"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" - Psalm 118:24 (NIV).
In many homes there is a sound that greets the day. It could be the sound of radio, or TV, with a broadcaster bearing news of the day. In certain places where weather changes can ruin a day members wake up anxious to hear the weather man share the day's expected weather. Having heard that voice members can start the day in ernest.
Now, just as it were, have you imagined too, that once we light out of bed, the Almighty God is just as pleased to hear our voice. The Psalmist says, "In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly" (Psalm 5:3). The person who does so can then start the day in ernest.
Of course this does not mean one can't talk to God at any other time of the day. After all the Apostle Paul has urged us to "pray continually" (I Thessalonians 5:17). The Psalmist says, "Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice" (Psalm 55:17). In other words, throughout the day, we should be communicating with our God.
Yet still, there is something about starting the day, with "laying our requests" before the "author and finisher of life"! We know so, because "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" (Mark 1:35). Why the morning is because often one is clear in the mind to lay all those important requests before God. It's also a good time of reflection, in the quietness of the morning hours, before other voices crowd in. Hence the Psalmist adds, "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life" (Psalm 143:8).
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, I start the day by talking to you for you are pleased to hear my voice, and I lay all my requests before you, waiting expectantly, for victory, this I pray in Jesus's name.
Related upcoming events
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19/04/2024 - 20/04/2024 All day“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” ( Isaiah 43:19).
Just before fire was unleashed down on Sodom and Gommorah, Lot was told to pack up with his wife and two daughters and leave their homestead. Now, once out of danger, “But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” ( Gen 19:26). Perhaps here we might pause and ask why she was bothered to look back.
Of course it could have been that old “curiosity killed a cat” mistake! Yet, it could also have been Lot’s wife was not sure where she was going and longed for her old life back. This is a common error. There was nothing stirring to look back. Just before Lot’s neighbors had attacked his house eager to rape his visitors. “They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them” ( vv 5). Was there anything worth looking back to!
The case of Lot’s wife could be anyone else’s experience. The Lord has plucked you out of some mess. You have been delivered to a new life. Yet, somehow you decide to look back, as though there was anything good and worth longing for. Sometimes it is a bitter past you have been delivered from. Other than rejoice in your new blessings you keep being drawn back!
A wise caution goes, “As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly” ( Proverbs 26:11). If the Lord has just led you out of a certain mess why look back like it was much better! Instead look ahead, for “he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past” ( vv 17- 18).
Prayer today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, I thank you for delivering me from the darkness of the past and I look forward to a bright new future in you, this I pray in Jesus’ name!
