Lauds comes at the dawning of the new day. I have my morning quiet time beside a window that faces east in our living room, so I often see the light of the dawn as it stretches across the sky. (Yes, I am naturally a morning person).
Many times I feel I am joining a "dawn chorus" of other believers who have already had their quiet times when I get up to meet the Lord. Here on the western edge of the west coast, we see the rising sun after it has traveled over the rest of the country. There are not a whole lot of other people still waiting for sunrise after we see it here in California. There are the Pacific islands, then the International Dateline and the globe spins slowly into another new day, but, I digress....
I pray at dawn because I am grateful for being delivered by God safely out of the night into the light of a new day. The mood of Lauds is one of gratitude and joy. I may have wrestled with my thoughts and struggled with my fears during Vigils, but now all things begin anew. God heard my prayers in the dark of night and now He is present when I wake.
Lauds is the time to let my optimism rise, to believe that God has many new opportunities waiting for me. This is the time to feed my soul on scripture. It is the time I lay out the plans for the day and ask for His guidance and help. I take time to ask Him whether all my busyness is really good and necessary and perhaps to consider paring down some of the demands upon my time that are not really being fruitful.
I often pray for people in this early morning hour. I don't keep a list for this purpose, but I pray as people come to mind. I know that I will be praying for people all day long anyway, and I trust the Lord to remind me about them as needed, so I don't try to cover everyone first thing in the morning.
I also pray using the thoughts and words I read in my Bible that morning. I believe that the Lord wants to speak to me from His Word and I want to respond according to what He is saying. After all, it is only polite to go with the conversation He initiates.
By the way, it's good to have a Bible reading plan in mind at Lauds. It may be as simple as reading through the Bible one book at a time, or it may be part of a Bible study you are currently doing, but have something ready. It slows things down to be fumbling around with your Bible so early in the day.
I used to think that my quiet times needed to be my spiritual meal for the day, but now I know that I will soon be "eating" again when the next Hour for prayer rolls around. Lauds helps me get ready to receive the gift of the coming day. I relax in the Lord's presence and look forward to what we will be doing together. I know that He will lead me since His call to "Follow Me" is for all of His disciples...and that includes me!
Many times I feel I am joining a "dawn chorus" of other believers who have already had their quiet times when I get up to meet the Lord. Here on the western edge of the west coast, we see the rising sun after it has traveled over the rest of the country. There are not a whole lot of other people still waiting for sunrise after we see it here in California. There are the Pacific islands, then the International Dateline and the globe spins slowly into another new day, but, I digress....
I pray at dawn because I am grateful for being delivered by God safely out of the night into the light of a new day. The mood of Lauds is one of gratitude and joy. I may have wrestled with my thoughts and struggled with my fears during Vigils, but now all things begin anew. God heard my prayers in the dark of night and now He is present when I wake.
Lauds is the time to let my optimism rise, to believe that God has many new opportunities waiting for me. This is the time to feed my soul on scripture. It is the time I lay out the plans for the day and ask for His guidance and help. I take time to ask Him whether all my busyness is really good and necessary and perhaps to consider paring down some of the demands upon my time that are not really being fruitful.
I often pray for people in this early morning hour. I don't keep a list for this purpose, but I pray as people come to mind. I know that I will be praying for people all day long anyway, and I trust the Lord to remind me about them as needed, so I don't try to cover everyone first thing in the morning.
I also pray using the thoughts and words I read in my Bible that morning. I believe that the Lord wants to speak to me from His Word and I want to respond according to what He is saying. After all, it is only polite to go with the conversation He initiates.
By the way, it's good to have a Bible reading plan in mind at Lauds. It may be as simple as reading through the Bible one book at a time, or it may be part of a Bible study you are currently doing, but have something ready. It slows things down to be fumbling around with your Bible so early in the day.
I used to think that my quiet times needed to be my spiritual meal for the day, but now I know that I will soon be "eating" again when the next Hour for prayer rolls around. Lauds helps me get ready to receive the gift of the coming day. I relax in the Lord's presence and look forward to what we will be doing together. I know that He will lead me since His call to "Follow Me" is for all of His disciples...and that includes me!
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Lauds...light, gratitude, joy and optimism!
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Next we will look at Prime. Have a great day!
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