Morning Prayer - Under Your Loving Gaze

Lord,

Even before I open my eyes, I know that Your gaze is already upon me, inviting me into a new day.

Just as You saw Nathanael in his hidden moment, You also see me when I think I am alone.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” (John 1:48)

You See Me and Call Me by Name

Your invitation is so personal. You do not demand that I understand everything, but You invite me into an experience with You, into a relationship.

“Come and see,” said Philip. (John 1:46)

I accept this invitation. I want to come to You with a heart that awaits You, knowing You already see me and are calling me.

Your call also transforms me. You not only see me, but You give me a new name, a new identity.

Out of my weakness and instability, You call me to a firmness I can only find in You, when You name me a rock.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter). (John 1:42)

Lord, Let Me Be but a Voice Calling to You

Because You have found and called me, the same urgency that overtook the first disciples awakens in me—the urge to tell others about You.

Let my life today be an invitation: “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” (John 1:39)

Give me the heart of John the Baptist, so that I do not point to myself, but am only a voice preparing the way for You.

Let me be a finger that points to You and whispers: “Look, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:36)

You are the One who takes away the sin of the world, the hope for us all.

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

You are eternal, the One who was before me and before all creation.

This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ (John 1:30)

You Are the Lamb and the Lion

Lord, You promise that this personal encounter is not the end, but the beginning. You promise that I will see even greater things.

He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.” (John 1:51)

You are the fulfillment of all prophetic dreams, the One who comes on the clouds of heaven.

“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven.” (Daniel 7:13)

You, the humble Lamb, sacrificed for the sins of the world, are at the same time the victorious Lion of the tribe of Judah.

You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? (Genesis 49:9)

Therefore, today I will not weep over my fears and failures. I will look to You, who have triumphed.

Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” (Revelation 5:5)

Amen.

STAY IN TOUCH