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  Prayer During the Day on Wednesday
     
     
    Preparation  
     
    O God, make speed to save us.
All
  O Lord, make haste to help us.
     
    Make me to know your ways, O Lord,
All
  and teach me your paths.
   
Psalm 25.3
     
   
Praise
 
     
    A hymn, song, canticle, extempore praise, or
     
    You, Christ, are the King of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.
When you took our flesh to set us free
you humbly chose the Virgin’s womb.
You overcame the sting of death
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You are seated at God’s right hand in glory.
   
from Te Deum Laudamus
     
   
The Word of God
 
     
   
Psalmody
     
    On any Wednesday Psalm 48
     
    (or)
     
    Week 1 Psalm 2
Week 2 Psalm 44
Week 3 Psalm 45
Week 4 Psalm 72.1-8
     
    When Morning and Evening Prayer are also celebrated, one of these cycles may be followed.
     
    Each psalm or group of psalms may end with
     
All
  Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.
     
   
Short readings
 
     
    Week One
    The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion – to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
   
Isaiah 61.1-3a
     
    Week Two
    In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised up above the hills. Peoples shall stream to it, and many nations shall come and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more; but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid.
   
Micah 4.1-4a
     
    Week Three
    Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness.When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples,‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.’
   
Matthew 9.35-end
     
    Week Four
    Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.’ Pilate asked him,‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came intothe world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’ Pilate asked him, ‘What is truth?’
   
John 18.33,36-38
     
    Or, on any Wednesday
    The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
   
Habakkuk 2.14
     
     
   
Response
 
     
    Silence, study, song, or words from Scripture, such as
     
    Jesus said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
All
  No one comes to the Father except through me.
   
John 14.6
   
Prayers
 
     
    Prayers may include these concerns:
     
    The social services
    All who work in the criminal justice system
    Victims and perpetrators of crime
    The work of aid agencies throughout the world
    Those living in poverty or under oppression
     
    Forms of prayer can be found here.
     
    The Collect of the day or the following prayer is said
     
    O Lord our God,
grant us grace to desire you with our whole heart;
that so desiring, we may seek and find you;
and so finding, may love you;
and so loving, may hate those sins from which
      you have delivered us;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All
  Amen.
   
Anselm (1109)
     
    The Lord's Prayer is said.
     
   
The Conclusion
 
     
    May God grant to the world justice, truth and peace.
All
  Amen.
     
© The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England, 2000-2004
All of the official Common Worship publications are being published by Church House Publishing.