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New every morning is your love, great God of light, and all day long you are working for good in the world. Stir up in us desire to serve you, to live peacefully with our neighbors and all your creation, and to devote each day to your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

"A Liturgy for Morning Prayer," Upper Room Worshipbook

Used by permission from the Book of Common Worship, © 2018 Westminster John Knox Press. All rights reserved. This prayer appears in “A Liturgy for Morning Prayer” in Upper Room Worshipbook.

 

Today’s Reflection

If you’re feeling anxious about time, take this moment and pray that God will give you the time you need to do what needs to be done. Time is God’s gift, and when you become mindful of this gift, you’ll be surprised to find that the time you need is suddenly there. …

God understands your need to have time to accomplish your daily tasks, but you need to understand that the moment you have, this moment, is the time to seek God first.

—Patricia Wilson, Freedom from Worry: 28 Days of Prayer (Upper Room Books, 2013)

If you’ve enjoyed this week’s reflections, the Freedom From Worry eCourse is now being offered free to all individuals through April 18, 2020. Use the promo code FREEDOM when registering.

Today’s Question

What helps you become mindful of God’s gift in each moment? Join the conversation.

Today’s Scripture

Instead, desire first and foremost God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
—Matthew 6:33 (CEB)

Prayer for the Week

Lord,
When I’m crushed by my fears and worries, remind me of your power and grace.
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room.

Something More

Even when separated by physical distance, we can stay connected through prayer. Join us Live on Facebook today at 11:00 AM CST for Morning Prayer. Find The Upper Room on Facebook here.

Lectionary Readings

(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)

Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.

5 Comments

  • robert moeller Posted March 20, 2020 6:15 am

    Going to sleep at night and waking up in the morning makes me aware of the time God gives. Thank You,
    Lord.

  • Jill Posted March 20, 2020 7:08 am

    Trying to be more aware of being grateful. It is easy to get pulled into negativity, but I want to have an aura of thankfulness. I believe He desires us to live in the moment with Him, this current moment. And, when our thoughts rewind – there needs to be gratitude and when our thoughts fast-forward – there should be faith and trust in His provision. He holds us now and He holds the future.
    I spoke with my friend this morning and she said – you know, God isn’t surprised by any of this. He is asking us to trust Him more
    Dad is beginning to struggle with the isolation – I would appreciate you all holding him in prayer. He says he is fighting the battle with his mental health. He misses mom’s companionship, thinking of how the two of them would be passing this time together. And, undoubtedly, thinking about a year ago – the final weeks of mom’s life.
    We have been given some directives from the school district – next week we will receive virtual professional development to assist us in how to approach the days ahead, effectively relaying instruction to our students in meaningful ways. Then the following week, that instruction will begin. Our assistant superintendent figures we will not be back the remainder of the year, but stopped short of saying it. She feels it is just a matter of time before the governor calls the remainder of the school year off. Our buildings will be open today and tomorrow for us to go and get whatever is necessary to instruct from home. I think I will be going in tomorrow. I don’t want to say my delivery of instruction will be harder than others, but – I think it might be. I am putting my head together with my instructional coach – as to how to teach upper level math (Pre-Calculus, Statistics and Calculus) to my students. It’s not like I can just sit down at my computer and easily type, via the keyboard, all the math notation and symbols necessary. We are also awaiting news regarding our program – and if testing will go ahead as usual beginning the first week of May. Supposedly there will be a statement forthcoming today. Schools around the world are awaiting this as this program is worldwide and so many schools in Europe are impacted as well as here in the US.
    April – may all go well with your procedure and recovery.
    May each of us live in this present moment, grateful for this day He has given us, to grow closer to Him. Yes, we will rejoice and be glad in it.

  • Andrea Posted March 20, 2020 7:40 am

    Gracious God, May we turn over our fears to You. May the abundance of time we now have on our hands be used to be centered in Your Love, that we may shine love to others.

    May April’s procedure be successful and may there be a shield of protection around her throughout. May Jill be protected as she works at her school today or tomorrow to prepare to deliver remote instruction to her students. May Larry be strengthened and protected by God’s love and providence.

    My daughter Molly is working from home, “seeing” clients remotely. She looked very tired and worn when we “hung out” yesterday. I can see it is wearing on her to “see” a full caseload of clients on her computer screen. I ask for your prayers for her.

    Blessings and prayers for Julie, Megan, Julie’s mother, Robert, Erich, Anneliese, Lou and her children, April and her family, Rick and his husband, Gail, Connie and her family, Mary and her sister, Marcy, Betsy and her family, Rusty and K, Edy, and all UR friends, visitors, and staff. We are in God’s strong arms.

  • Julie Posted March 20, 2020 8:35 am

    Today’s Bible reading with the UR Devotional is Isiah 41:10-13 which are wonderful for this time. I know this booklet is compiled and printing many months prior but it wwas uncanny. God gives us what we need at the time it is needed. These verses also supported me during the continued stress and uncertainty with h. Many of the lines were eerily like this situation, as h is unaware that he will be disgraced when I reveal that je and his “friends” forged my signature on some documents which are allowiiing him to draw his entire pension with no provision for me following his death.
    Prayers for Andrea and her medical team today, May all go well today with minimal pain and a quick recovery.
    Prayers for Jill and Larry, may both remain safe, healthy and sane through isolation. As a fellow math person I am intimately aware of the issues facing you when instructing your students remotely, may you find a way and may they learn even better.
    Prayers for Andrea and Molly, may Molly find rest this weekend and refreshment for her soul from the Lord.
    Prayers for Robert, may he remain healthy during this time. I noticed you implied I had not been posting yet I have posted every day. I post after you most days.
    Prayers for Rick, may his health coontinue to improve and may he stay safe while he recuperates.
    Prayers for Lou and her children as they grapple with uncertainty pertaining to schooling.
    Megan and I found much of what we needed yesterday. I should listen to Scripture and trust God to provide. We will go shopping at another store today or tomorrow for perishables.
    April, I also signed up for the ecourse, as you can’t beat free!
    Prayers and thank you UR, posters and administrators

  • April Posted March 20, 2020 10:58 am

    Thank you all for your prayers for me today. Early morning call that my procedure has been cancelled as my provider is ill. Will await a call back for next steps.
    What will I do with this extra time? I am listening to the Freedom from Worry elearning and am learning new thoughts, even though I don’t think I am a worrier :)) I am thinking of you Julie as I listen.
    I am thinking of you Jill as you transition to online teaching….and I know you will do well. Here is what I do when I want to share something without typing. I write it on a sheet of paper, take a picture of it with my phone, send it to my email and then use “snip it” or “snipping tool”, and add it to a Word document. Then when I get the Word doc all “developed”, I can ctrl +a, ctrl +c and then ctrl + v to paste where I want or ctrl + p and print it. I haven’t figured out how to make the picture so that it is a link, but maybe you can ….or ask for help with this. I pray for you with this new challenge in teaching.
    What helps you become mindful of God’s gift in each moment? The answer comes from my other Lenten devotional’s theme this morning related to light. It is titled Bright Morning Star and differentiates between the evening star and the morning star as the minutes move forward. It ends with telling us that the morning star is light and we are to be lights in this world. I feel this is one thing that I can do by writing letters or texting and sometimes posting. I see all of your posts as stars shining in our dark world and am mindful of God’s gift in this moment. Then I start to be more mindful of looking for God’s other gifts all day long.
    Blessings dear UR Family.

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