Orthros Prayer Eight

Social media is overflowing with memes about sleepy mornings. We lie awake all night only to ‘finally’ fall asleep comfortably just moments before our alarm rings. We press the snooze button to ‘snatch’ a few extra minutes before the day begins. We would rather stay under the covers.

Especially after a time change, we all know that sluggish feeling in the morning. It is what makes our morning prayers so difficult. It is also one reason most people have their morning ‘timed to perfection’ to maximize the time sleeping. Of course, we never consider going to be earlier.

We are half-way through Great Lent today. We are tired from fasting. We are wondering if attending ‘one more’ service is going to make a difference. We are ‘on edge’ with our friends and coworkers. Today’s prayer is almost like a ‘refresher’ for us.

O Lord our God, Who dispelled the sluggishness of sleep from us, and Who called us by a holy calling to lift up our hands even in the night and to confess Your righteous judgments to You: receive our prayers, our petitions, our confessions, and our nightly praises; and grant us, O God, faith unashamed, hope unwavering, love unfeigned. Bless our comings and goings, deeds, works, words, and desires; and grant that we may arrive at the beginning of the day praising, singing, and blessing the ineffable greatness of Your goodness. For blessed is Your all-holy name, and glorified is Your kingdom, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

This prayer is like saying to God, “Just help me get out of bed without problems. Then help me get through the day.” One of the many things I love about Orthodox prayers is the honesty ‘baked in’ to the words. Nothing is more honest than just asking God to help us make it through.

We’re not asking God to make us great. We’re not even asking Him to make us saints today. We’re just asking Him to help us get out of bed and start the day. It’s like any task we know is good for us. We all need a boost to get started. Once we start, we feel better instantly.

Great Lent is a marathon, not a sprint. At the halfway point, feeling sore, we need a boost to keep going. Lucky for us the Church has already thought of that. Today’s prayer starts. Tomorrow, the Church will give us a ‘shot in the arm’ with the celebration of the Holy Cross.

I invite you today to keep these words on your lips. “God. Just help me get through today.” You will get through and you will get through closer to God. Happy praying.