Daily Morning - Where Is My True Home

Lord,

At the very first glimpse of this new day, joy awakens within me. It is a familiar joy, one that calls me ever anew to You, to Your house, where we gather as Your people.

“I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.'” (Psalm 122:1)

Thank You for this place You have gifted to me. Thank You for my parish, for the community where we can gather to worship You together, just as the Israelites rejoiced when they laid the foundations of Your temple. May I never forget this gift, and may I never neglect Your house.

You remind me that this is not merely a building of brick and mortar. It is a sacred space, consecrated for encountering You, a house of prayer.

“He said to them, ‘It is written: “My house will be called a house of prayer,” but you are making it “a den of robbers.”‘” (Matthew 21:13)

Help me, Lord, not to bring the noise of the world into Your house—my worries, my calculations, or my desire for self-importance. May my time there be truly consecrated to You, in prayer and in praise.

Lord, I truly believe that to be in Your presence, in Your courts, is the greatest privilege. Though worldly obligations may sometimes pull me away, in my heart, I know where my true home lies.

“Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” (Psalm 84:10)

And because Your house is my home, I desire to care for it as well. Not only with my presence, but also with the gifts that sustain its ministry and provide for those in need. Open my heart and my hands, that I may learn to share with generosity.

“‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.'” (Malachi 3:10)

I do not wish to give out of duty or habit, but with joy, just as King David rejoiced when he witnessed the generosity of his people. May my offering be a reflection of gratitude and gladness, my response to Your call to true fellowship.

“The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly.” (1 Chronicles 29:9)

Lord, today I resolve to cherish Your house. I commit to supporting it with my prayers, my time, and my resources. May this be an act of my love and an expression of the immeasurable joy that I am Yours.

Let my entire being praise You today. May all that I am and all that I have be to Your honor and glory.