Introduction 

Welcome to Mulberry Meditations! I’m so glad you’ve decided to join today in prayer. When we pray, we connect our heart to God’s heart, giving of our needs and praises while also receiving the grace, love, and provision of our great God. My name is Ted Goshorn, senior pastor of Mulberry Street United Methodist Church, and I’ll be guiding us through this time of prayer. 

Our prayers follow a contemplative liturgy, or pattern, in the long tradition of Christians who have utilized scripture readings, repeated refrains, and silence to commune through prayer. Together, we will hear scriptures from the daily lectionary, familiar hymn lyrics and music, and engage gradually in a time of silence, always preceded by scripture, that we may hear from God through God’s word. 

Now, I invite you to get comfortable, praying in whatever position feels natural, as we go through this time of prayer.

On this Tuesday of Holy Week, March 26, 2024, we bring ourselves expectantly before our Lord in prayer, with praise and thanksgiving, opening ourselves to give and receive, from our heart to God’s heart. 

And so we pray:

God, come to my assistance. 

O Lord, make haste to help me. (Ps. 70:1)

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen. (Gloria Patri)

Look to God, do not be afraid, the Lord is near.

1 O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger

    or discipline me in your wrath.

2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;

    O Lord, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.

3 My soul also is struck with terror,

    while you, O Lord—how long?

4 Turn, O Lord, save my life;

    deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.

5 For in death there is no remembrance of you;

    in Sheol who can give you praise?

6 I am weary with my moaning;

    every night I flood my bed with tears;

    I drench my couch with my weeping.

7 My eyes waste away because of grief;

    they grow weak because of all my foes.

8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil,

    for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.

9 The Lord has heard my supplication;

    the Lord accepts my prayer.

10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror;

    they shall turn back and in a moment be put to shame. (Ps. 6)

Look to God, do not be afraid, the Lord is near.

In the Lord, I’ll be ever thankful; in the Lord, I will rejoice. Look to God, do not be afraid, lift up your voices the Lord is near! Lift up your voices, the Lord is near!

In the Lord, I’ll be ever thankful; in the Lord, I will rejoice. Look to God, do not be afraid, lift up your voices the Lord is near! Lift up your voices, the Lord is near!

Look to God, do not be afraid, the Lord is near.

Hear us now, O God, as we offer our prayers for:

• Our families and all who call us friend
• Our church and all who claim your name 
• Our community, be it neighborhood, town, or city 
• Our nation and world, especially remembering those caught up in conflicts
• My needs and praises this day

O Lord, hear my prayer. 

A reading from Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth, as we prepare ourselves to hear from God through keeping silence:

8 We do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia, for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again, 11 as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many may give thanks on oura behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. (2 Corinthians 1:8-11)

Silence 

And now we pray as Jesus taught us to pray by saying: 

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. 

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever; Amen.

Look to God, do not be afraid, the Lord is near.

O God, by the passion of your blessed Son you made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

And now, may the Lord bless you and keep you: may the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you: may the LORD turn his face toward you, and give you peace. 

Amen.

Subscribe by signing up for daily emails to pray each day. To learn more about Mulberry Street UMC and to give to support our work, visit mulberrymethodist.org. New prayers post daily, both as audio podcasts and blog posts, so I hope you will return often. Visit tedgoshorn.org to see written prayers and to learn more. Prayer transforms our hearts, as we seek to be evermore like Jesus.