Thursday, 29 July 2021
Morning has broken… time to pray
By Dorothy Teoh
 
Mark 1: 35
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”
 
Is morning the best time to pray? For many people, it is, and our Lord Himself set the example. It feels right to start the day with God, and to commit the day that stretches ahead to Him.
 
I came across the writing of someone named W.G. Barrett on a website, on the subject of praying in the morning and would like to share some excerpts here from the notes I jotted down.

Morning is the time for reflection, he said. It seems natural to think, and to be quiet, in the early morning.
 
It is also the time for observation. “The curtain is drawn aside and we look upon the lace of God’s creation,” said Barrett. I thought he put it delightfully. If you live in a landed property, go out to your garden early in the morning. The dew on spider webs is like “the lace of God’s creation”.
 
Morning is the time for purpose, said Barrett. We may begin again, every morning, with fresh purposes. As the morning gives wings to the day, so prayer gives wings to the morning, he said.
 
The old American Express credit card slogan “Don’t leave home without it” has new relevance in the age of Covid. We would not dream of leaving our homes without a face mask to protect ourselves from the virus. But how often do we leave our homes or start our day without praying?
 
Often, I awaken and resolve that the first thing I will do is spend time with the Lord, read His Word and pray. Then I think, “Oh, I have to check my Whatsapp first” or send a message to someone before I forget. And because this daily devotion is sent through a Whatsapp group on our handphones, I am all the more easily distracted. And before I know it, an hour has flown by.
 
Has that happened to you before? If so, don’t let the guilt or frustration stop you from proceeding with your original plan. Many a time I have had to ask the Lord humbly for forgiveness and for help to focus on Him and His Word after being distracted. And God is gracious – we may get distracted and take detours but He is always there, waiting, like the loving father in the parable of the prodigal son.
 
What if, for various reasons, you are unable to carve out a portion of uninterrupted time in the morning, for example, mothers with young children or care-givers to spouses or elderly parents? You could find a time during the day when your charges have been fed and are resting or sleeping. Think of it as your “date with God”.
 
Morning may be the best time for many, but any time is good for us to pray. Again, our Lord exemplified that. In Mark 6: 46, after performing the miracle of feeding the five thousand, it was already late. Jesus made his disciples get into the boat to go on ahead of Him to Bethsaida, while He dismissed the crowd and went up on a mountainside to pray.
 
In Ephesians 6, Paul exhorts his readers to “put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” (v11) and to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” (v18). Prayer is part of the full armour of God, an essential part of both our arsenal as Christians and of our “PPE”, personal protective equipment. 
 
Let us be like the psalmist who says in Psalm 5:3 : “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.”
 
PRAYER

Abba Father, thank you for the gift of prayer that enables us to speak directly with you. Thank you that it is a gift that we can give others by praying for them, especially in these challenging times when we cannot meet them in person. Help us to pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests and to wait expectantly, as the psalmist did. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

每日灵粮
2021年7月29日，星期四

题目：清晨破晓时分。是晨祷的时刻
作者：赵秋霞姐妹
翻译： 黄姐妹

马可福音 1章：35节
_“ 次日早晨，天未亮的时候，耶稣起来，到旷野地方去，在那里祷告。”

清晨是祈祷的最佳时间吗？对许多人来说，确实如此，我们的主亲自树立了榜样。一天的开始就与神同行，并将一整天交托给神，这是美好的开始。

我想在这里分享一些我在网站摘录下来的一段话。作者W.G. Barrett说，早上是反思的极佳时间。清晨可以自然冷静的思考。并且也是观察的时间。 我想他很愉快的描述说 “ 帷幕拉开，我们看到了上帝的创造映入眼帘”。
如果您早晨醒来到您的花园观看。在蜘蛛网上的露珠就像“上帝创造的花边”。
 
作者W.G. Barrett说，早上是设定目标的时候。我们可以每天早上重新设定新的目标。他说，正如早晨开启了新的一天，祈祷则给予新一天早晨的力量。

旧的美国运通信用卡口号“没有它,别离家！” 在新冠疫情时代有了新的意义。我们没想到如今不戴口罩出门，就不能保护自己免受病毒的侵害。但是如今的我们有多常以祈祷开始我们的路程或新的一天？

通常，我醒来要做的第一件事就是灵修，那就是读经和祈祷。然后我想，“哦，我必须先检查我的群组简讯”或在我忘记之前向某人发送讯息。因为每日灵修是通过我们手机上的群组简讯而发送的，所以我很容易分心。不知不觉，一个小时就过去了。

你以前有过这种情况吗？如果是这样，不要让内疚或沮丧阻止您继续执行最初的计划。很多时候，我不得不谦卑地祈求上帝的宽恕和帮助，让我在分心之后专注于他和他的话语。上帝是仁慈的——我们可能会分心并绕道而行，但他总是在那里，等待着，就像浪子寓言中慈爱的父亲一样。

如果由于各种原因，您无法在早晨腾出一部分不受干扰的时间，例如，有年幼孩子的母亲或配偶或年迈父母的照顾者，该怎么办？您可以在白天腾出任何空档时间，把他预留为“与上帝约会”的时间

 早晨对许多人来说可能是最好的时间，但任何时候我们都可以祈祷。我们的主再次证明了这一点。在马可福音 6：46 中，在行了喂饱五千人的神迹之后，已经晚了。耶稣随即催门徒上船，先渡到那边伯赛大去，等他叫众人散开。 46 他既辞别了他们，就往山上去祷告。

 在以弗所书 6 章中，保罗劝告他的读者“要 穿 戴 神 所 賜 的 全 副 軍 裝 ， 就 能 抵 擋 魔 鬼 的 詭 計 ”（第 11 节）并“靠 著 聖 靈 ， 隨 時 多 方 禱 告 祈 求 ； 並 要 在 此 儆 醒 不 倦 ， 為 眾 聖 徒 祈 求 ”_（第18节）。祷告是上帝全副武装的一部分，是我们作为基督徒的武器库和我们的“个人防护装备” 。

让我们像诗篇 5:3 中的诗人一样：“ 耶和华啊，早晨你必听我的声音；早晨我必向你陈明我的心意，并要警醒”

祷告

阿爸天父，感谢您赐予我们祷告的恩赐，使我们能够直接与您交谈。感谢您让我们可以通过祷告祝福他人，尤其是在这疫情我们无法见面的期间。帮助我们在任何场合不住地祷告，交托并像诗人般耐心等候。我们奉耶稣的名祈求。阿门。