Morning Prayer: 7 Short Prayers to Start Your Day

A short morning prayer

If you only have a moment before the day starts, this is enough. Pray it before you check your phone, or with your first cup of coffee.

Lord, thank you for this new day and for the rest of last night. I give you everything ahead of me today, the plans I’ve made and the things I can’t see coming. Help me to love the people I meet, to do my work well, and to notice you in the middle of it all. Amen.

A morning prayer of thanks

Lamentations was written in grief, after Jerusalem fell. Even so, its writer finds something to thank God for at the start of each day: “It is because of the LORD’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his mercies don’t fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22–23).

Father, your mercies are new this morning, and I don’t want to miss them. Thank you for breath and for sleep, for the people I love and for the food I’ll eat today. Thank you that I don’t start this day alone or empty-handed. Great is your faithfulness. Amen.

A prayer before work or school

Paul wrote to ordinary workers, many of them servants, that every task could be done for God: “And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:23).

Lord, go with me into today’s work. Give me focus for the tasks in front of me, patience with the people beside me, and honesty when no one is watching. When I’m tired or bored, remind me who I’m really working for. And when the day is done, help me leave it with you and rest. Amen.

A morning prayer for your family

Near the end of his life, Joshua gathered Israel together and made a promise for his whole household: “as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15).

God, watch over my family today. Keep each of us safe as we go our separate ways, and bring us home again tonight. Give us kind words for each other, and patience when we’re tired. Make our home a place where people are loved and where you are welcome. Amen.

A prayer for guidance today

On a day full of decisions, this line from the psalms is worth praying word for word: “Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to you.” (Psalm 143:8). James adds that God “gives to all liberally and without reproach” when we ask him for wisdom (James 1:5).

Lord, I don’t know everything today will ask of me. Show me the next right step, and give me the wisdom to take it. Where I have choices to make, help me choose what is good, not just what is easy. Close the doors I shouldn’t walk through, and give me courage for the ones you open. Amen.

A prayer for a hard day ahead

Some mornings you wake up already dreading the day: a hospital visit, a hard conversation, a deadline you can’t meet. Isaiah prayed for help that comes one morning at a time: “Be our strength every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.” (Isaiah 33:2).

God, you know what today holds, and I’m afraid of it. Be my strength this morning, and again at noon, and again tonight. Give me what I need for each hour as it comes, and don’t let me carry tomorrow too. Hold me up when I can’t stand on my own. Amen.

A prayer for patience and kind words

Much of what goes wrong in a day goes wrong in what we say. David asked God to guard his mouth: “Set a watch, LORD, before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips.” (Psalm 141:3).

Lord, guard my words today. Help me listen before I answer, speak gently when I’m frustrated, and stay quiet when I have nothing kind to say. Let the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart please you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.

One-line morning prayers from the Psalms

Some mornings one sentence is all you have. These come straight from the Psalms, and each one is short enough to learn by heart.

• Psalm 118:24. “This is the day that the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!”
• Psalm 90:14. “Satisfy us in the morning with your loving kindness, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.”
• Psalm 25:4. “Show me your ways, LORD. Teach me your paths.”
• Psalm 19:14. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, LORD, my rock, and my redeemer.”
• Psalm 90:12. “So teach us to count our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
• Psalm 30:5. “Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning.”

Morning prayer in the Bible

Praying at the start of the day is one of the oldest habits in Scripture. David laid his requests before God in the morning (Psalm 5:3). Daniel prayed three times a day, even after a new law made it a crime, and was thrown to the lions for it: “he kneeled on his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did before.” (Daniel 6:10).

The Gospels say Jesus did the same. Early one morning, while it was still dark, he went off to a quiet place alone to pray (Mark 1:35).

Many churches still keep set times of prayer through the day. Morning Prayer, also called Matins or Lauds, is the first of them, built around psalms, a Bible reading and the Lord’s Prayer.

How to make morning prayer a habit

The hardest part of praying in the morning is remembering to. A few small choices make it easier.

1. Tie it to something you already do every morning, like making coffee, brushing your teeth or sitting down at your desk.
2. Pray before you open your messages or the news. Once the day’s noise starts, it’s hard to turn back.
3. Keep it short. One minute every day does more than twenty minutes once a week.
4. Read a verse first, then pray about it in your own words. The psalms are a good place to start.
5. If you miss a morning, pray at lunch instead, or start again tomorrow. Nothing is lost.

To build a habit of reading as well as praying, see our guide to building a daily Bible reading habit. For the end of the day, there’s our guide to night prayer.

Common questions