Morning Prayer

If you’ve ever been at Zion School at about 8:20am during the week, you will hear our students over the loudspeaker saying the pledge as well as a prayer. The prayer is always Luther's Morning Prayer, “I thank you my heavenly Father through Jesus Christ your dear son that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger…” We daily praise God for protecting us through the night that we can awaken the next day and continue to live our lives on this earth. The imagery in Isaiah 50:4b is telling us that God awakens our ear morning by morning so that we can hear him and his word. Do you recall a night when you heard everything while you were sleeping, or did your ears go to sleep too only to awaken in the morning as well? We can praise God each morning that he awakens us and our ears! Why does he continue to protect us through the night and awaken us at day? Because we have work to do for Him! It is His love that we should be sharing with others daily. He protects, provides, strengthens, and keeps us, and we in turn should do the same for our neighbors. Out of gratitude for our heavenly Father, we live out our lives as his vessels. Our students, after they say the morning prayer, go about their day living as classmates, students, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends and athletes, doing it all to the glory of God. Our teachers go about living their vocations as educators, equipping the next generation and teaching them to love Jesus and their neighbor. The next time God awakens your ears in the morning, remember to thank him for his protection through the night, and go about your life that he has awakened you to studying his word, caring for his creation, and always praising and praying.

Prayer:
Heavenly father, thank you for awakening me each day. Thank you for your protection and provisions. Amen.