In the Morning

In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning, I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. Psalm 5: 3

How do you begin your day? Do you jump right out of bed and busily begin doing all those things you need to do, or do you check your messages first and read the news of the day? Or – if you have the opportunity – do you rest in bed a little longer and enjoy the quietness of the morning?

The commercials tell us to start our day with a warm cup of coffee, or another says that we can’t possibly get started without our Special K! But the psalmist David, has a different idea. He suggests that we begin our day with God.

Imagine Him being our very first thought the moment we wake as the day stretches out before us. What a way to enjoy the quiet stillness of the morning, as we lay our thoughts, gratitude, and concerns before Him and ask Him to direct our path for the day.

The timing of our prayers, of course, is not as important as the fact that we make time to communicate with our loving God – to let our thoughts flow from our hearts into His. We probably all find ourselves saying little prayers all during the day as concerns cross our minds, and even during the night when we wake.

Some of us may find it reassuring to end our day with Him. Before sleeping, we want to thank Him for the blessings of the day, to ask for His grace to help us deal with problems in our lives, to ask for forgiveness for the ways we may not have been our best, and to prayerfully request His presence, comfort, or healing upon those who need His care. There’s something comforting about falling asleep knowing we’ve laid them all out before Him.

But sometimes after a long day, our minds and bodies are so weary that we fall asleep before we even finish, or we rush through so we can. Perhaps if we rested our bodies, and woke refreshed the next morning, we could begin the day with Him, and then rise with a whole new perspective of feeling blessed and assured of His presence.

We can always do both and much more! Nothing pleases God more than for us to spend time with Him in His Word and in prayer – telling Him about our lives and thanking Him for His goodness to us. What a promise, “O Lord, you hear my voice. In the morning, I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.”

Our God hears our prayers. And we can rest assured that He will answer them in the way that is best for us. What a privilege it is to go to Him in confidence and faith and let Him fill our hearts with His peace. What a gift to know He cares.

Prayer

O Lord, we thank you for hearing our prayers, recognizing our voices, knowing our needs, and loving us enough to listen to them over and over again. May we begin our mornings with thoughts of you and how grateful we are for the blessings of life you give.  Amen