A Prayer about Early Morning Love
Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
for in you I trust. (Ps. 143:8)
Dear Lord Jesus, I understand that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. What we consume early will greatly determine the rhythms of the rest of the day. I know this to be true, especially on the mornings when meager sleep segues into a way too busy day, and I choose to break the evening fast with too much caffeine and sugar. As they say, “Up like a rocket, down like a rocket.”
But on a far, far more profound level, what I put into my mind and heart as the day begins affects a whole lot more than my energy level and how soon I’ll need a “power nap.”
Out of equal measures of delight and desperation, I make the psalmist’s cry my own: “Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love” (Ps. 143:8). That’s what I need more than anything else.
Only your love is better than life, Jesus. Only your love meets the deepest needs of my whole being and satisfies my most intense longings. Only your love is unwavering, Jesus, for all other loves are filled with conditions and contingencies. Only your love is unfailing, Jesus, for all other loves are fickle and finite.
Only your love can expose and replace my idols. Only your love can break my self indulgent chains and set me free to love well. Only your love can heal the greatest heart wounds I carry. Only your love can move me from navel gazing to kingdom living. And I can think of a lot more “only,” Jesus.
So this morning and every morning— afternoons and evenings too— Jesus, preach the gospel to our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The gospel is the word of your unfailing love, and only in the gospel do we hear and experience your unfailing love. We pray in your trustworthy name.
Amen.