5 min read
Morning by Morning
“Before the day asks anything of you, let it tell you something true” — Spurgeon's gentle morning readings, in modern words.
“My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.”
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. Beloved, before the day asks anything of you, let it tell you something true: you did not wake this morning because the world's machinery happened to keep running. You woke because you were kept — through the night, in love, by One who neither slumbers nor sleeps.
Observe the psalmist's order. First the prayer rises; then the eyes rise after it. He directs his prayer unto God, and then he looks up — watching for the answer as a servant watches the master's hand. Expectation, not eloquence, is the whole art of morning prayer. Send up the petition, however plain, and then stand watching the sky.
Take care what your mind reaches for first, for the first reach sets the tone of all that follows. Reach for the day's troubles, and the day begins in anxiety. Reach for the promise, and it begins in peace. The first cup may be filled from many wells; choose the living one, and drink before you do anything else.
Expectation, not eloquence, is the whole art of morning prayer.
Do not burden yourself over the length of your devotions. A verse read slowly, a line of honest thanks, a moment of looking up — this is no small thing. The Lord does not measure prayers by the yard. A sigh carried upward in faith outruns a sermon recited without it.
And know that the promise is for this day — the actual one, with its difficult people and its disappointments, its errands and its interruptions. Grace is never a general blessing in the abstract; it is specific provision for a specific Tuesday. Manna fell by the day, and it fell fresh, and it was enough.
Then rise and go about your work with a quiet heart. The prayer has been heard; the day has been given. Keep me today — let that be your whole petition, and carry it with you as you go. Tomorrow the mercy will be new again, for His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is His faithfulness.