A Good Prayer to Start the Day

Father,
May everything we do
begin with your inspiration
and continue with your saving help.
Let our work always find its origin in you
and through you reach completion.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen

This prayer is the closing prayer of Morning Prayer, Week I, in the Liturgy of the Hours. I think it is a most appropriate way to start any morning, and I often pray it at school in the A.M. classes. Does anybody know the origins of this prayer?

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This entry was posted on Monday, August 25th, 2008 at 6:33 am and is filed under Prayers and Requests. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 Responses to “A Good Prayer to Start the Day”

  1. Nicene Hobbit says:
    August 25, 2008 at 1:06 pm

    David,
    This is the traditional collect for Lauds. The more literal translation is:

    Almighty God, heavenly Father, You have brought us to the beginning of this day. Defend us in its course with Your almighty Power that we may fall into no sin, rather, grant that all our thoughts may be so directed and all our deeds so ordered by You as to be always righteous in Your sight. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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  2. Joseph the Worker says:
    August 25, 2008 at 6:46 pm

    I agree, this is the best way to start our day, especially coupled with the Invitatory. I’m not so sure about the origins, but you might try one of these sources:

    Robert Taft, The Liturgy of the Hours in East and West: the Origins of the Divine Office and Its Meaning for Today, (Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1986).

    Paul Bradshaw, Daily Prayer in the Early Church: a Study of the Origin and Early Development of the Divine Office, (London: SPCK, 1981).

    Reply
  3. Frijo says:
    February 10, 2009 at 6:41 am

    This is the most beautiful prayer, we need to pray dial to our Loving Father as a kid is asking help form his father.

    Reply
  4. Frijo says:
    February 10, 2009 at 6:42 am

    This is the most beautiful prayer, we need to pray daily to our Loving Father as a kid is asking help from his father.

    Reply
  5. nach says:
    August 20, 2010 at 10:32 am

    i am very impressed by this awesome prayer…i have an exam which involves writing a prayer (moral science exam)
    nd i wanted to learn some steps to write a prayer..so i was led to this site..nd this is the sweetest prayer i’ve ever heard

    Reply

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