Carpe diem – Seize the day

How we start the day matters.

Even Jesus knew the importance of starting his day well. “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” – Mark 1:35.

Our initial thoughts and actions can truly set the tone for our day, affecting our production and progress, our moods and general focus and attention throughout the day.

Did you ever watch the film, ‘Dead Poets Society’? I so clearly remember Robin Williams, playing the English teacher John Keating, inspiring his class of male students, with this famous quote: “Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.”

“The dawn is ever the hope of men.”

-J.R.R. Tolkien

As I wake up, I am aware that thoughts can start appearing in my mind, that can lead me to feeling anxious or worried, before I have even sat up, or taken a step out of bed. What happens at the start and end of the day in our minds, actually influences the neurotransmitters in our brains. However, because a thought comes to mind, doesn’t’ mean it is true. When we recognise it, and actually examine these thoughts, we can take those thoughts captive – 2 Corinthians 10:5.

One of the practices I have started in my daily life, is to use the app Lectio 365 ( a free app from 24-7 Prayer – available on App store and Google Play), which has guided prayers for morning, noon, and night. This means that often, the first words I hear as I wake, and the last thoughts I hear as I fall asleep, are the words from God in Scripture. Neuroscience has found that as we read the Bible, dopamine is released in our brains. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that regulates mood, motivation, memory and learning. Isn’t that amazing!

If Jesus knew the importance of starting the day in prayer, talking to his Father, don’t you think that is a practice we should develop?

It can be hard to pray at the start of the day – I know this too well. The desire to reach for the phone and check notifications, and then begin that doom-scrolling process that eats at time, is compelling. So we need to develop a habit of morning time with God. There isn’t a better time of day to begin praying than at the start of the day. Giving our attention to God at the very beginning of the day is vital. It can be as simple as noticing your breath and your breathing, and saying a breath prayer, breathing in – “You are here, Lord”, and breathing out, “and I am with you.”

You won’t be surprised to know that Scripture has a lot to say about mornings.

Lamentations 3:22-23 reminds us that God’s mercies (compassions) are new every morning. Every day is a fresh start for us! Isn’t that good!

If you can’t think of what to say in prayer when you wake up, I’d like to offer to you some Bible verses that you could speak out to God, as your offering of prayer to him. Copy and paste them and print them out – whatever works best for you.

“Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
    for in you I trust.
Make me know the way I should go,
    for to you I lift up my soul.”
-Psalm 143:8

“For his anger lasts only a moment,
    but his favour lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
    but rejoicing comes in the morning.”
-Psalm 30:5

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
    that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Psalm 90:14

“Have you ever given orders to the morning,
    or shown the dawn its place,”
-Job 38:12

“But I will sing of your strength,
    in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress,
    my refuge in times of trouble.”
-Psalm 59:16

“Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
    that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.”
-Psalm 90:14

“This is the day that the Lord has made;
    let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
-Psalm 118:24

“I rise before dawn and cry for help;
    I hope in your words.”
-Psalm 119:147

“The Lord God has given me
    the tongue of those who are taught,
that I may know how to sustain with a word
    him who is weary.
Morning by morning he awakens;
    he awakens my ear
    to hear as those who are taught.”
-Isaiah 50:4

“But I, O Lord, cry to you;
    in the morning my prayer comes before you.”
-Psalm 88:13

Reading the Psalms is a wonderful way for us to meet with God in Scripture, Here, with often brutal honesty, the Psalmists cried out to God with all their frustrations, fears and anxieties, laying out their requests, and praising God, with thanks for all he had done. That sounds like a good way to pray, don’t you think?

I’m off to pray now!

Have a wonderful day.

Love and blessings.

Let me know in the comments some of your favourite Scriptures to pray in the mornings.
Tell me some practices you use in your morning quiet time.

“I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.”

-J.B. Priestley