Morning Prayer

EVERY MORNING, I give thanks for all God has given me — for my bed, my breakfast, my cup of tea from my leaf-shaped teapot. But as I pray, I know that beyond my home, beyond my country where freedom and peace are taken for granted, beyond all the blessings of my life lie poverty, slavery, and corruption.

So every day, I close my eyes and pray, not only out of gratitude but also from a burden that’s too big for me. I pray that God’s righteousness will come like a flood, that the hopeless will know hope. … I pray, knowing that I have not begun to touch the world’s need, that I am privileged and sheltered from suffering. I also know that Christ was neither privileged nor immune from suffering but died bearing the world’s burden.

When I finish my prayers and enter the business of the day, I do so trusting that his arms are spread wide over us, that he still carries the burden, and that he hears our prayers.