A friend of mine once taught me a simple, profound, beautiful morning prayer. It goes, “Lord, I come to you with empty hands. If all I have from You today is You and the next breath, that will be enough.”

Ideally, you pray this prayer kneeling with hands outstretched and with palms facing up and open. It’s a way of letting go of your own expectations of how things should go and how other people should act toward you. It’s a way of surrendering to whatever God has in mind for you.

I’d like to say that I’ve prayed this little prayer every morning since I learned it. That would be a big, fat, stinkin’ lie. In fact, I completely forgot about it until today. I think God reminded me of this prayer for a reason.

God wants me. Not my best efforts or my promises or my service. He wants all of me, not just what I feel like giving or the parts that are cleaned-up or what I think makes me look really good. He wants all of me, the good, the bad, the weird, the bizarre, and the ugly.

When I come with empty hands, I am letting go of my will to embrace the will of Jesus. I am saying that whatever agenda or plan I had in mind is gone and I only want to do one thing: be where God is at work and hear what He’s telling me and obey it.

I read this once “Purity of heart is to will one thing.” I know I get sidetracked and distracted by a myriad of things and I forget who I am and Whose I am. God never fails in time to remind me and love me back home.

I challenge you to pray this prayer every morning and in the evening you can thank God for what He gave you. Instead of it being something you feel you’re owed or your right, you will see everything as it really is– an undeserved gift and God’s grace poured out on you.

Thank you, God, for reminding me again of how much I desparately need You today and every day. Amen.