A friend of mine once told me that he started each day praying before his feet hit the floor in the morning. My friend shared that he prayed something simple like “Lord, thank You for a good night’s rest. May everything I think, say, and do today glorify You.” Nothing fancy. Nothing long or verbose. This helped him calibrate his day. He remembered whose he was and he remembered his why—his reason for living every day.
Over the years, I’ve leaned on two prayers a lot. While I’m positive I’ve missed praying one or both of them here and there, they are a part of my regular prayer life more often than not.
Praying them doesn’t yield any magical results. That’s not what prayer is and it’s not what prayer does. Prayer is a conversation between us and God. Prayer offers us connection to a higher power greater than us. Most days, this connectivity is something I need to survive the daily battle of what it means to be human. High highs, low lows. Joy and celebration one moment; grieving and mourning the next. Through prayer, I remember that I’m not alone.
The Devotional Guy™
The first prayer I pray is the Lord’s Prayer. Its verses contain everything I need to pray. It’s how Jesus taught His disciples how to pray.
“Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Matthew 6:9-13
The second prayer I pray is the Serenity Prayer. It reminds me of where I come from and of the miracles God performed to get me here. And that I need Him to get me through the day.
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Reinhold Niebuhr
Do you have a morning prayer routine that you follow? Are there prayers that you lean on to get you through the day?
Another friend once told me, “Remember, Rainer, you can start your day over any time you wish and as often as you need to. There’s no reason to wallow in a bad day. Just start over.”
I’ve found that to be the case throughout my years of trying to live a more righteous, God-honoring life. Lord knows, I don’t always get it right. Prayer helps me retune and recalibrate.
May the Lord bless you abundantly today.
Blessings,
Rainer Bantau
The Devotional Guy™
#bgbg2#BibleGateway
The Devotional Guy™ Rainer Bantau © 2023
The Devotional Guy™ 
That’s awesome, Beth. Thank you for sharing.
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Rainer, I appreciate how you emphasize the connectivity of prayer. There isn’t one prayer I lean into rather I lean into the scriptures that come to mind during the day and turn them into prayers.
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Yes, agreed. It’s a powerful prayer.
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I’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking about surrender and what it means. I think it’s a vital part of our faith. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Bridget.
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I like that, Sue. It’s simple, yet powerful.
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Reinhold’s serenity prayer has always left me in a better place
The full version even more so
Andy B
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I try to remember to pray a prayer of surrender each morning. However, sometimes when my day gets started, I forget. So I want to be better about surrendering everything throughout the day. And I like what Sue said about thanking Jesus throughout the day. Thanks for this post. Great post and title!
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Thanks so much. Yes, He does.
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The prayer I pray the most is, “Thank you, Jesus.” I pray it as I enter the sun room for my time with the Lord and I pray it during the day. Like you, it helps me identify with God and reminds me whose I am.
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I like what you said here. What amazes me is that the Lord is always here, always ready to hear our prayers.
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