Is it your daily habit to greet each new morning with at least a brief conversation with God? An anonymous writer shared that this was his prayer as he awoke each new day. “Dear God, so far today I’ve done all right. I haven’t gossiped. I haven’t lost my temper. I haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or over indulgent. I’m very thankful for that. But in a few minutes, God, I’m going to get out of bed and from then on, I’m going to need a lot more help. Amen.” One thing you can say about this prayer is that the author was honest and that he knew where to turn for help. In those ways, while very simple, it might be a good model to follow.
The fact is, however, that using some of the Psalms might be an even better way for you to connect with the LORD at the beginning of a new day. When David wrote Psalm 5, for example, he gave the Israelites a song, a prayer set to music, which would help them shift their focus from themselves to God. It would turn their minds not only to the Lord’s presence in their lives but to their relationship to Him. Because David knew that both seen and unseen enemies would try to attack them during the day, his poem reminded them that they could call on God to defeat these forces which would weaken their commitment to holy living and distract them from making the best and Godly choices. Finally, this Psalm helped them to praise the Lord for who He is and what He will do for them and for all those who love His name.
“There is no better place in all of Scripture than the Psalms to learn to be with God and to see with the eyes of faith the face of the One who longs to form us fully in His image. The Psalms are God’s prayer book and they teach us to talk to God in His own language.”
(God’s Prayer Book, Ben Patterson, p. 1)
