Good morning! Grab a Bible (or your phone) and work through all or part of the practice below. May whatever portions you read and reflect on be nourishing to your soul and may the Lord bless you and make you more aware of who he is and who you are!

— Praise: (1)
God of knowledge, God of all truth,
God who is keeping his promises
Possessor of heaven and earth,
Your steadfast love endures forever.
Help us today to turn our hearts to you
and hear what you will speak,
for you speak peace to your people.
Lord, where else and to whom could we go?
You have the words of eternal life!
Help us now to hear, receive, and accept your word to us today.
through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

— Scripture:
Lord, help us hear your word:
Ecclesiastes 12:1-8

— Answer these three questions:
What does this passage say about God?
What does this passage say about people?
As a result of this reading, what is one step God is inviting you to take?
Who is one person you will tell about that step today?

— Response: (2)
God, voices in our culture try to convince us to be true to ourselves, to live for this moment, and to follow our hearts. But your word reminds to be sober and to remember you before our time is gone. And our time is so short. Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three in one, both now and forever! All too often we focus on ourselves rather than praising you. We become irritated when deadlines are not met. Fear of our neighbors fills our time. We numb ourselves in activity. We neglect your word. We fail to pray. We use our tongues to deceive others and then speak of our own accomplishments to puff ourselves up. Our thoughts, eyes and ears have not been shielded from violence, desire or greed. God, in your abundant mercy we ask for your forgiveness. Make your salvation known to us. Restore in us hearts devoted to you! In your grace, wound our pride and humble us so that we may be transformed by the working of your Spirit to be servants that honor and glorify you. Amen.

— Devotional: (3)
Any spiritual view which focuses attention on ourselves, and puts the human creature with its small ideas and adventures in the centre foreground, is dangerous until we recognize its absurdity…
We mostly spend those lives conjugating three verbs: to Want, to Have, and to Do. Craving, clutching, and fussing, on the material, political, social, emotional, intellectual – even on the religious – plane, we are kept in perpetual unrest: forgetting that none of these verbs have any ultimate significance, except so far as they are transcended by and included in, the fundamental verb, to Be: and that Being, not wanting, having, and doing, is the essence of a spiritual life.

— Closing Prayer: (4)
Lord, help me remember you in the days of my youth. Teach me to be Still and know that I am God.

(1) Original portions added to selections from The Worship Sourcebook, 2004, Faith Alive Christian Resources.
(2) Original – pulled from the LoveFirst Coast worship archives.
(3) From The Spiritual Life by Evelyn Underhill, pulled from A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants.
(4) Original