Morning Prayer - Bridegroom Of My Soul, Come

My Lord,

I come before you in the silence of this new day. I long to hear your voice, your guidance, your word for me. But right at the start, I must confess how often I am like Saul.

How often I hear your voice, yet choose my own path, the shortcut, the way that seems easier or more logical in my own eyes.

To me also, just as to Saul, you ask a question that strikes to the core of my soul.

“Why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD?” (1 Samuel 15:19)

And my answer is often so similar to his. I look for excuses and justifications; I try to disguise my disobedience as a good intention. I, too, sometimes say to you:

“‘But I did obey the LORD,’ Saul said. ‘I went on the mission the LORD assigned me.’” (1 Samuel 15:20)

But in truth, Lord, I have listened only in part. I took what suited me and left the rest aside. Please, forgive my self-will, which my mind tries to present as wisdom.

Lord, I want to be obedient

Today you are teaching me again what is essential. It is not my great deeds, not my sacrifices, not my outward expressions of piety. You desire my heart, my complete devotion, my obedience.

“To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” (1 Samuel 15:22)

You do not rebuke me for my attempts to serve you, for you know that my offerings are always before you.

“I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.” (Psalm 50:8)

But at the same time, you call me to something deeper: to true worship that flows from a grateful heart and a righteous life. Help me to live today in a way that honors you with every action, for I know you have given me the power to overcome my weaknesses.

“Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me, and to the blameless I will show my salvation.” (Psalm 50:23)

Jesus, You are my new wine

Jesus, you are the Bridegroom of my soul. When you are with me, my heart is full of joy. This is not a time for mourning, but for celebrating your presence. Yet at the same time, you warn me that your newness cannot simply be a patch on my old nature.

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse.” (Mark 2:21)

I do not want your new life in me to cause even greater damage because I cling to the old. I do not want your new wine, your Holy Spirit, to destroy my old, rigid structures.

“And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined.” (Mark 2:22)

Lord, today I ask you: make me a new wineskin. Reshape me, soften my heart, expand my mind. I want to be a vessel ready to receive your newness.

“No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” (Mark 2:22)

May my heart today be good and noble, ready to receive and retain your word, so that I may bear fruit with patience. Let me rejoice in you today, my Bridegroom, and allow you to make me completely new. To you I say, “Arise!”—may these words hold true for me today, that I may rise into your newness.

“But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.” (Luke 8:15)

Amen.

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