Prayer of the Day

Father, thank You for this new morning. Thank You that Your mercies did not run out overnight — that they are new again today, waiting for me like light under the door.

Before I check the news, before I count my worries, before the day tells me who I have to be, let me hear You first.

Thank You for sleep, and for waking. Thank You for breath in my body, for a roof over my head, for the people You have given me to love. I forget these things by noon, Lord. Right now, I remember.

I don't know everything today holds. Some of it I'm looking forward to. Some of it I've been dreading since last night. You know which is which. Go ahead of me into all of it.

Give me strength for the work in front of me, patience for the people beside me, and honesty in everything I say. Guard my tongue when I'm tired. Soften my heart when I'm right and someone else is wrong.

If there is someone today who needs a kind word, help me notice them. If there is something I've been putting off out of fear, give me courage to begin it — just to begin.

You were faithful yesterday. You will be faithful tomorrow. Help me trust You for all the hours in between — the ones I've planned, and the ones that will surprise me.

And when this day is over, whatever it turned out to be, let me lie down knowing I walked through it with You.

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.