MANNA: Morning Prayer

Psalm 5
3.   O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
      in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch.

What do people mean when they say, “I’m too busy to pray”?

Martin Luther was once asked how he finds the time to pray.  His answer? 

"Today I have so much to do that I cannot get on with it
before I spend twice as long in prayer." 

When is your favorite time to pray?
Mornings are my favorite.  It's the first thing I do at the start of the day.  Before everything else...as I'm having my coffee...and sometimes, like this morning, even before the sun rises.

Psalm 5 is attributed to King David.  I like pondering the thought that the great King David once shared the same affinity for morning prayer as I do.  In verse 3, he seems to be saying that mornings were when God would hear his prayers.  By starting each day with prayer, one nice thing is that prayer doesn't become something that only gets slipped into the cracks.  Those times are fine as well, but for me the routine of daily scripture and prayer helps me keep things in perspective.  First, comes my relationship with God.  Next, comes everything else.  David seemed to think so too.  He dedicated the first part of his day to prayer.

That's really what prayer is about....your relationship with God.

There is a clue in the verse quoted here that leads me to believe David saw things this way.  He says, "I plead my case to you."  What does this mean?  Well, think about the people you know who are the ones you would plead your case to.  Are they not those who are closest to you?  David isn't referring to an actual legal case in which God is his attorney.  This is the poetry of the Psalms.  David is referring to the closeness of his relationship with God.  He turned to God in the way you might turn to your closest friend, sibling or parent.  He approached God with confidence, companionship, security.  He shared what was going on in his life and asked for help with the parts of life where he thought he needed it.

But, a relationship doesn't just consist of one-way communication.  That wouldn't be a relationship at all.  That would be a daily recital of a grocery list to God, or at worst, a daily nagging of God.  A healthy relationship requires communication in both forms...giving and receiving.  If your prayer life has become more like a grocery list to God, then it is likely that you get the feeling God isn't listening to your prayers?  Well, it isn't likely that God has stopped listening to you.  God loves you.  But, it is likely that you have stopped listening to God.

I said above that I find beginning the day in prayer..putting first things first...helps to keep things in perspective.  David ends verse 3 with the words "and watch".   David didn't drop his grocery list in God’s lap each morning and then go on his way.  He went about his day watching for God’s response.  Another way to watch for God is to listen for God.  Sometimes God says “yes” and things work out just the way we had hoped.  Other times, God says “no”, and we find God intervening in life more unexpectedly than we could have ever envisioned.  Our lives are not our own...after all.   Either way, David watched...listened for God.   Watching, waiting, listening for God takes practice, just as effective communication with anyone takes practice.  Morning prayer helps to begin the day with at least an awareness of some things to watch for with God.

Dear God, thank you for hearing us any time we approach you.  Let us never forget what a privilege it is to talk to you in prayer.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

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