MORNING BREATH PRAYER
PAUSE
As I enter prayer this morning I pause to be still.
Lord, re-center my scattered thoughts from yesterday and may I rest in your presence now.
PRAYER OF APPROACH
Lord, open my mind and heart to new thoughts and ideas today. May I experience your love throughout the day as if it was the first day I sensed your presence. I set aside my worry, anxiety and fears; I rest in you alone.
Psalm 19:1–6 (MSG): 1–2 19 God’s glory is on tour in the skies,
God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.
Madame Day holds classes every morning,
Professor Night lectures each evening.
3–4 Their words aren’t heard,
their voices aren’t recorded,
But their silence fills the earth:
unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.
4–5 God makes a huge dome
for the sun—a superdome!
The morning sun’s a new husband
leaping from his honeymoon bed,
The daybreaking sun an athlete
racing to the tape.
6 That’s how God’s Word vaults across the skies
from sunrise to sunset,
Melting ice, scorching deserts,
warming hearts to faith.
ASKING PRAYER
Today, I borrow a breath prayer from Sarah Bessey and pray with a rhythm that uses the inhaling and exhaling of breath:
Inhale: I release my worry and what-ifs
Exhale: and I welcome Your prevailing peace and possibilities.
Inhale: I receive hope in the middle of despair.
Exhale: and the good peace of God while right in the eye of the storm.
Lord, I pray that those who seek you would speak, live, and work today from a place of peace in Your presence. I ask that our words be true and pure. I pray against confusion and division of any sort. I ask for our minds to be fixed on what is lovely and worthy of praise.
YIELDING PRAYER
May we lean back in the embrace of God and pray this prayer from Amy Carmichael:
“My Father, quiet me.
Til in thy holy presence . . . hushed.
I think thy thought with Thee.”
YIELDING PROMISE
And now, as I prepare to take this time of prayer and meditation into the coming day, the Lord who loves me says in the book of John:
I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. John 10:10 (MSG)
Amen
(Adapted from Lectio365)