | 119:129-138; 96 | 25, 141 | 19; 50 | 17; 89 | 119:1-8; 116 | 36; 39 | 37; 150 |
| New Testament |
Luke 9:1-17 |
Luke 9:18-36 |
Luke 9:37-62 |
Luke 10:1-22 |
Luke 10:23-42 |
Luke 11:1-13 |
Luke 11:14-36 |
Luke 11:37-54 |
The Lord’s Prayer: The Sixth Petition
And lead us not into temptation.
What does this mean?
We pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not deceive us or mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. Although we are attacked by these things, we pray that we may finally overcome them and win the victory.
The Apostles’ Creed is confessed † Lord’s Prayer † Prayers for Others and Ourselves
Collect for the Fourth Sunday of Easter
Almighty God, merciful Father, since You have wakened from death the Shepherd of Your sheep, grant us Your Holy Spirit that when we hear the voice of our Shepherd we may know Him who calls us each by name and follow where He leads; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Prayer based on the Sixth Petition
We are weak and sick, O Father, and the temptations of the flesh and the world are great and many. O Father, keep us, and let us not fall again into temptation and sin. Give us grace that we may remain steadfast and fight bravely to our end. Without Your grace and help we can do nothing. 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 Sixth Petition
- Temptation…is of three kinds: of the flesh, of the world, and of the devil. For we dwell in the flesh and carry the Old Adam about our neck. He exerts himself and encourages us daily to unchastity, laziness, gluttony and drunkenness, greed and deception, to defraud our neighbor and to overcharge him. In short, the old Adam encourages us to have all kinds of evil lusts, which cling to us by nature and to which we are moved by the society, the example, and what we hear and see of other people. They often wound and inflame even an innocent heart. (420:101-102)
- Next comes the world, which offends us in word and deed. It drives us to anger and impatience…No one is willing to be the least. Everyone desires to sit at the head of the group and to be seen before all. (420:103)
- Then comes the devil, pushing and provoking in all directions. But he especially agitates matters that concern the conscience and spiritual affairs. He leads us to despise and disregard both God’s Word and works. He tears us away from faith, hope, and love, and he brings us into misbelief, false security, and stubbornness. Or, on the other hand, he leads us to despair, denial of God, blasphemy, and innumerable other shocking things. (420-421:104)
- So every hour that we are in this vile life, we are attacked on all sides, chased and hunted down. We are moved to cry out and to pray that God would not allow us to become weary and faint and to fall again into sin, shame, and unbelief. For otherwise it is impossible to overcome even the least temptation. (421:105)
- This, then, is what “lead us not into temptation” means. It refers to times when God gives us power and strength to resist the temptation. However, the temptation is not taken away or removed. While we live in the flesh and have the devil around us, no one can escape his temptation and lures. It can only mean that we must endure trials—indeed, be engulfed in them. But we pray this prayer so that we may not fall and be drowned in them. (421:106)
Bible Verses for Meditation on the Sixth Petition
- Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”. Mark 4:38
- Also Matthew 24:27, 44; James 1:13-14; 1 Peter 5:8-9; and Galatians 5:17