My Morning Prayer for “Just Today”
Morning Sunrise over Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, May 2024
Currently, I have several friends with deep faith who grapple with serious issues. Some face non-life-threatening, but painful, chronic physical ailments. Others fight for their memories. Still others have received poor prognoses and battle for their very lives. Additionally, I have friends who live with nagging anxieties and fears related to unknowns in this broken world in which we reside.
As I seek God’s wisdom for ways to manage my own chronic pain and everyday anxieties, I try to remember to pray for my friends, recalling the words of Scripture (James 5:16) in which we are told to pray for one another that we might be healed. It’s easy to get so enmeshed in our own difficulties that we neglect praying for those whose lives intersect ours.
A few days ago, I had a long phone conversation with a dear friend who has been told her cancer prognosis isn’t good. She is a private person whose faith is fierce but whose relationship with God tends to be more inwardly focused.
The day following that conversation, I opened Facebook and was blessed by a post from another friend who has been in a fierce battle with cancer. An extrovert and gifted communicator, he shares his journey openly. His frequent words of encouragement inspire strength and enable many to keep moving forward.
These, as well as several other recent interactions, led me to write this prayer for “just today.”
Dear God,
Despite the circumstances, no matter what battle you allow me to wage
Remind me, just for this day, to
Live as I can and not as I can’t,
To see what is right, regardless of what’s wrong,
To focus on that which is good rather than all that is troublesome.
Like the psalmists of old, help me to be honest,
Free to lament about physical, emotional, and environmental pain,
But then, O God, please reframe my focus,
Showing me who you are and providing faith to believe in what you can do.
As I walk in my reality, kindle hope for your bounty.
Thank you, because even during my darkest days
Your faithfulness is great, and your mercies are new every single morning.*
Amen
*Lamentations 3:23
Blessings on your journey through “just today,” whatever it holds,
