Prayer of the Day

Lord, I need You to lead me. The way ahead is not clear, and I have already tried figuring it out on my own. That is how I ended up here, asking.

You see the whole road. I see about three feet of it. So I will stop demanding the whole map and ask instead for the next step.

Show me that step, Lord. Open the doors You want open, and close the wrong ones so firmly that I cannot talk myself back through them.

Speak through Your Word. Speak through wise people who love You. Speak in that quiet way You have, and give me the patience to wait until You do — because my hurry has never once improved Your timing.

I would rather walk slowly with You than run fast without You. Direct my path. I trust You with the destination.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

Father, the house is quieting down, and I bring You my family before I sleep.

Thank You for every person under this roof tonight, and for the ones we love sleeping under other roofs — across town, across the world. One family, kept in one set of hands: Yours.

Forgive us for the ways we were impatient with each other today. We are hardest, somehow, on the people we love most. Let no sharp word from today follow any of us into tomorrow.

Watch over each one as they sleep. Give the tired ones deep rest. Give the worried ones peace. Give the little ones good dreams.

Thank You that home isn't the walls — it's the people, and it's You in the middle of us. Keep us close to each other, and closer to You.

Goodnight, Father. We're all in Your keeping now.

In Jesus' name, Amen.