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Books New Every Morning About X Home Books New Every Morning About Login Forgot password? Remember me You can login using your social profile [wordpress_social_login] New Every Morning daily reflections from Upper Room Books New every morning is your love, great God of light, and all day long you are working for good in the world. Stir up in us desire to serve you, to live peacefully with our neighbors and all your creation, and to devote each day to your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. "A Liturgy for Morning Prayer," Upper Room Worshipbook Used by permission from the Book of Common Worship , © 2018 Westminster John Knox Press. All rights reserved. This prayer appears in A Liturgy for Morning Prayer” in Upper Room Worshipbook . Discover Your Next Book New releases coming soon best sellers Speak, My Soul Marsha Crockett $14.99 Where We Meet Rachel Gilmore, Candace Lewis, Tyler Sit, Matt Temple $16.99 Light from Afar Sidwell Mokgothu, Joel Bengbeng, Cláudio Carvalhaes, Nadiyka Gerbish $17.99 Shaped by the Word, Anniversary Edition M. Robert Mulholland Jr. $14.99 Creating a Life with God, 20th Anniversary Revised Edition Daniel Wolpert $17.99 Looking Inward, Living Outward Daniel Wolpert June 2024 $19.99 The Upper Room Disciplines $14.99 A Spirituality of Fundraising $7.99 A Bead and A Prayer $11.99 A Guide to Prayer for all Who Walk with God $19.99 A Spirituality of Living $7.99 DISCOVER MORE BOOKS Featured Categories Prayer Bible Study Older Adults New Every Morning daily reflections from from Upper Room Books Subscribe Read Today’s Reflection About The Upper Room The Upper Room is a global ministry dedicated to supporting the spiritual life of Christians seeking to know and experience God more fully. From its beginnings in 1935 as a daily devotional guide, The Upper Room has grown to include publications, programs, prayer support, and other resources to help believers of all ages and denominations move to a deeper level of faith and service. Learn more at UpperRoom.org . Sign up to receive newsletters and updates from The Upper Room. STAY CONNECTED itemprop="articleBody" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Article" © 2018 The Upper Room ® Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Saint Francis of Assisi Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) exemplified mystical life committed to care for God’s creation. One day as Francis passed by a dilapidated church, he was drawn to enter the ruins. Confronted by a crucifix mounted above the altar, he fell to his knees, begging God to tell him what he was to do with his life and what kind of person he was to become. A voice spoke from the crucifix, Francis, repair my church, which is falling down.” So he rebuilt churches, brick by brick. Later, he realized that God had a bigger vision than he could ever imagine: spiritually and morally repairing the Western church and ultimately healing the world. Francis’s vision led to a journey of personal and ecclesiastical transformation. × Benedict of Nursia Although he sought the solitude of monasticism, Benedict of Nursia (480-543) was inspired to pen what has become the most significant Western spiritual text on communal faith formation. Writing in a time of cultural and religious uncertainty, in which Christianity rose as the Roman empire disintegrated, Benedict saw the need for fiery spiritual lifestyle at the heart of Christianity. Benedict saw communal living as the crucible for Christian maturity. He envisioned a holistic spirituality that joins work and prayer, activism and contemplation, and ground itself in the experience of God’s ever-present activity and guidance. × Hildegard of Bingen From her early life, Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was sensitive to God’s illuminating presence. Before she turned five years old, she began to experience God’s presence enlivening and enlightening her. She experienced divine energy permeating her mind, body, and spirit, and revelations coming to her through sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. In her forties, Hildegard experienced a profound vision that joined theology and spirituality with God’s command to write down what she experienced. Hildegard heard God tell her to transmit for the benefit of humanity an accurate account of what you see with your inner eye and what you hear with the inner ear of your soul…” For the rest of her life, Hildegard inscribed her experiences in texts such as Scivias , know the way,” and De operatione Dei , the book of divine works.” Hildegard’s multifaceted spirituality speaks to twenty-first-century seekers in her affirmation of God’s intimate and enlivening presence in our lives and the world. × Brother Lawrence Brother Lawrence (1614-91) spent a lifetime opening to God’s presence in the ordinary and transitory moments of life. This seventeenth century French mystic encountered God at eighteen years of age while gazing at a barren tree on a winter day. Young Nicholas Herman, who changed his name to Brother Lawrence upon entering the Carmelite Order as a lay-brother, noticed that while the tree’s leaves had fallen, eventually they would reappear, followed by blossoms and fruit. From this observation, Nicholas experienced the power and providence of God and began a spiritual journey of practicing the presence of God amid the most ordinary and unremarkable moments of daily life. He asserted that if God is omnipresent, then every moment can reveal God every workplace, holy ground. × Matthew 6:25-34 25 Therefore, I say to you, don’t worry about your life, what you’ll eat or what you’ll drink, or about your body, what you’ll wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds in the sky. They don’t sow seed or harvest grain or gather crops into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than they are? 27 Who among you by worrying can add a single moment to your life? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Notice how the lilies in the field grow. They don’t wear themselves out with work, and they don’t spin cloth. 29 But I say to you that even Solomon in all of his splendor wasn’t dressed like one of these. 30 If God dresses grass in the field so beautifully, even though it’s alive today and tomorrow it’s thrown into the furnace, won’t God do much more for you, you people of weak faith? 31 Therefore, don’t worry and say, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’ 32 Gentiles long for all these things. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 Instead, desire first and foremost God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore, stop worrying about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. × Mark 10:35-45 35 James and John, Zebedee’s sons, came to Jesus and said, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” 36 What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. 37 They said, Allow one of us to sit on your right and the other on your left when you enter your glory.” 38 Jesus replied, You don’t know what you’re asking! Can you drink the cup I drink or receive the baptism I receive?” 39 We can,” they answered. Jesus said, You will drink the cup I drink and receive the baptism I receive, 40 but to sit at my right or left hand isn’t mine to give. It belongs to those for whom it has been prepared.” 41 Now when the other ten disciples heard about this, they became angry with James and John. 42 Jesus called them over and said, You know that the ones who are considered the rulers by the Gentiles show off their authority over them and their high-ranking officials order them around. 43 But that’s not the way it will be with you. Whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant. 44 Whoever wants to be first...