A Prayer For You
I love my morning routine. Without fail and without an alarm, Brenda and I wake up between 6:00 and 6:15 every day. We lay there for a few minutes, waking up, sharing dreams we may have had, pointing out new aches we are experiencing as we get older, and briefly reviewing what we have on our calendar for the day. After making the bed I run to the kitchen to make our coffee. Today, it was a medium roast coffee from Uganda, french press. I love bringing Brenda her coffee, reminding her I still love her after sharing life together for 40 years. We then spend a few minutes reading from the Bible and praying for friends, family, ministries, and organizations we love.
My favorite part of our routine is praying for our grandchildren. Not a day goes by that we don’t ask for their health, good friends, safety, a growing faith, and protection from the brokenness of our wonderful yet broken world. I will be honest; sometimes, we run out of things to pray for. It feels like we have prayed for the same thing 100 times already. So we tried something new. Someone sent us a one-page guide that suggested how to pray for your grandchildren, including three short bible verses that support the things we are praying for. We fell in love with this simple way of praying for the kids.
Without fail, every Tuesday morning, we pray for David’s Refuge. We pray for our staff and Board of Directors, for upcoming respite weekends, and for the Moms and Dads we serve. So today, I want to take a verse from the Old Testament and turn it into a prayer you can pray for yourself. I hope it will remind you that you are not alone and that God and your community love you. I will be using Isaiah 40:28-31 as the model for my prayer. If you want to see the verse, click the following link: Isaiah 40:28-31
Dear God,
Would you please remind me today that you are my creator and the creator of my children? That means you know me and my children intimately and love us. I will be honest and tell you I am exhausted. Thank you for never getting tired of me! There are so many things I don’t understand. I trust you know better than I do. Today, I will boldly ask you to give me strength and power to love my children and live my life with joy and purpose. I put my hope in you in faith, believing you will renew my strength. Help me face the day with purpose, strength, and boldness today. Instead of being crushed by fear and anxiety, I choose, with your help and blessing, to soar like an eagle with determination and hope. Amen.