Daily Prayer
Since we launched City Parish in 2018, our calling has been to be a ‘gospel-centered community practicing the way of Jesus for the renewal of our cities.’ All of the components of that mission are interrelated to one another: Gospel-centered community will encourage us toward daily practicing the way of Jesus, practicing the way of Jesus draws us further into gospel-centered community, and both lead us into the being the community of Christ that participate with the Holy Spirit to renew our cities spiritually, socially, and culturally.
We live in a culture that increasingly and constantly demands not only our attention, but also our affection and allegiance. And many of us — if not most of us — if not all of us — have obliged either willingly or by other less obvious means. We are enslaved to consumption, media, devices, and so many other things that demand more and more of us but habitually give less and less in return. And the result is angst, frustration, helplessness, and so on.
The only means of combatting this onslaught of competing affections and allegiances is to continue to press forward in our journey of discipleship — the process of increasingly submitting every area of our lives to the empowering presence and lordship of Jesus Christ and teaching others to do the same. One of the foundational ways in which we do that is through prayer. David Brenner writes that “prayer is not simply what we do. It is a way of being. More specifically, it is resting in the reality of our being-in-God. This is our fundamental identity. It is the hidden but deepest truth of our existence.” With that in mind, we are calling the The Parish Church family into a new rhythm: Daily Prayer. We’ll be gleaning from a few ancient rhythms from saints long before us similar to Lectio Divina, Daily Examen, etc. But the primary impetus is to commit to coming to the Lord together throughout our days.
This Daily Prayer Guide (see below) contains a call to prayer three times a day — Morning, Noon, and Night. In the Morning, we’ve included a link to The Daily Liturgy podcast. The Daily Liturgy offer daily Scripture meditations that help you grow in your love for God and your understanding of His word. Meditating on and praying through the Scriptures are practices that allows us to not only be good students of the Word — approaching it with intellect, cognition, and obedience — but also with the fullness of our personhood — meditating, contemplating, and considering it as we commune with God. Around Noon, we’ll pray meditatively and intentionally through The Lord’s Prayer. And in the Evening we will pray through a Daily Examen, utilizing a familiar ‘rubric’ — the True Story of God. The hope is that it will help us really reflect on three important things as we close each day: the presence of God with us, the work of God in us, and the mission of God around us.
We hope and pray that as we engage in this rhythm and practice together as a church, our love, affection, and obedience towards Christ Jesus will grow. We’re praying with and for you all.
MORNING
Pray the Scriptures
We know how busy and distracted your daily life can be. The constant noise of modern life and media can leave us disconnected and discontent. Creating time and space to meditate on Scripture and commune with God is difficult. And the more we’re formed by patterns of consumption, the less our hearts incline toward silence and solitude.
The Daily Liturgy makes it possible for Christians everywhere to meditate on the truth of God’s word in the midst of everyday life. That’s why they created a peaceful daily podcast enjoyed by over 50,000 subscribers – filled with curated Scripture readings, confessions, and prayers.
NOON
The Lord’s Prayer
Similarly to the Morning Prayer through the Scriptures, stop, pause, and slow down as your pray through the Lord’s prayer. Think about what you are saying and mean them as you commune with our Heavenly Father.
“Our Father in heaven, // hallowed be your name. // Your kingdom come, // your will be done, // on earth as it is in heaven. // Give us this day our daily bread, // and forgive us our debts, // as we also have forgiven our debtors. // And lead us not into temptation, // but deliver us from evil.”
[For yours is the kingdom and the glory and the power forever and ever.]
NIGHT
daily examen
A Daily Examen or Daily Reflection is an invitation to slow down and pay attention to what matters; the presence of God with you, the work of God in you, and the mission of God around you. This is a play off of an ancient Ignatian practice called the examen, but with a uniquely Parish Church flare where we utilize the Story of God framework to take notice of God’s presence in our day.
Please don’t forget. The examination of our day is not simply introspection. It is prayer. You are going through your day with God, attentive to your inner feelings and desires, which is where we experience God's call in the midst of everyday activity. One author says that God’s presence is like radio waves. The signals are always around us, but we need to be tuned in to make sense of them.
So this is your invitation to tune into God’s presence with you. God is near. New creation is breaking in. Slow down. Pay attention.
Our prayer is that this helps form and transform us as people who faithfully play our role in God’s unfolding story.
1. Creation
God created everything good, right, and beautiful. He lovingly made people to cultivate his creation alongside Him. People had the task to develop the hidden potentials of God’s creation and enjoyed a life of peace with God, one another, and creation.
What good gifts did you see, taste, or experience from God today? Express Gratitude.
2. Rebellion
The first people rebelled against God’s good reign. They decided God was holding back good things from them and wanted to decide for themselves what was right and wrong. The result was that human sin entered God’s good creation and all creation came under a curse. Everything was effected by this rebellion.
Where did you sin in thought, word, or deed? Ask for the grace to see your sin and turn from the lies you may be believing.
3. promise
God did not leave his rebelling people without hope, He decided to rescue his creation by calling one man named Abram and making Him into a great nation. Through this nation, Israel, God was going to bless all the other nations. But just like the first people, they rebelled too.
Where in your day did you experience the presence of God and live in obedience? Where did you struggle to believe His promises?
4. redemption
When all seemed lost, God was faithful to His promise. Jesus, God’s own Son, came to be the promised deliverer and perfectly obeyed the Father. The Kingdom had come near. But the people rebelled against Jesus and murdered Him on a cross. When Jesus was killed he took on the curse of creation and bore the burden of people’s sin. He then accomplished victory over all evil through His resurrection! Restoration had begun, new creation was here and Jesus was the true and risen King!
What sin (intention or action) do you need to ask forgiveness for? Ask forgiveness. Where did you see God’s saving power today?
5. Church
The resurrected Jesus sent His Spirit to empower His followers to demonstrate and declare the good news that God was restoring the world and that Jesus is King! He alone is able to save and bring the peace we all so desperately desire. People are now invited to give their allegiance to Jesus & live according to His Story. Forgiveness, hope, and salvation are possible because of Jesus. This is the church, the act of the story we find ourselves in today.
What could faithfulness in following Jesus look like tomorrow? Pray for strength, courage, and grace.
6. Restoration
One day King Jesus will return to finally and fully make the world the way it is supposed to be. He will bring justice, healing and wholeness. There will be no more tears, pain, sickness, brokenness, or death. Those who have declared allegiance to to Jesus as King and by faith depend on him for salvation will forever enjoy His presence. But those who chose to rely on themselves and false saviors will be forever separated from His good rule and reign. We pray for this day to come quickly.
What are you trusting God with as you go to sleep?