Morning Prayer
Good morning, Lord. Thank You for the gift of this new day, for the breath in our lungs and the light coming through the window. Thank You for coffee and quiet, for the people waiting to share this day with us, and for the work that gives our hands purpose. Thank You for rest, however much or little we found, and for the quiet promise that Your mercies are waiting for us again this morning. Before the schedule fills and the noise begins, we want to start here, with You, grateful simply to be held and known.
As we step into this day, we ask You to clothe us in kindness. We will meet people who are tired, distracted, hurting, or hard to love, and some days we are those people ourselves. Help us to slow down long enough to notice them. Give us patient answers when we would rather snap, gentle words when sharp ones come easier, and humble hearts when we are tempted to prove we are right. Remind us that a single kind word can change the course of someone’s day, and that no act of gentleness is ever wasted in Your kingdom. Let our homes, our workplaces, and even our brief encounters with strangers carry a little more of Your warmth because we were there.
We know we cannot manufacture this kindness on our own. It flows from the kindness You have already shown us, every undeserved grace and every second chance. So fill us first, that we might pour out freely. Make us quick to listen and slow to judge. Where we have been unkind, help us make it right. Where others have hurt us, give us the courage to forgive. And as this week draws toward its close, let our words and actions point back to You, the source of every good and gentle thing. Amen.
A Word of Reflection
Paul writes to the believers in Colossae: “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering.” (Colossians 3:12, KJV) The picture is of getting dressed, something we do deliberately each morning. Kindness is not merely a mood we hope to fall into; it is a garment we choose to put on. And notice the order: we are first called “holy and beloved,” and only then asked to clothe ourselves in compassion. Because we are already deeply loved, we can afford to be generous with others today, even with those who test us most. Kindness is how that love becomes visible to the world around us.
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