A few years ago, I don't remember if it was New Year's or not, I was thinking about how I start my day. Specifically, I was thinking about what I prayed in the morning. Then I reasoned that if King Solomon, seen by some as the wisest man who ever lived, at the start of his reign, when the Lord appeared to him in a dream by night giving him the privilege of asking what he should give Solomon, asked only for wisdom, or as the RSV has it, "understanding" (I Kings 3:9; 2nd Chronicles 1:10), that I should do no less. God was so pleased with Solomon's response that he promised him a "Wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you." (I Kings 3:12) He also promised whole lot of other things, including "both riches and honor all your life; no other thing King shall compare with you [ and] if you will walk in my ways... than I will lengthen your life." (I Kings 3:13-14). That was not what I was thinking about when I made this decision.
I quickly realized though to that I also wanted to ask for knowledge, particularly when it came to my career. Even when it comes to our faith, there are many references in both the Old and New Testaments extolling the virtue of knowledge and encouraging us to ask for knowledge. Indeed, knowledge also figures into the original creation story with a reference to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which figured in the downfall of Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:17, 3:1-7). God is also referred to as a God of knowledge (I Samuel 2:3).
Then I also reasoned that I needed love. God is described as love (I John 4:8) and if I would follow him, I would need to love. St. Paul also writes tellingly in that famous passage of I Corinthians 13, verse 2: If I... understand all mysteries and all knowledge... but do not have love, I am nothing."
Somewhere along the line subsequently, I realized that another quality that is necessary, both in my professional and personal life, is compassion. This is something that is emphasized in the New Testament is a quality of our Lord Jesus Christ, with no less than 9 references to his having compassion on the people he related to.
Indeed, from that it was not much of a leap to be reminded that I need to exhibit all the "fruits of the Spirit" in my everyday life. These are described in Galatians 5:22 as including "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."
No matter how much one may enjoy one's occupation or one's life at times, there are always those moments and even mornings or days when one does not waken with the best of feelings or the greatest of motivation. Recognizing this and some of my own particular weaknesses, I began to add to my prayer requests for energy, efficiency and efficacy. I often have to remind myself of the other passage of Scripture were Paul encourage us not to be "weary in well doing" (Galatians 6:9). Along with that, I have learned that I need to ask for help with prioritization, self-discipline and even memory. The last may be a bit of a reflection of my age. With respect to some of the preceding, it is so easy to fall back on things of selfish interest, pleasure, particularly when so much is now available at our fingertips with the computer. We really need self-discipline to resist the temptations around us and focus our energies on what we need to do as followers of Jesus.
Of course, all of the above does not even include requests with respect to particular individuals in my circle and their needs. Anyone who is moving into my age bracket will know that that lists can be pretty long given what happens to our health when we age. So, given all of the above, what could be a simple morning prayer has gradually evolved into a much broader exercise of spiritual discipline.
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