Lord, My Times Are in Your Hands

Maybe you woke up already trying to steer today, bracing for the first thing to go wrong. This morning we'll pray, Lord, my times are in Your hands. David prayed those words in a psalm about real danger, and we can pray them over this day. Let's bring this to God together.

In Psalm thirty-one, verses fourteen and fifteen, David says this to God.

But I trust in You, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me.

Psalm 31:14-15

In this psalm, David speaks as a man under threat. Just before, he tells God what it's been like. His enemies scorn him. Even his friends hurry away when they see him on the street. People are slandering him and plotting to take his life.

When David says my times, he means everything ahead of him. How long he'll live, and whether he'll get out of this. He can't control any of it. He doesn't give up, either. In the same breath, he asks God to rescue him. He keeps asking, and he trusts God with how it ends.

Many of us spend the early morning trying to hold the day together. Maybe you're already mapping the day minute by minute, allowing for the traffic, the meeting, the one person who sets you off. We make a plan and then we grip it. When it slips, we get tense and short with the people nearest us.

Your part in today still matters. The lunches need packing, and the work needs doing. Trusting God means doing what's in front of you and leaving the results with Him.

In Psalm thirty-seven, David puts it this way.

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness like the dawn, your justice like the noonday sun.

Psalm 37:5-6

The word for commit there pictures rolling a heavy load onto someone else. The next line tells you what God will do. He'll bring your righteousness out into the open, like the sun coming up. David urges God's people not to fret over the wicked, but to trust Him to bring justice. So this isn't a promise that today's plans will work out.

The night before He died, on the Mount of Olives, Jesus knelt down and prayed.

Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done.

Luke 22:42

He told His Father plainly what He wanted. Then He put His will in His Father's hands. When we hand our day to the Father, we're following Jesus.

Earlier in Psalm thirty-one, David prays this.

Into Your hands I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord, God of truth.

Psalm 31:5

David prayed that with enemies plotting against him. Centuries later, Luke tells us, Jesus prayed it as He died.

Then Jesus called out in a loud voice, “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.” And when He had said this, He breathed His last.

Luke 23:46

Jesus added one word to David's line. Father. He was dying for our sins, and He gave Himself into His Father's hands. The Father received Him, and on the third day raised Him from the dead.

So you can put today into those same hands. You don't earn God's help by letting go well. Jesus has made the way, and through Him the Father welcomes you as His child. That's still true when you've grabbed the day back by seven o'clock.

Let's pray. You can pray these words with me, out loud or in your heart.

Father, it's early, and I want to give You this day before it starts pulling at me. I come to You through Jesus. He put Himself in Your hands for me, and because of Him I'm welcome here. Let Your Spirit help me pray.

You're my God. Every hour of today is already in Your hands, and so is every hour after it. You saw David when people pursued him and spread lies about him, and You heard him when he cried out. When Your Son called to You from the cross, You received Him, and You raised Him to life. You're the God of truth. What You say, You do. Your hands are strong, and they're kind, and there's nowhere better for this day to be.

The truth is, I've been trying to run this day on my own. I was planning it before my feet touched the floor. I've already guessed how people will react, and I've worked out how to stop things going wrong. When something slips, I tighten my grip. Then I get anxious, and I snap at the people closest to me. I tell You I trust You, and I still live as if everything depends on me. Part of it's fear, and You know that. Part of it's pride. Forgive me for holding on so tight.

I need Your help today. Show me what's actually mine to do, and help me do it well. Then help me leave the results with You. When plans change, keep me steady. When I'm tired or rushed, guard my words. If someone I love is making choices I can't control, help me pray for them and let You be God in their life. And by Your Spirit, give me peace about the things I can't fix.

Your Son asked You, if You were willing, to take the cup away. Then He gave His will to You. I want to follow Him in that. So here's what I'm hoping for today. I'd like the meeting to go well. I'd love some good news, and I want my plans to hold. I'm asking for those things, and I'm leaving them with You.

I can pray what David prayed. “But I trust in You, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hands.” The morning and the afternoon are Yours. So is the result I'm waiting for, and so are the people I love and can't protect from everything. Your word tells me, “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him.” So I'm rolling this day onto You.

And I pray the line from David's psalm that Jesus took up on the cross. “Into Your hands I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord, God of truth.” You've already redeemed me in Jesus. Whatever this day brings, I belong to You.

I pray for others this morning. For parents trying to hold a household together on too little sleep. For anyone waiting on news they can't hurry. For people who are being lied about or pushed out, the way David was. Keep them in Your hands, Father. And for everyone praying along with me right now, help them hand You this day as well.

Now I'm getting up to start the day. When I reach for control again, and I probably will by the time I've found my keys, turn me back to You. If the plan falls apart, meet me right there in the mess. Let me do today's work with open hands. And tonight, when I lie down, I'll give You the day again.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Take a moment of quiet now, and bring Him whatever's in front of you today.

Hear this blessing from Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians.

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24