O God,
this new day opens before us
with promise and opportunity.
It is your gift to us;
help us to make it our gift to you.

The day lies before us like a page waiting to be written.
Save us from scribbling over it with
meaningless marks and idle doodling.

Help us to write somewhere upon it
a poem of praise,
a prayer of compassion,
a significant sentence.

Help us to say less and to mean more,
to make gestures of grace and not of haste.

Give us good words to speak,
good thoughts to think,
good deeds to do.

But above all,
evoke from us praise,
that we may be the best of all givers,
and give thanks to you.
Amen.

I came across this prayer from an old issue of Intotemak as I was sorting through some of my files this past week. It was simply titled “Morning Prayer” and attributed to “Anonymous,” so if anyone recognizes the prayer or can identify the author, please do let me know.

In the meantime, I offer this prayer as a slightly edited version of the original, since it beautifully combines writing and faith. Receive it as a prayer for this new day of promise and opportunity.

This article first appeared on aprilyamasaki.com
which also includes a related writing/reflection prompt:
Prayer for a New Day of Promise and Opportunity