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Sunday, August 2, 2009

The Prayer of Illumination

Yesterday I found traditional Methodist hymns, but what I was really looking for was the prayer we always prayed before the Scripture reading. The only line still soundly lodged in my memory is "that we may hear with joy what you have to say to us today. Amen." I'm not sure why I have been thinking about it, but it's been a niggling thought in the back of my mind for several weeks. Thankfully after a lllloooooonnnnggg series of searches, I came across the phrase "prayer of illumination" and hit the jackpot. Or as close as I am going to come to the jackpot in this particular inquiry because I'm not entirely certain this is the exact version we said each Sunday, but it's close.

The Prayer of Illumination
Lord, open our hearts and minds
by the power of your Holy Spirit,
that as the scriptures are read
and your Word is proclaimed,
we may hear with joy what you say to us today. Amen.

Now that I've found it, I need to use it. My goal is to pray the prayer of illumination before reading the Bible over the next few weeks.

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