Morning Exercises (Episode#4)
Father in heaven, I draw near to you today to bless your Name, to dedicate all that I am and have to serve you. You are my Lord, I have no good besides you. You are the One who pardons all my iniquities, you heal all my diseases, you redeem my life from the pit, you crown me with lovingkindness and compassion, you satisfy my years with good things, and you give me the strength to soar like an eagle.
As the deer pants for the streams of water, so my soul longs for you. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. O, grant me a sense of your presence with me this morning as I pray. I know I am a sinner and deserve only your wrath and curse. But have you not promised, Father, to remove my transgressions from me as far as the east is from the west? I know much of the troubles in my life are my own fault. I have loved this world which is passing away. I have indulged the lust and desires of the flesh by allowing the pursuit of bodily pleasure to control me the way only you should. I have allowed the lust of the eyes to deceive me, running after dark things that look bright. I have been proud, arrogant, and self-righteous, looking down my nose at other people, I have cursed my parents in my heart, and have despised those you placed in authority over me. On top of all this Father, you know the Fall of Adam has affected me all the way down to the bottom of my soul. I struggle in many areas:
List your own struggles here— Perhaps you struggle to stay on task, to get things done, to organize your time and personal space, to be timely for appointments, etc. Confess these to God.
But you know my frame, Father. You know I am but dust. And as a Father has compassion on His children, surely you have compassion on those who fear you. So draw near to me this morning, Lord, make me know your ways. Teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation. I will wait for you until you come. Incline my heart towards heaven and the things that are above. Help me to remember ETERNITY.
Remember, O LORD, your compassion and your lovingkindnesses. Have they not been from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions. By the measure of your lovingkindness, remember me, O LORD, for your goodness sake. Because Christ has redeemed me from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for me, pardon my iniquity for it is great.
Teach me, O LORD, to walk not in the counsel of the wicked. Do not let me get bogged down, standing in the way of sinners. Let me never sit in the seat of those who mock the things of God. Enlarge my heart that I might delight in your law and make it my meditation day and night. Show me what it is to set the LORD continually before me, to know that because you are at my Right hand I will not be shaken. When I cannot sleep because I don’t know what to do, may your word instruct my mind in the night watches. Make your path straight before me.
Insert your own prayers here:
Ask God for growing insight into His Word.
Pray for a growing sense of His presence in your life, that you would live firm in the conviction that, “The ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD, and He watches all his paths.”
Plead with God that His good hand will go with you today, blessing the events, meetings, and work you have planned. Ask Him for grace and patience to bear with interrupting and frustrating providence.
Lord teach me to say, “It is the Lord, let Him do as seems right to Him.”
Ask God for opportunities to love, serve, help, encourage, and bear with others.
Pray that God would set a guard over your lips and that no corrupt word would come out of your mouth, but only such a word as is good for building others up.
Pray for your family, each by name. Ask the Lord to watch over them and lead them to a closer walk with God.
Pray for your pastor that God will help him proclaim Christ, warning every man, and teaching every man with all wisdom, that he might present every man complete in Christ. Pray for your Sunday school teacher (and teachers at school or college) that God will sanctify them by His truth, for His Word is truth.
Pray for our President, Congress, and Courts that they would repent of their sins, honor the constitution, and make wise and good laws, protecting the life of all the unborn. Pray God would remove wicked leaders from both sides of the House.
Conclude your prayer with these words: “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.” (Psalm 73:25–28).