Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you
have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us with
your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by
adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.“O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I direct my prayer to you and watch”
(Psalm 5:3, NIV, alternate phrasing).
Prayer is a tradition as old as the Book of Psalms. As the sun rises and we
wake to a new day, we have the opportunity to recognize God’s presence in the
world, thank God for life and light, and ask God to guide us throughout the day
to come. Morning Prayer offers
us an opportunity to ground ourselves in our faith and direct our day towards
I like this Prayer for Grace from the Episcopal Church’s Book of Common Prayer because it succinctly incorporates three main types of prayer: worship, thanksgiving, and petition. In this episode of Prayer to Go, I walk through this prayer line-by-line so that we can explore these different facets prayer that you might find helpful to incorporate into your morning routine.
Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father
In the first words of this prayer, we identify God
using two characteristics traditionally attributed to Him: we recognize God as omnipotent
and eternal, meaning that He is all-powerful and exists throughout time. This
simple act of description may not seem like much, but it’s actually the first
step to praise and worship.
Worship is something that goes on inside of us – it’s not going to a church service or singing along with the worship band, but how our hearts move, change, and transform as we do those things – as we sit in God’s presence. By meditating on God, thinking about how powerful and present He is in our lives, we open our hearts to expanding our relationship with and appreciation for Him.
You have brought us in safety to this new
In the next phrase, we recognize that God has
given us the priceless gift of waking up to see a new day. Mornings can be hard
– running on too little coffee and too little sleep makes for a rough start to
the day. But even when getting out of bed is difficult, the morning brings the
promise of a new day, a fresh start. With morning prayer, we have the
opportunity to thank God for helping us through the night and giving us life to
Preserve us with your mighty power, that we
may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity. And in all we do,
direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our
Finally, we ask God to protect us and give purpose to our day. Petition is usually the easiest part of prayer – after all, we usually pray because we want something. But, this prayer models a different kind of petition, where we ask God not necessarily for something tangible that we want, but instead to guide us towards His will and to help us follow the path that He has set out for us
I so hope that you try to incorporate Morning Prayer into your daily routine, whether you choose a set prayer or ad-lib elements such as worship, thanksgiving, and petition.
Thank you for listening (or reading!) this episode of Prayer to Go. Until next time, go with God!
