Create a peaceful space to pause, and allow yourself to feel God’s presence alongside you, as near to you as your own breath. In following the reflection below, as a church we will draw closer to God and to one another as we grow in faith and deepen our sense of belonging to God.
Psalm 5:3 ‘A Morning Prayer’
In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice:
in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.
Mark 1: 35 ‘Jesus Seeks Space to Pray’
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house
and went off to a solitary place where he prayed.
Jesus had had a long day. Being the Sabbath he had gone to the synagogue in Capernaum where he had taught the people and healed a man with an unclean spirit to the amazement of the congregation. Back at Peter’s home he had restored Peter’s mother-in-law back to health and enjoyed the rest of the Sabbath with his friends. Once the sun had set and the Sabbath over, the people of the town brought their sick for him to heal. It was certainly not a Sabbath day of rest for Jesus! He deserved a ‘lie in’ the next morning, but no – before the sun rose again he left the house and went to commune with his Father, God to seek guidance for that day. When his disciples found him he knew what he would do next and told them they would be off on their travels to other towns and villages.
When I was a schoolgirl I started each day with Heinz baked beans on toast – woe betide my Mum if it was another make. But it was her insistence that breakfast, the first meal of the day was important. It set you up for the rest of the day, and she was right. If this is true for our physical wellbeing, how much more important is it to follow the example of Jesus and the Psalmist to start each day with prayer to our Father God: to lay before him what we think for that day and ask his guidance on what we should do. If you, like me, are not an early morning person like Jesus, then whenever your day starts, let us meet with our Lord and hand over the day to him.
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Prayer:
May this prayer of Martin Luther
(1483-1546) be our morning prayer:
Today, O God, let us know
your power
to make us strong,
your counsel
to make us wise,
your grace
to make us holy
and your glory
to bring us into your presence.
Amen.
Reflection © 2020 Gillian Wood.
Image of sunrise © Paul Tabraham
Image of Jesus at Prayer freely available online.
A printable version of this Daily Devotional can be downloaded from here
All material within this order of worship is reproduced by permission under CCL 1226356