Morning Prayer
Merciful God, we begin this morning with thanks. Thank You for rest, for the light coming through the window, and for a day that has not been spent yet. Thank You that Your patience with us did not run out overnight and that Your mercies are new again with the sun. Before we speak to anyone else today, we want to speak with You. Set the tone of these hours here, in the quiet, so that what we carry out into the day comes from You and not from our own hurry.
As we step into these hours, give us grace for one another. We will meet people who are tired, distracted, short with us, or carrying something they will not mention. Help us to assume the best rather than the worst. Where someone is difficult, let us wonder what they are shouldering instead of rushing to judgment. Where we are wronged, make us quick to forgive and slow to keep score. Remind us that we rarely see the whole story of anyone’s morning, and that a moment of patience costs us far less than we imagine. And where we ourselves are the difficult one, give the people around us the same generosity we are asking You for.
Soften whatever has hardened in us. Loosen the grudges we have grown comfortable holding. Give us words that build up, patience that outlasts our irritation, and eyes that see the person and not just the inconvenience. Let our homes, our workplaces, and even our brief encounters with strangers today be a little gentler because we passed through them. We do not manufacture this kindness on our own, so we ask You for it now, freely and gladly, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
A Word of Reflection
Grace is easiest to admire in theory and hardest to extend before breakfast. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” (Colossians 3:12) The image is deliberate: clothing is something we put on each day, on purpose, before we go out. Paul does not describe these qualities as moods that arrive when people deserve them. He also grounds the command in identity first — chosen, holy, dearly loved — because grace given usually flows from grace received. We are kind to others most naturally when we remember how patiently we have been treated ourselves. Today, we can dress for that.
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