Morning Prayer
A morning prayer sets the tone for the entire day. This is a simple, traditional Christian morning prayer with a guide for praying it, plus three alternatives drawn from across the Christian tradition.
The prayer
Heavenly Father, I thank You for the gift of this new day. As I rise, fill my heart with gratitude for Your mercies that are new every morning. Guide my thoughts, my words, and my actions, that all I do may honor You. Give me strength to face whatever today brings — joy, difficulty, the ordinary work of my hands. Make me a blessing to those I meet. In the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Saviour. Amen.
History & tradition
Christians have prayed at the start of the day since the apostles. The Didache (a first-century Christian text) instructs morning prayer; the monastic Office of Lauds (sung at dawn) is centuries old. Modern Christians across every tradition still begin the day with prayer in some form.
When to pray it
Pray the morning prayer as soon as practical after waking — before checking your phone, before the noise begins. Anchor it to something you already do (your first sip of coffee, sitting down at your desk) so it becomes automatic. Five minutes is plenty.
Three short alternatives
The Lord's Prayer
Pray slowly: 'Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.' (Matthew 6:9-13.) See our line-by-line guide.
Psalm 5 (Davidic morning psalm)
'My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up' (Psalm 5:3). Pray the whole short psalm aloud — it was written exactly for this.
Anglican Morning Office (abbreviated)
From the Book of Common Prayer: 'O Lord, open thou our lips. And our mouth shall shew forth thy praise. O God, make speed to save us. O Lord, make haste to help us. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.'
Pair it with daily practice
Quiethaven's prayer timer gives you a gentle frame for a morning prayer — a soft start, silence, a soft end. Pair it with the daily verse on your lock screen.
"It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning." — Lamentations 3:22-23 (KJV)
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