Skip to main content

My Prayer in the Morning, upon Rising


 

Morning Prayer 


This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

(Psalm 118:24)

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

(Lamentations 3:22-23)

Lord, thank you for this new day. Thank you that I woke up with breath in my lungs, able to utter this prayer. Every new day is a gift of your mercy and kindness, for which I am grateful.

Let my focus be on your glory this day. May I live out of your grace and extend it to others.

Gives me eyes to see what it is you would have me see, ears to hear what you are saying and a tongue that speaks your life into all situations.

Let my hands work productively at the task you set before me, and may my labors bear fruit for your everlasting kingdom.

Help me remember that people come before tasks, love comes before judgment, and you come before all else.

Give me great joy in the beauty and goodness of your creation and the relationships in which you have placed me. Help me encourage, trust, and smile.

Help me remember that you are “mighty to save” (Isaiah 61:3) and that I am not the Holy Spirit. May my mind be prayerful and alert, my heart be confident in your love, even when it condemns me. May my feet go where you lead.

May I clothe myself fully with the armor of God, hidden in you, and protected from my enemy. Help me resist the temptations to the sin that is second nature to me and remember that my identity in Christ frees me to choose You instead of sin. May I live in the present, not stuck in the past or dreaming about the future.

Jesus, may others see you through me today.

Amen

 

 


 

 

                                                                                     

Popular posts from this blog

Women Lust Too

  Lust... Though men are not animals at the mercy of their sexual desires, it still remains a battle for them to keep their gaze and mind pure. But what about women? Are they off the hook? Turning the tables in a one-to-one comparison doesn't do anyone any favors because men and women struggle in different ways. Albeit, there are women who struggle with lust over mens' bodies, or even women's bodies in a same sex attraction, but I would venture to say the majority of us women, especially married women, don't think we struggle with sexual lust, endowing us with a perceived moral high ground over men. Our thinking goes like this: "How could men struggle with lusting after other women? I don't lust after the bodies of other men!" 1. The woman's struggle with lust When a beautiful woman walks in the room or is flashed on a screen or billboard, all eyes are transfixed. This includes the gaze of women. Whereas the sinful   lustful inner dialogue...

Are birthday suits better than bathing suits?~ Reflections on East German nudism

  When the kindergarten beach trip pictures were finally posted, I became hysterical...with laughter.   All the important body parts were, of course, covered and protected from the sun: every child was sporting a hat and sunglasses. The bathing suits I had packed for my children came back clean and neatly folded. A discussion with the teachers would not have helped. "What for?" would have been the response. Birthday suits are better than bathing suits! Still, I was left with the question of how to instill in my children a sense of modesty and propriety in a culture that clearly had very different values surrounding this topic. The FKK (Freikörperkultur, or free body culture, i.e. nudist movement) has become a hallmark of East German culture. Nudism has always existed in Germany, both in the East and the West, and was appropriated by radical representatives of various movements to signalize a return back to nature. The far right made use of it as an expression of G...

Is the Church Ready for a Post-Abortion World?

Baby at 5 months in the womb My neighbor, a foreigner to Germany, my friend and prayer partner came to me one day, hesitantly excited about her new pregnancy. She had another child, a 5 year old boy, and a husband who was a friendly neighbor but not a Christian. She was hesitant because she did not know how he would react to her news. Eventually she told him and his response was, “you need to get an abortion, or else I will leave you and take our son with me.” My friend came to me very distressed. She knew abortion was wrong. We spent a long time talking, praying and asking God to give her the strength to withstand his blackmail. A few weeks went by. She knocked on my door. She told me she had not had the courage and that the fear of man had overcome her. There was no more baby. We held each other and cried for such a long time. I reminded her of the forgiveness found in Jesus. Ever since, she has drifted. I have moved away to another part of town and have very little contact w...

Demonology 101

Shock After a few months on "our" mission field, a post-communist, dead, atheistic region, my family and I were reeling from the shock. No, not culture-shock, though there was plenty of that. It was the shock of coming face to face with demonic forces beyond our comprehension. Numerous strange events had transpired: liters of urine poured into our stroller, blood splattered on our apartment door, a small hole had been drilled into our front door indicating a planned break-in (the hole is used to insert a small probe camera), much sickness, poor sleep for us, and even sensing an evil presence in our bedroom. At first we thought we must be imagining things, but the horrid climax was the nightmares that tormented our two-year old son. For many months he’d wake up screaming bloody murder and we could not settle him back down easily. At two and a half, he was finally able to verbalize what he’d been dreaming about for the past few months. One of his most vivid dreams was a...

An Upside Down Birth

Julien and Christina with Jonathan Dear Baby Jonathan,   The nurses and doctors jeered and mocked. I could see them at the nurses' station. They couldn't understand why your birth was so momentous and why the whole family was there to meet you. These sorts of professionals see the miracle of life every day. Why was it different this time? They cannot look a deformed baby in the face. They would have preferred your parents get rid of it (you) in secret and put an end to this suffering months ago. But your parents were much braver and stronger than that. Instead of skulking away into darkness and taking your life into their own hands, they placed you into the hands of God, your Maker. They let Him make the decision of when to take your life because He gave you to them in the first place. It was not easy. They cried a lot. They had to say good-bye to you before they ever met you because they didn't know that you would be born alive. But you surprise...