Morning Coffee with the Lord by Libby Johnson

“In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.” Psalm 5:3

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been making feeble attempts to rise earlier in the morning in order to prepare for the school year when I’ll have no choice but to rise earlier. By doing so, I’ve had a bit of extra “Jesus time” on my hands. Sometimes, I just don’t know what exactly to do with Jesus so early in the morning. My mind wanders when I try to pray and my eyes glaze over the words of scripture while I wait for my coffee to do its job.
 
So, instead, I’ve been keeping it simple. Several years ago, I received a copy of a fantastic prayer book called Every Moment Holy: Volume I. In this volume, there is a prayer entitled A Liturgy for the Ritual of Morning Coffee. It’s short and sweet, and it wakes my heart up to my Lord in the first minutes of my day. The first stanza reads:

Meet me, O Christ, in this stillness of morning.
Move me, O Spirit, to quiet my heart.
Mend me, O Father, from yesterday’s harms.

Beyond that stanza, I don’t have the rest of the prayer memorized yet. So, I repeat those words over and over to myself each morning. And in doing so, I find comfort. I find peace. I find space to think my thoughts with the Lord near, and find that by doing so, I am praying. What is prayer if not just thinking our thoughts while recognizing the Lord’s presence is there? Is it not just living life with God knowing he’s there, offering to him our worries, woes and wonders?
 
Help us, Lord, to meet you as you meet us. Ever-present God, always-near God, forever-listening God, we adore you. Amen.