06/06/2018
Before we begin our day do we join ourselves anew to the power of God? Before we do anything else, do we immerse ourselves in the Holy Spirit, and seek God in fervent, and reinvigorating prayer? As we lay out our day are we praying that God will show us His will for us in it? If we aren’t doing these things in prayer each day, perhaps that explains the trouble we have in life. So... Pray each morning before you begin those worldly things you are chomping at the bit to rush into alone.
“And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.”
Mark 1:35 KJV
Jesus started His days in prayer. It was His equivalent to looking at His task list for the day, and then discussing it with the LORD. Is this how you approach your day, or do you just shower, dress, eat, and then pull out a piece of paper with a list certain duties scribbled on it, as you say to yourself “Well, here we go!” If it is the latter, I am inclined to ask you... who is the “we”, and where are you going with them?
I used to meticulously document those things I needed to do, and placed them in the precise order I though they needed to be done, in this way, as I began each morning I would pull out my list, go to the first item on it, and begin my day doing that thing. I thought I was so organized, and that I wouldn’t forget to do something that really needed to be done, but despite my best plans issues would spring up, and my day would somehow be derailed. Is this you?
Our best efforts at organizing our lives, and predicting the things we will face each day are never enough. Life has a way of throwing us a curve when we are expecting a fast ball, or leading us down a road we have never travelled before when our map, and charted course, show us taking a well-worn path that we would be comfortable traveling. Have you noticed this?
When I used to depend solely on the list I had prepared to organize my day, I was often frustrated. My plans said to do this, then that, and everything seemed so perfect and productive, but then life would happen, and I would begin the impromptu job of moving things around on my list, and inserting new ones, or removing tasks that were no longer necessary. By the end of the day my checklist looked like a jumbled, scribbled, mess. So I would rewrite it on a fresh piece of paper, fold it neatly, and place it on my dresser beside my wallet where I could pick it up the next morning and begin the process all over again with another “Well, here we go!”
When we begin our day in prayer it doesn’t change the fact that life will happen, but what it will do is enable us to understand our exclamation “Well, here we go!” by letting us know who the “we” is, giving us confidence in where ”we” are going, and assuring us that our journey isn’t being traveled alone. Prayer helps us anticipate the curve balls, and the sudden changes of course, without panic, or entering the frantic “fire drill” mode we dislike so much. It does this in a couple of ways. First, we discuss our day with someone who knows us, loves us, and understands what we are about to face, and second... it is just the beginning of a day long conversation, a partnership, in all that will occur that day.
Jesus wasn’t much different from us; He had an idea about where He would like to go, and what He would like to do each morning, but despite His own desires, He asked His Father what His will was. When we think of Jesus talking about will with God we think of the Garden of Gethsemane, but similar conversations were occurring every morning, and throughout each day. We hear it in the account of the “Lord’s Prayer”...
“And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
Luke 11:1 KJV
We hear it in the few words He spoke as He raised Lazarus...
“Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.”
John 11:41-42 KJV
And we see an example of it in the nights that He prayed without ceasing, before momentous decisions...
“And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;”
Luke 6:12-13 KJV
Prayer does more than calm our spirit, it places us in accord with God’s will, and reinvigorates our relationship with Him. It gives us a confidant for decisions that are so personal that no one can be trusted with them, it provides us safe harbor in the storms of life, and it replaces talking to ourselves during the little occurrences of the day with talking to God instead. What it doesn’t do is extract us from life, and all its twists and turns. Even though it will remove some of the scribbling from our daily list, it won’t keep us from adjusting as the day progresses. However, it does make life bearable, and gives us confidence as we approach the crossroads, and blind curves.
Are you ready to begin your mornings with prayer, and then continue them during the course of your day?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for beginning my day with me, and for your constant presence as I move through it. Thank you LORD for guiding me, and even those times that you must catch me when I fall. Thank you Holy Father for making the ups and downs of life bearable, and for straightening those parts of the way that are just too much for me to handle. You are merciful Father, and hold me when my heart is broken by life’s tragedies. You are glorious Father, and laugh with me when I celebrate your joy. You are wise Father, and give me perfect counsel and wisdom when I am uncertain. You are all things to me Gracious Father, and make every day perfect as I live it in your will, and talk through it with you in prayer. I praise your name in shouts, and in the soft utterances. I sing of you glory, and hum the melody of my love for you, because you are my all in all, and the God of my life. Great is your name, and Holy, Holy, Holy are you whose hand is ever upon me.
“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Psalms 118:24 KJV
Rich Forbes