 I pray Psalm 5:1-3 will encourage you and become your daily early morning prayer. I have been greatly strengthened as I have meditated on it today and write these words to you. David was a man of prayer and understood the necessity of approaching God early in the day while besieged by many adversaries. This Psalm is so very precious to me every morning before the dawn. I pray the Lord will make it real to you. "Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for unto You do I pray. Oh Lord, in the morning You hear my voice: In the morning I direct my prayer unto You and will look up." Give ear.....Consider.....Give attention! David is emphasizing three times, "Lord I desperately need Your help." If one of my precious children found me early in the morning before the dawn with an urgent plea three times "Mama please listen, pay attention to what I'm saying, I'm crying out for your help!".....I would turn all of my attention toward the cry of that dear one and respond.... and so does our Father. Prayer has a voice. Prayer is our words, it is our cry, our groans. Of course it's possible to meditate in silent prayer. David understood the "waiting in silence upon the Lord" also. But in the morning, surrounded by enemies, He cried out to God with words and groanings and prayers. The Lord responds to our call for help, for ourselves, for our family, for others. My King and My God. I love the way David acknowledges His King, His God. He turns his focus from the circumstances and from his fears, anxieties, concerns, to his faithful all powerful God. My King, My God, My Protector, My Provider, My Healer, My Savior, My Redeemer, My Lord, My Help, My Light, My Shepherd, My All in All, My God who raises the dead! For unto You do I pray. This is an essential aspect of prayer. The Lord is the focus of our praying, not all the situations. Not ourselves. He already knows everything anyway! Focus on His faithfulness, His promises, His attributes, not rehearsing the details of all the problems. Oh Lord in the morning you hear my voice. I pray that our Lord would hear our voice in the morning. Jesus gave us the example, that "in the morning, rising up a great while before the day, he went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed!' - Mark 1:35" Jesus our Lord and our example rose in the dark to pray and spend time with the Father in a solitary place daily. Every great man or woman of prayer understands the necessity of time alone with God early in the morning. Charles Spurgeon says, "This is the fittest time for intercourse with God. An hour in the morning is worth two in the evening. While the dew is on the grass, let grace drop upon the soul." The urgency of the times demands our drawing near to the Lord in prayer early in the day. My favorite time of the day is with my Lord before the sun rises. I could not survive without this time with Him. In the morning I direct my prayer. The word direct here is the word used when the sacrifice was arranged by the priest on the altar, the pieces carefully placed before the Lord. Some translations say "in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch." The idea is prayer is not haphazard and careless. Our call to God, our praying to Him is intentional, purposeful and thoughtful. And will look up. Today, as we pray, we look to our King. When we leave the prayer closet our eyes should be fixed on Him for the rest of the day. "Looking unto Him the Author and Perfector of our faith." Don't allow your focus to shift back onto your feelings or circumstances, or the way the situations you are praying for look right now. Look to Him and have confidence in His faithfulness and His Word. I pray that this psalm would become your daily morning cry to God, He will hear and He will answer you, for you are His beloved one and your voice of prayer is essential to His purposes being released into your life, the lives of those around you and the world. Amy | 
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