My First Thought

How do you start your day? Do you start it with prayer? Some people don’t because some people aren’t morning people, and if you’re going to have a prayer time before you get your day going, it may mean getting up a little early, especially if you have children. For many years, I used to feel guilty because when my children were smaller, I found getting up early to pray very hard. As soon as my feet hit the floor, I had a little one in his or her pajamas at my side, wondering what I was doing. I had to save my prayer times for when they were napping in the afternoon or in bed at night. That made finding good time for prayer often difficult, because while I did not have the distractions of my children to contend with, in the day there was the phone, the doorbell, the noise from the street and at night, I was pretty tired. I remember being very frustrated with my prayer life at that point in time.

But that was just a season. My children are older and don’t hear me when I get up, and if they do, they ignore me. They’ve become accustomed to the sound of the coffee bean grinder in the early hours, and don’t even hear it any more. Now, I have a sweet time from about 5:45 in the morning until 7:00 or so when I can read my bible and pray and journal. It is a time I look forward to. The only distraction I have now is the cat, who likes to sit behind me while I’m at my desk, and meow softly for me to feed him, or he jumps up on the desk and rubs his head under my chin. This is when I get up and show him the great outdoors. When he was a kitten, it was a little too much like when the kids were little; on one occasion, I came upstairs for a coffee re-fill to find him swinging on my quilted wall hanging. I remember thinking that this cat needed a prayer closet of his own; one with a door. But even that was a season, and now Pip is pretty patient with me. Sometimes, he just curls up under my feet and waits for me.

Here is a prayer written by John Baillie, from his book Diary of Private Prayer. This one is intended for the beginning of the day:

Eternal Father of my soul, let my first thought today be of You, let my first impulse be to worship You, let my first speech be Your name, let my first action be to kneel before you in prayer.

For Your perfect wisdom and perfect goodness:
For the love with which you love mankind:
For the love with which You love me:
For the great and mysterious opportunity of my life:
For the indwelling of Your Spirit in my heart:
For the sevenfold gifts of your Spirit:
I praise and worship you, O Lord.

You let me not, when this morning prayer is said, think my worship ended and spend the day in forgetfulness of You. Rather from these moments of quietness let light go forth, and joy, and power, that will remain with me through all the hours of the day;

Keeping me chaste in thought:
Keeping me temperate and truthful in speech:
Keeping me faithful and diligent in my work:
Keeping me humble in my estimation of myself:
Keeping me honorable and generous in my dealings with others:
Keeping me loyal to every hallowed memory of the past:
Keeping me mindful of my eternal destiny as a child of Yours:
Through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.

Sometimes I'm afraid my first thought are more often than not "Lord help me get this done today" or "Lord, help my son not be so cantankerous today" or "Lord, do I really have to do that today?" I like Baillie's focus the attitude.