Dealing with the Daily Junk (a prayer)

sunrise over the Sea of Galilee

⁸ Let me hear of your unfailing love 
each morning,
for I am trusting you.
Show me where to walk,
for I give myself to you.
-Psalm 143:8

Father, I thank You for the precious time You grant me in the mornings to spend with You (even if it's just a few minutes of solitude before my little ones miraculously sense that someone in the house is awake!). There is something so sacred about those dark, predawn hours when most of the world is still sleeping, except You, of course. Even though, at that point, my brain is barely getting fired back up and I still have sleep in my eyes, my heart has yet to get all cluttered with the cares of my day, and I can somehow hear You more clearly.

Invariably my soul's first response toward You is awe and praise...followed quickly by the daily realization that I fall severely short of Your holiness. Each morning brings me to the same place of remembering my continual failings...

but in Your grace, You do not leave me there.

As the psalm says, You remind me of Your unfailing love toward me, that what You have started, You will finish (Philippians 1:6). You will never give up on me, and because I have given myself to You, You will "show me where to walk." Even if the path is a rocky one - and most of the time the rocks are in the shape of my own poor choices - because of Your unfailing love, You will continue to gently lead me down the path of deliverance from the sin in my heart, for the sake of Your glorious name.

You will:

  ⁹ Rescue me from my enemies, Lord;
I run to you to hide me.
¹⁰ Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.
May your gracious Spirit lead me forward
on a firm footing.
¹¹ For the glory of your name, O Lord, 
preserve my life.
Because of your faithfulness, 
bring me out of this distress.

I thank You, Lord, that I do not need to run from You when I feel the weight of my humanity - instead, You call me to run TO You, even to hide in the shadow of Your wings. You will "rescue me from my enemies", which is my sin struggle. You will "preserve my life" and "lead me forward on a firm footing" - I have seen You do it in the past, and I know You will be faithful to keep at it as long as You lend me breath. It is You who will have the victory in my life. Nothing is possible in my own power, but You will "encourage me by giving me strength" (Psalm 138:3).

Let my obedience to You be motivated purely by my love for You - let it never be a futile attempt to make myself feel better or somehow make You love me more.

Merciful Creator, thank You for Your faithful patience with me each day...I rest in the knowledge that You will never give up on me, and that You love me just as much now in my junk as You will when I am one day made perfect in heaven. You are so good!

Amen!