- Use it every day. Be constant, persevering.
- Try it for a regular time--perferably before the day's work.
- You are reading God's word. Ask God to guide you.
- After reading the scripture passage and the day's reading, take time to think out the application to your own life. Make your meditation personal.
- Carry this booklet with you. Keep it in mind throughout the day. Have a Bible at hand where you work.
- Share this booklet with others. Give copies away.
- Use every Saturday for a review of the week and to prepare for Sunday by reading all the scripture for that day. Let us dedicate Saturday night as the eve of our Sabbath, and plan to attend service and take part in worship.
- At the time of daily meditation check up your keeping of a disciple's Daily Rule of Life: Turn--Follow--Learn--Pray--Serve--Worship--Share
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Four constant factors make your constancy worthwhile:
- God's loving will, ever faithful.
- God's Word in the Bible
- God's church--born to obey God's command.
- Your own discipleship in Christ, bearing fruit.
Scripture listings in Forward Day by Day
Weekday scripture readings are taken from the Daily Office lectionary in the Episcopal Church’s. Book of Common Prayer, pages 933-995.
The Daily Office Lectionary includes two sets of readings from the Psalms for each day. In The Book of Common Prayer, they are separated by a small symbol consisting of four dots. In Forward Day by Day, an asterisk (*) is used in place of the four dots. The two Psalm readings are intended for those who read both Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer every day or who use some other form to pray twice daily. The first set of Psalm readings is suggested for Morning Prayer; the second set is suggested for Evening Prayer. The selection is arbitrary and either set is appropriate for any time of day. Persons who pray once daily often use the first set of Psalm readings for one year and the second set for the next year.
When one of the psalms is used as the basis for the day’s meditation in Forward Day by Day, that set of listings is moved to the top of the page, where it appears with the quoted biblical text, and only the other set of Psalm listings appears at the bottom of the page. When brackets appear in the Psalm listing, the bracketed psalm or verses are an alternative to the psalm or verses listed (e.g., when a canticle is listed). Parentheses are used to denote verses of a passage which may be omitted.
Scripture readings listed in Forward Day by Day for Sundays and major holy days (see below) are taken from the Revised Common Lectionary, adopted by the General Convention in 2006 and appearing in the back of every copy of Book of Common Prayer printed since then. The Revised Common Lectionary, which is shared with several other Christian denominations, lists just one selection of verses from the Psalms. The Revised Common Lectionary readings are available at http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu.
Occasionally a canticle is listed as one of the scripture readings. The canticles are found in The Book of Common Prayer, pages 47-53 and 85-96 and are numbered 1 through 21. Most of the canticles are drawn from scripture, and we usually cite the scriptural reference as well as the canticle number from The Book of Common Prayer.
Major holy days are listed in The Book of Common Prayer, pages 19-30, in bold type. In most cases, when a major holy day falls on a Sunday, the Sunday readings take precedence and the holy day is observed the following day (Monday). Minor holy days are listed on the same pages in The Book of Common Prayer but not in bold type. Minor holy days are not listed in Forward Day by Day.
