Morning Prayer - Out Of The Comfort Zone

Here I am, Lord, ready to leave my comfort zone today and answer Your call.

You do not send me out alone, but as Your witness. You give me authority over the spirits of fear, anger, and despair that dwell within me and around me.

Your instructions are so simple, and yet so difficult, Lord. You ask me to travel light, without unnecessary baggage. Today, I do not travel on foot along dusty roads, but my soul is often weighed down.

Weighed down by worries about the future, by attachment to material things, by the search for security in money and reputation. But You invite me into complete trust, into the freedom of depending only on You.

You invite me to answer your call with all my heart.

“He told them: ‘Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt.'” (Luke 9:3)

Lord, help me today to set down the bag of worries, not to eat the bread of my own self-sufficiency, and not to trust in the money of false security. I want to have only one pair of sandals—simple faith—and only one tunic—Your love.

I know that the path of following You is not always easy. You send me to be Your witness, but I am aware that not everyone will accept me. Perhaps my words will be ignored, my actions misunderstood. Perhaps I will face disapproval when I try to live according to Your word.

“If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.” (Matthew 10:14)

Teach me this freedom, Jesus. To not cling to rejection, to not allow bitterness to poison my heart. Help me to simply shake the dust from my feet and move on, light and focused on YOU. My task is not to seek approval, but to be faithful to You.

For You are sending me. Not to distant lands, but into my everyday life—into my family, to my workplace, among my neighbors and friends. This is my world, to which I must proclaim the Gospel.

“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.'” (Mark 16:15)

Here You call me to proclaim with my life, to cast out the spirits of fear and despair, to anoint the wounds of those I meet with the oil of compassion and kindness. Give me the strength and courage for this mission.

Amen.

STAY IN TOUCH