A Prayer for Today

Lord, here is today. I give it back to You before it starts.

Thank You that I don't have to live this whole week right now — just today. Just these hours. You made this day; You already know everything in it. Nothing that happens between now and tonight will surprise You.

So I hand You my plans, loosely. Do with them what You want. If something falls through, help me trust that You can work through changed plans too.

I hand You my worries — You know the ones. I've turned them over so many times and never once solved them by worrying. Take them today. Trade them for peace.

Help me do today's work honestly and well. Help me love the people in front of me — the easy ones and the difficult ones — remembering I'm probably somebody's difficult one.

Keep me from wasting today wishing it were a different day. This is the one You gave me. There is something good in it, planted by You, and I don't want to walk past it.

If today is hard, be near. If today is sweet, don't let me forget where it came from. If today is just plain and quiet, teach me to be thankful for plain and quiet. Either way, keep me close to You, from this first hour to the very last one.

And when I lie down tonight, let me leave today in Your hands — finished, forgiven, and safe — and trust You with tomorrow before it comes.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

When to Pray This

Pray this at the start of the day, whenever your day starts — 6 a.m. or noon. It's also worth returning to midway through a day that has gone sideways, as a way of handing it back.

A Verse to Hold On To

"Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." — Matthew 6:34 (KJV)