Start Your Day the Best Way You Can – With Daily Prayer
Dear Lord, You have brought me to the beginning of a new day. As the world is renewed fresh and clean, so I ask You to renew my heart with Your strength and purpose. Forgive me the errors of yesterday and bless me to walk closer in Your way today. Amen.
Why start your day with Prayer? We are all unique creatures, designed in God’s image, for God, and to serve God. He wants us to walk with Him every day and He wishes to share His love and grace with us. So, we should start off each day paying tribute and giving thanks for all God has done, for us and for all!
If you desire to do your life's greatest work, it needs to start with prayer. God has uniquely designed you to serve Him in your gifts and abilities that He has given you. But if you simply wake up each morning and start being busy, you are likely going to miss out on the blessings and opportunities from God that day. There is no more powerful way to give God thanks and to bring yourself peace of mind and the comfort that God loves you. Prayer also energizes the heart of a believer through the power of the Spirit. Consistent prayer also releases the power of God's blessing on your life and circumstances. Jesus said, “When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.
Here at 46:10 Ministries, we are going to attempt to start sharing a morning prayer or devotional with all our website members. We plan to kick this off, each and every morning beginning Saturday October 1, 2022. If you are a member, you will receive this, if you are not a member, you can become one at https://godandourcountry.com. It costs you nothing, we will not share or sell your information, and you won’t be spammed with ads or anything else. We do not allow any of these things within our business.
We encourage you to take advantage of these daily prayers and start your day using these or any other prayer you wish, to thank and honor Jesus and the Father. For many this practice has already been established, but if you are new to starting your day with a devotional, here are some tips intended to help you and give you various ideas to organize your own morning ritual.
A few ways to seek out God in the morning:
· Put prayer time on the calendar. We put what’s important onto our schedule, and this is the most important action we could do.
· Have a morning routine, and add Bible study, or at least a morning prayer, into it.
· Don’t fall into the trap of needing to spend a certain amount of time. Some days five minutes might be all we have. Those five minutes are still life-sustaining minutes.
· Find some accountability. Is there a spouse, friend, Bible study group, or an online Bible study group, that can help you stay on course?
· Even though starting your day with prayer is preferred, if the mornings are busy, then give grace, and do it at night or in the afternoon.
· Create a Bible Study basket, or box, for your materials, or a folder on your own (not work) computer.
· Start small! Maybe you only have 5 minutes, and that’s all you can do during this season of life. Using Bible study templates keep you on track and help you have a consistent plan.
· Try and be consistent: you’re creating a routine.
· Add in worship music: it gets your heart ready.
Do what works for you – there is no perfect model or routine.
Also remember you are not a formal priest or minister – so you don’t have to be perfect. Fact is true Christians are far from perfect. You don’t have to have a polished novel type prayer – God not only doesn’t mind the novice or imperfect prayer, in fact, I believe He actually prefers it. Because it is genuine and from the heart – that’s all God is looking for. You can stumble, mumble, say the wrong words, forget what you were saying, and start over and over again…as long as you stay committed to talking to God each morning or day. Remember, we are all broken and flawed and God knows this. God desperately wants to converse with you, no matter how flawed, or near perfect, you think your prayers are.
You may be asking - How do I start a Godly morning routine? Again, it’s totally up to you and your comfort level. But here are some suggestions:
Some of the common Christian morning habits that will help you start your mornings with Jesus.
· WALK WITH JESUS – What does this mean? The meaning varies depending on the person but for me this is spending time in Jesus Words and praying to Jesus to help me see, and treat others, as he did. One way to do this is to focus on the “Red Letters” from the Bible. These are Jesus’s Words and will give you guidance on how to truly walk with Him.
· Repeat Biblical affirmations. Find certain passages that either relate to your every day life or give guidance on how to handle typical struggles in your life. You can do YouVersion Bible app searches or Google searches on these types of passages. For example, if you’re struggling with a frustrating job, type in “Bible verse for hard time at work.” YouVersion gives you several pages of different verses and Google returns seven different verses.
· Listen to worship music. I know, you’re thinking I don’t care for church hymns or gospel music! If you’re thinking this way, you don’t yet know how good Christian music has gotten. If you grew up loving Rock, Pop, Country, or nearly any kind of music, you would be surprised at how good Christian music really is now-days. You can’t go wrong with any of the following artists:
o MercyMe
o Casting Crowns
o Zach Williams
o Crowder
o Matthew West
o TobyMac
o Elevation Worship and Many Many more
· Talk to Jesus. This may seem odd, but literally sit down and have a conversation with Jesus. In good times and bad, He truly wants a relationship with you. Yes, it will seem like a one-sided conversation, but trust me He is listening.
· Meditate on scripture. Like above, find a verse or verses that relate to your situation. Then meditate on those verses and ask God to guide you. He will, maybe not exactly the way you wanted or wished, but He will show up and guide even if you don’t realize it at the time.
· Listen to a Christian podcast. Conversations about Christianity can and will show you that no matter who you are or what challenges you have, we are all broken, hurting, we often fail, and sometimes things seem impossible. A podcast will show you that this is EVERYONE’S story, not just yours. The amazing thing is God loves you no matter what. He forgives you; He will help you, and He will never leave you.
· Observe God's creation. One of the best ways to start your day or commune with God is to take a walk, a bicycle ride, or a drive. Communing with nature, observing the incredible beauty of all of nature and all the animals, can definitely clear your mind and help you see how incredible God truly is – remember He created it all – the beautiful clouds, the sun, the moon, the birds, the flowers, the mountains, the lakes and rivers, and all the animals. A God that can create all of this beauty and still love and care for you, is a God worth worshiping each and every morning or day.
Today, I plan to start sharing Bible verses to start your day, each and every day. It may be a challenge, for you and for me, but it is obvious we all need to start our day worshipping and thanking our loving God.
I leave you with this. One of the most amazing things in the Bible is the Book of Isaiah. Isaiah was one of God’s most revered prophets who foretold the coming of Jesus, and many of the things Jesus would do or accomplish, ~700 years before Jesus was born. Isaiah 41:10 tells us what God told him to prophesize: "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
I pray for each of you, that you will begin starting your day with prayer – It truly is the best way to start your day!!!
