Invitatory Prayers here

Hear my prayer, oh Lord;

Give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness;

Answer me in your righteousness.

Do not enter into judgment with your servant,

For no one living is righteous before you.

For the enemy has pursued me,

Crushing my life to the ground,

Making me sit in darkness

Like those long dead.

Therefore my spirit faints within me;

My heart within me is appalled.

I remember the days of old,

I think about all your deeds,

I meditate on the works of your hands.

I stretch out my hands to you;

My soul thirsts for you

Like a parched land.

Answer me quickly, oh Lord!

My spirit fails.

Do not hide your face from me,

Or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.

Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,

For in you I put my trust.

Teach me the way I should go,

For to you I lift up my soul.

Save me, oh Lord, from my enemies;

I have fled to you for refuge.

Teach me to do your will,

For you are my God.

Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.

For your name’s sake, oh Lord, preserve my life.

In your righteousness bring me out of trouble.

Rejoice with Jerusalem,

Be glad for her all you who love her;

Rejoice with her in joy,

All you who mourn over her!

That you may nurse and be satisfied

From her consoling breast;

That you may drink deeply with delight

From her glorious bosom.

For thus says the Lord:

"I will extend prosperity to her like a river,

And the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream;

And you shall nurse and be carried on her arm,

And dandled on her knees.

As a mother comforts her child,

So I will comfort you;

You shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;

Your bodies shall flourish like the grass.

Praise the Lord!

How good it is to sing praises to our God;

For he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.

The Lord builds up Jerusalem;

He gathers the outcasts of Israel.

He heals the broken-hearted,

And binds up their wounds.

He determines the number of the stars;

He gives to all of them their names.

Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;

His understanding is beyond measure.

The Lord lifts up the down-trodden;

He casts the wicked to the ground.

Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;

Make melody to our God on the lyre.

He covers the heavens with clouds,

Prepares rain for the earth,

Makes grass grow on the hills.

He gives to the animals their food,

And to the young ravens when they cry.

His delight is not in the strength of the horse,

Nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;

But the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,

In those who hope in his steadfast love.

Rom. 8, 18-21

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

End Prayers here

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