Pray This Before You Plan Your Day

  Morning Prayer for Direction 

   Before we pray, let's first take a moment to listen to God's Word and then we'll pray together. 

     Have you ever mapped out your whole day in your head before your feet even touch the ground? 

     You know what you want to do. You know what needs to get done. You have your list, your goals, your to-dos, and you launch into your day fully sure of the way it's all going to go. 

But has it ever happened that despite all that planning, the day turned out entirely different from what you imagined? 

I believe many of us have experienced this at least once in our lives. 

We wake up, we plan, and life happens differently. 

This morning, I want us to look at what the Bible says about planning our days and how we ought to approach it as believers. 

Proverbs 16:9 says, "In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps." This verse tells us something so important. 

 It tells us that yes, we will plan. 

 It is not wrong to plan. In fact, planning is wise and it is something the Bible does not condemn. 

 But this verse also reminds us that no matter how much we plan, it is truly the Lord who establishes our steps. 

 Have you ever wondered why some of your plans just don't work out the way you thought they would even when you did everything right? 

 Or maybe you've experienced days where things fell into place far better than you could have imagined, even when your plan for the day looked nothing like what happened. 

 This is the Lord establishing your steps. 

 Many of us go about our day making plans and moving according to our own understanding without pausing to ask the Lord to be part of that plan.

 We map it all out in our heads and hearts and we launch into the day forgetting that the same God who gave us breath this morning is the One who should also order our steps. 

 Proverbs 16:3 gives us a clear instruction on this. 

 It says, "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans." 

 The LORD is inviting us this morning to commit our plans to HIM before we even begin them. 

 I know for many of us, planning has become such a natural, almost automatic part of our mornings. 

 We wake up and our minds go straight to what we need to do, who we need to call, what tasks are due, what meetings we have, what errands must be run. And there's nothing wrong with organizing our day this way. But before all of that, shouldn't we first bring the Lord into it? 

James 4:verses 13-15 gives believers a sobering reminder about how temporary and fragile our   plans truly are without God. It says, "Now listen, you who say today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why you do not even know what will happen tomorrow? What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." This verse is not given to discourage us from making plans, but to remind us that our plans should always be submitted under the will of God. We do not know tomorrow. We do not even fully know today.  So how much wisdom would it take for us to say before we plan, " Lord, if it is your will? I want Your Will be done today."

 This morning, I want to encourage you that before you plan your day, before your feet even hit the ground running with your to-do list, pause and pray. 

 Ask the LORD to order your steps. Ask HIM to establish the plans of your heart. 

 Ask HIM to lead you into what He wants for your day, not just what you have already decided for yourself. 

 Psalm 143:8 says, "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.  Show me the way I should go, for to you l entrust my life."

 This is exactly the posture we should carry every single morning before we go into our day. We should be asking the Lord to show us the way. We should be entrusting our lives, our plans, our schedules, our tasks into His hands. 

 There is such peace that comes with knowing that your day is being held by God. There is such peace in knowing that even if things don't go exactly as you planned, the Lord who knows the end from the beginning is still working all things out for your good. 

 When we commit our plans to HIM, we are no longer carrying the weight of trying to make everything work out perfectly on our own. 6:05 We are handing that weight over to the one who is more than able to carry it. 

 Some of us are so used to carrying our own plans that we do not even realize how heavy they've become. 

 We wake up already stressed about what today demands of us, already anxious about whether we'll get everything done, already bracing ourselves for the day to go wrong somehow. 

 But this is not how the LORD wants us to live. 

 He wants us to come to HIM first thing before the weight of the day settles on our shoulders and hand it all over to HIM. 

 So this morning before you plan your day, before you make your list, before you decide what today is going to look like, let's pray first. 

 Let's ask the LORD to establish our steps, to order our plans, and to lead us into all that He has for us today.  Let's pray together. 

Pray 🙏🏽,speak 🗣️: Heavenly Father, I thank you for this new day. Thank you for waking me up this morning and giving me the opportunity to see another day that I did not create for myself. Thank you for your mercies that are new every morning. And thank you for your faithfulness that has kept me through the night and brought me safely into today. 

 Lord, as I come before you this morning, I want to commit my day into your hands. 

 Before I make my plans, before I decide what today should look like, l ask that you take the lead. 

 I ask that you order my steps today. 

 Your word tells me in Proverbs that in my heart I may plan my course. But it is you who establishes my steps. So l ask that you establish my steps this day. 

 Lord, I commit to you my plans this morning. Lord, whatever I have already thought of doing today, whatever list I have made, whatever tasks I believe are important, I bring them all before you now. 

And I ask that you order them according to your will. 

 If there is anything on my list that should not be there today, Lord, remove it. If there is anything I have forgotten that you want me to attend to today, bring it to my remembrance. Order my steps, Lord. Order my day. 

 Father, I ask that you go before me today. Let your Presence lead the way in every place I go, every conversation I have, every meeting I attend, every task I carry out today. 

Let your favor go before me. 

 And where I need wisdom, Lord, grant me wisdom. 

 Where I need strength that I do not have on my own, Lord, be my strength. Where I need clarity to know what to do next, be my clarity. 

 I do not want to walk through today confused or uncertain, Lord. So l ask that you make my path straight before me. 

 Lord, your word says in Psalms that I should let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love. For I have put my trust in you and that you would show me the way I should go. For to you l entrust my life. 

 This morning, Lord, I entrust my life to you. I entrust my day, my plans to you. Please show me the way I should go today in every single decision, big or small. 

 Father, forgive me for the times I have planned my days without you. 

 Forgive me for the mornings I have rushed into my day, fully consumed with my to-do list, without pausing to seek your face first. 

 Forgive me for the times I have leaned entirely on my own understanding, believing that my ability alone was enough to carry me through the day. 

 Forgive me for the moments I only remembered to pray when things had already gone wrong instead of committing my day to you from the very start. 

 Forgive me, Lord, for the many days I have called mine when really they belong to you all along.  I'm sorry, and I ask for your mercy today. 

 Thank you, Lord, for not giving up on me, even when I have failed to seek you first. 

 Thank you for this new understanding today that my plans mean nothing if they are not submitted to your will. 

 I receive this truth into my heart this morning, Lord. 

And I ask that from today it becomes the way I live, the way I  plan, and the way l approach every single day that you give me. 

 Lord, I also pray for the wisdom to say as your word instructs if it is the Lord's will. 

 Help me not to be so rigid or so attached to my own plans that l forget that everything is subject to your will. 

 Help me to hold my plans loosely, Lord, knowing that you alone know what tomorrow holds. 

 Help me to trust that even when my plans change, even when things do not go the way I expected, that you are still in control and you are still working everything out for my good. 

 Father, I decree that today will be a good day. I decree that this day is established by you and ordered by your hand. 

 I speak peace over my schedule today. 

 I speak clarity over every decision I will need to make. 

 I speak divine connections over every meeting, every conversation, and every encounter I will have today. 

 I speak protection over my going out and my coming in.

  I speak provision over every need that may arise today.

  I speak strength over my body, my mind, and my spirit that I will not grow weary before the day is done. 

 Lord, let this day count for your glory. 

 I pray also for those who may be struggling this morning to trust you with their plans. Those who are afraid of what today may bring. Those who are anxious because their plans have failed so many times before. And those who feel like they have to control every detail just to feel safe. 

 Lord, meet them right where they are.  Give them the same peace and the same trust that only comes from you. 

 Let them know that you are able to establish the steps of anyone who commits their ways to you. 

 Father, teach me to number my days as your Word says that I may gain a heart of wisdom. 

 Let me not waste the hours you have given me today on things that do not matter to you. Let me use this day well. 

 Let me be productive but not at the expense of my peace. 

 Let me be diligent but not so consumed that I forget to acknowledge you along the way. 

 Help me to remember even in the middle of my busiest hours today that you are with me, that you are ordering my steps and that nothing about today is happening outside of your knowledge. 

 Father, thank you for hearing this prayer. 

 Thank you for already going ahead of me into this day, preparing the way before l even take my first step. 

 I give you all the glory, all the honor, and all the praise for everything you are about to do in my day. 

 In Jesus Christ's name I pray and received. Amen. 

Dear friend, I hope this devotion encourages you to  commit your plans into God's hands before you begin your day. May the Lord establish your steps and order every part of your day according to His will. 

May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always. God bless you. Live like it.