Deeply Loved - Keri Wyatt Kent

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first graduated from a crib to a toddler bed, she would awaken and sit up in her bed, as she had in her crib. Perhaps fooled by the small bedrail, she would call for me. If I didn’t hear her right away (and I usually didn’t because I was fast asleep), she’d bellow: “Mommy! I want to wake up!”

      This typically jolted me out of bed. “You already are awake,” I’d mutter, stumbling across the hallway to her room, as if she cared about semantics. But I would lift her out of her bed (which she quite easily could have climbed out of), kiss her cheek, and let her rest her head on my shoulder. I was hoping to keep the myth alive, to keep her believing she needed my assistance to get out of bed, to keep her from wandering around in the morning alone.

      She often woke before 6 a.m., so I’d carry her back to the kingsize bed in our bedroom and let her snuggle with my husband and me. Sometimes she’d fall back asleep between us. Soon she discovered she could easily get herself out of bed, and she’d quickly sprint into our room and climb into our bed.

      Gradually, mornings became a time of connection with my children. My son, born two years later, quite quickly picked up the habit of coming to our bed in the morning. Even as a preschooler, he’d often show up around 4 or 5 a.m. “I had a bad dream,” he’d say, slipping under the comforter to rest beside me. “Do you want to talk about it?” I’d ask sleepily. “No,” he’d say, just cuddling in beside me.

      I loved these times. Even though my children woke me earlier than perhaps I would have chosen, I treasured their intimate snuggles. As they moved past the preschool years, my children grew increasingly independent. Morning became one of the few times when they would willingly cuddle. Despite the stresses that would come during the day, we had a few moments without conflict or strife to begin the day.

      How do you typically wake up? To the cries of children who want to be fed? To an alarm clock? (And what does it do to your soul, to make your first thought upon waking: “It’s morning! Be alarmed!”)

      Some awaken and immediately think of the stressful day before them, unwinding like a rolling ball of yarn they cannot stop. Others shake off the grogginess of sleep only to have it replaced by the weight of sadness or failure.

      The Bible says that as we sleep, God watches over us. If that’s true, he’s still there keeping watch as we awaken. His presence is available 24/7. My best days are the ones where I take a moment before leaping out of bed to just lie there for a minute and let the cobwebs clear enough to simply say, “Good morning, Lord.” To remind my soul of what is true—he is with me, always.

      As my eyes open (whether in response to the alarm or just my internal clock), I try to make my first thought be about Jesus. We live so hurried and hassled, think we haven’t the time to just take a few moments to lie in bed and give our day to God, to ask Jesus to be with us. But you have all the time you need to do what God has called you to do, and in those first moments of the day, he’s calling you to simply acknowledge and enjoy his presence.

      I realized a while ago that an extra sixty seconds or so to simply swim to the surface of consciousness was time well spent. The best way to start your day is to just take a moment to breathe, and to focus, and to give the day to the one who gave it to you: Jesus.

      PRESENCE PRACTICE

      When you awaken, don’t jump out of bed. Conversely, don’t hit the snooze alarm and go back to sleep.

      Stretch your arms over your head to awaken your body physically. Take a few deep breaths.

      Lie quietly and ask yourself, “How am I feeling?” Are you happy? Anxious? Are you rested? Perhaps if you’re still exhausted you need to make a habit of going to bed earlier. Although we may not think of it as a spiritual practice, sleep is essential for our physical and spiritual health. Sometimes the most God-honoring thing you can do is simply to get a good night’s rest.

      As you are lying or sitting in your bed, just think about Jesus. If it helps, imagine him perched at the foot of your bed. Remind yourself that he’s been by your bedside all night, just waiting for you to awaken and greet him. Say, “Good morning, Lord.”

      Think about the day ahead of you, just briefly. What meetings are scheduled? What tasks must be accomplished? Which people do you have to interact with? Invite Jesus to be with you in those encounters and chores. Ask him for guidance; surrender these things to his care. Ask him to keep you aware of his presence as you go through your day.

      This practice should take less than five minutes. Begin your day aware of Jesus, and dedicate the day to him. (Make this a practice throughout the remainder of the forty-day challenge.)

      

Check here when you have completed today’s Presence Practice.

      DAY 6

      THROUGH THE DAY

       I will praise you seven times a day because all your regulations are just. (Psalm 119:164, NLT)

       Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV)

      Beginning my day with prayer buoys my intentions—certainly I will turn my thoughts toward Jesus often, will live aware and awake to his love. But my ardor cools like the mug of coffee abandoned on the table. I’m full of excuses as to why this happens—mostly I get distracted, pulled off mission by the small but mighty demands of the day. The stress that happens when things don’t go as planned—and they never go as planned—shifts my focus onto tasks. I feel I must take over and problem-solve instead of turning to the one who can actually help.

      The Old Testament tells us that God’s people made a habit of praying several times a day. Daniel, for example, prayed three times a day. Psalm 119 mentions a seven-times-a-day habit. In the New Testament, we’re exhorted to pray without ceasing. This doesn’t necessarily mean a constant chatter at God. We can also cultivate the habit of listening prayer—keeping our ear tuned steady to heaven is also a form of continual prayer.

      We can’t build such habits without the right tools. An ancient practice, probably followed by Jesus and his disciples (like generations of Jews before them) offers a cure for the amnesia that sets in when we close the Bible after our morning devotions: praying at set times of day.

      Liturgical traditions, using written prayers, make a habit of praying morning, noon, and evening—their voices joining others around the world who are praying the same words, turning their minds and hearts toward Jesus at the same time. This practice, known as fixed-hour prayer or the Divine Hours, builds in us a gentle habit of pausing—stopping our frantic engagement with the world for just a few minutes—so that we can focus on God, so we can rest, if only for a few moments, in his generous love. In so doing, we can access the power and strength that he longs to provide for us.

      Fixed-hour prayers are typically offered three times per day: morning, noon, and evening. Some choose to add a short, peaceful addendum of bedtime prayers, known as “compline.”

      “The Divine Hours are prayers of praise offered as a sacrifice of thanksgiving and faith to God and as a sweet-smelling incense of the human soul before the throne of God. To offer them is to serve before that throne as part of the priesthood of all believers,” writes Phyllis Tickle in The Divine Hours.1

      What do we pray if we practice the Divine Hours? Using prewritten prayers, which are based mostly on the Psalms, is a wonderful practice. Tickle’s book and the Book of Common P rayer each contain these traditional prayers if you want to use them. Or you may want to write short prayers of your own or simply pick a few meaningful verses from the Psalms to use as prayers.

      Another way that you can practice this discipline is to simply set up times to pause and pray through your day. A friend of mine set his digital watch to beep quietly once an hour. When he heard the sound, he simply stopped what he was doing for just a moment and spoke

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