1 PRAY TO START AND END YOUR DAY WITH GOD.

Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice.

     —Psalm 55:7

Start with prayer. It’s called proactive prayer. If you begin today with a negative, self-centered, problem-driven focus, then your day’s spiritual forecast reads:

Cloudy

Storms Ahead

Lightning Alert

Prepare for a Shock!

Honestly, to begin the day talking to anyone except God gives you their perspective instead of His; their problems instead of His; and their direction instead of His. Focus your day-starting prayer on God not on things that you want or that distract you.

First-thought, first-talk, first-emotion prayer points you in the right direction and keeps you the head not the tail, the first and not the last, and the lender instead of the borrower (Deut. 28:12–13).

End with prayer. Your day-ending prayer isn’t a mopping up action. It’s thanksgiving, praise-proclaiming time celebrating all that God did with, through and in spite of you.

Starting your day without prayer guarantees a day ending with tears, sorrow and distress. Starting your day with prayer ensures ending your day with eyes opened to new miracles, greater glory and incredible signs.

Think of it this way. Starting your day with prayer is like putting on glasses and seeing clearly both the visible and invisible. Without prayer, your day becomes like uncorrected vision so that you move ahead in a blurry, foggy haze not knowing when you’ll stumble next.

Beginning prayer and ending prayer become the bookends for a day filled with dairies of divine communion.

God,

I begin my day with You. Direct my steps. Unknot my emotions. Clear my head. Tune my Spirit to hear clearly the sounds of heaven. Amen.

God,

I end this day with You, thankful for your provision and protection, exulting in Your miracles, excited by Your leading, and rejoicing in Your forgiveness. Repenting of my sins, I ask You to refresh my spirit, rest my body, renew my mind, and restore my relationships. Amen.