My family and I are watching the incredible TV series, The Chosen. It is by far the most beautiful depiction of the story of Jesus I’ve ever seen. Its premise is unique. The story is told by those who walked with Jesus during His time on earth. The accounts we have read in the Bible come alive in a way I never witnessed before. Seeing Jesus through the eyes of those who He touched, healed and called is fascinating. To see how their stories are intertwined, what life was like for those He chose and the affect that He had on them is so powerful.

I’ve always been interested in the Jewish heritage; their practices and traditions. One of them stood out to me as I watched this series. Every morning, they would hold their hands out, palms facing up and pray the same prayer:

“I give thanks to You, Adonai, that in mercy, You have restored my soul within me. Endless is Your compassion; great is Your faithfulness. I thank You, Adonai, for the rest You have given me through the night and for the breath that renews my body and spirit.”

What a powerful way to begin each day. Taking just a moment, closing our eyes, holding our hands up to Him in complete surrender and beginning our day with praise, thanksgiving and acknowledgment of Who God is.

So this morning, I started this new tradition. As I closed my eyes and opened my heart and hands to my Father and prayed, I felt His presence strong yet peaceful. I can see now why this is a treasured tradition for our Jewish brothers and sisters.

I have to admit that it connected me to God in a way that I hadn’t experienced in awhile. I have prayed and spent time with God in the morning but this was a simple yet beautiful way to remind me of the important things. It’s His breath in my lungs; it’s His mercy that gives me another day to serve Him, to work, to love my family tangibly and to find ways to love those around me. It reminds of that His compassion and mercy is endless which begins my day with a reminder that whatever I face, whatever is waiting for me as my feet touch the ground, His presence in my life will be enough. And it settles in my heart that His faithfulness is greater than anything that this broken world can do to me.

I am currently in my family’s home, visiting because of hurricane Ida. God protected them and their homes for which I am so grateful. Power has been restored, thankfully but the last thing that has yet to be is the internet. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to log on to check bank accounts, answer email, try to Airdrop something from my phone only to find that swirling rainbow circle that never is good, followed by the inevitable error..there is no connection.

And it reminded me of why this morning prayer is so important. It is so easy to hit the ground running every morning. Rushing for work, getting the kids to school on time, phone calls and emails that are waiting to be returned. We keep saying “tomorrow, I’ll pray.” Then it becomes “I just need to get through this busy season” and before you know it, it has been days, weeks, sometimes months that you haven’t spent time with God in a meaningful way. You’ve lost the connection. And the truth that I’ve learned the hard way is that in those busy, challenging seasons I need that connection to God more than ever.

The words are not what are important. It’s not saying those exact things, day after day. It’s the heart of the prayer. It’s taking a moment as you open your eyes and thanking the One who gave you breath; acknowledging His faithfulness and embracing His mercy. Most people think that prayer is a chore; a task. Something that God is requiring of You because He wants to receive the praise. What most don’t understand is that God’s prompting us to pray is about us, not Him. Giving Him praise and glory and thanks certainly moves and pleases the heart of the Father. But what He knows is that WE need the reminder, not Him. We are the ones who need to be reminded that He is great, merciful and faithful. It puts us in the place where we need to be as we face a new day. Our hearts will need that word, tucked away in our hearts, to walk through the hurt, pain, struggle, joy and peace of our life.

As I was researching this blog message, I found out that the Jewish people actually pray three times a day. Once in the morning, once in the afternoon and once at night. I may write about the other two someday soon but I love the idea that through our long days, we start our day in a prayer of thanksgiving, we stop during the day to thank Him and we end our day praying for His peace to be with us as we sleep.

Have you lost the connection to the Father, dear readers? Don’t believe the lie that you have to work your way back to Him. He delights in your return. I’m reminded of that beautiful parable Jesus taught about the son who asked for his father’s inheritance and then left to waste it on worldly things. When he came to himself and realized that he needed his father’s forgiveness and protection, he went home expecting to beg and grovel. But instead what he was met with was his father, running to meet him. How did he know his son had returned? How did the father see his son coming for a distance? Because he was ever watching for him. Your heavenly Father is ever watching for your return. There is no need to grovel and beg. He will run out to meet you, cover your broken body with a fine robe and put HIS ring on your finger, signifying that you belong to Him.

We all lose that connection with the Father. Some longer than others but, again, time doesn’t matter. What matters is that we take that first step. The Father is waiting and watching. He wants to reconnect you to His grace, His mercy and His love.

Let’s take that first step to reconnect with the Father, dear readers. Together.