Zion Lutheran Church (LCMS)

A Guide for Daily Prayer and Meditation: December 28, 2025 – January 4, 2026

Pray and confess out loud as much as you are able or based on your family size and ages. (Alternative orders in LSB pp295-8)

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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.

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 December LSB 394 Songs of Thankfulness and Praise

Hymn of the Month for January LSB 686 Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

One or more verses from the hymn of the month are sung, or another hymn may be chosen.

Verse of the Week: Psalm 116:15

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

Daily Lectionary

The Lord’s Prayer: The Seventh Petition

But deliver us from evil.

What does this mean?

We pray in this petition, in summary, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.

(Go to bottom of next page for related Bible verses and/or excerpts from Large Catechism.)

The Apostles’ Creed is confessed † Lord’s Prayer † Prayers for Others and Ourselves (see LSB 305-318 for prayers)

In Our Prayers: Members: Vicki Bellore, Anita Dommer, Lois Eichinger, Louis Gettler, Chuck Hull, Marlys Jones, Pastor Jones, Greg Leland, Kathy Peterson, Doris Post, Matthew Potts, Mark Radl, Ethel Vance

Family &Friends:  Bob (Linda Hull’s brother), Gabby Arnquist (Lyn Brace’s sister’s granddaughter), Fred Burkart (Tiffany Drinkman’s father), Harold & Joan Grunwald (Susan’s parents), Greg Hamlet (Rosa Blake’s niece’s step-father) Linda Hull, Jahyden Justice (Linda Murillo’s grandson), Rick Lahner (Carter’s grandfather), Lacie Miles (Chrystal’s sister-in-law), Marilyn Norton (Rev Norton’s wife), Marlene Paulson (Dianne Schroeder’s sister), Pastor Szedlak, George Taylor (Rosa Blake’s nephew), Ann Thomas (Carol Gale’s mother), Jeff Thomas (Pastor’s brother)

Collect for The Holy Innocents

Almighty God, the martyred innocents of Bethlehem showed forth Your praise not by speaking but by dying. Put to death in us all that is in conflict with Your will that our lives may bear witness to the faith we profess with our lips; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Prayer based on The Lord’s Prayer: The Seventh Petition[1]

Father in heaven, look on our neediness with the eyes of Your mercy and compassion. Rescue us from everything that would cause harm and destruction to us both physically and spiritually. Keep us in the true faith and finally bring us through the disappointments and sorrows of this life to live with You forever; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Let us bless the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Excerpts from the Large Catechism on the Seventh Petition of the Lord’s Prayer

-[This petition also includes] whatever evil may happen to us under the devil’s kingdom: poverty, shame, death, and, in short, all agonizing misery and heartache of which there is such an unnumbered multitude on the earth. Since the devil is not only a liar, but also a murderer, he constantly seeks our life. He wreaks his vengeance whenever he can afflict our bodies with misfortune and harm. Therefore, it happens that he often breaks men’s necks or drives them to insanity, drowns some, and moves many to commit suicide and to many terrible disasters. So there is nothing for us to do upon earth but to pray against this archenemy without stopping. For unless God preserved us, we would not be safe from this enemy even for an hour. (422:115-116)

-    You see again how God wishes for us to pray to Him also for all the things that affect our bodily interests, so that we seek and expect help nowhere else except in Him. But He has put this matter last. For if we are to be preserved and delivered from all evil, God’s name must first be hallowed in us, His kingdom must be with us, and besides, from everything that may hurt or harm us. (422:117-118)

Bible verses for meditation on the Seventh Petition of the Lord’s Prayer

-But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 3:3

-    So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Cor 12:7-10 -Psalm 91, Psalm 121, “Morning Prayer”, and “Evening Prayer”

[1] Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation. St. Louis: Concordia, 2017.