Lord, Teach Me to Number My Days This Week

Good morning. This is Morning Prayer from Bearing Fruit.

It's Monday, the first one in November, and a whole new week is stretching out ahead. Seven days you haven't lived yet. Long ago Moses asked God to teach his people to count days like these, and his prayer is Psalm ninety. Let's bring this to God together.

In Psalm ninety, verses twelve to fourteen, Moses prays this.

So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom. Return, O Lord! How long will it be? Have compassion on Your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with Your loving devotion, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Psalm 90:12-14

Psalm ninety is the only psalm with Moses' name over it. It begins by looking up at God, who was there before the mountains.

Lord, You have been our dwelling place through all generations. Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.

Psalm 90:1-2

Then Moses looks at us. We're like grass, he says, fresh in the morning and dry by evening. Our years go by quickly, and they're often full of trouble. It's an honest psalm. Moses doesn't pretend life is long, or easy.

So when he prays, "Teach us to number our days," he isn't asking for a calendar. He's asking to see time as it really is. Each day is limited, and each one is given. That's where wisdom starts.

Many of us count our days without much wisdom at all. Picture the planner open on the kitchen table, every slot filled until Friday, and you're tired just looking at it. Some of us are only trying to get through to the weekend. For someone else, a scan result last month changed everything, and now an ordinary Monday feels precious and frightening at once.

Notice what Moses asks for next. He asks to be satisfied, and he asks for it in the morning, before the work starts. The words "loving devotion" mean God's faithful covenant love, the love that keeps its promises. Moses wants to start the day full of it. Then the gladness can last all his days.

That order matters this morning. The week isn't where you go to find out whether you're worth something. You can begin it already loved. David put it this way in Psalm sixty-three.

Because Your loving devotion is better than life, my lips will glorify You.

Psalm 63:3

Better than life. Better even than more days.

Moses also cried, "How long?" He lived under the shadow of death, and he longed for God to turn and have compassion. God answered that prayer more fully than Moses could see. He sent His Son, who lived a life numbered in days like ours. Jesus died for our sins, and on the third day He rose from the dead. Our days are still short, but in Him they aren't counting down to nothing.

Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus about the time we're given.

Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Ephesians 5:15-16

Redeeming the time means living these days on purpose, for Him, and with the people He's put beside you. It starts the way Moses started, by asking to be filled with God's love before the day begins.

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

Father, this week is Yours before it's mine. I come to You through Jesus, who took on a short human life and walked His days toward the cross. He died there for my sins. On the third day You raised Him from the dead. Because He lives, my days don't end in dust. Your Holy Spirit is with me now.

You've been the dwelling place of every generation, and You're mine. Before the mountains were born, You were God, and You'll be God long after this week is forgotten. You're never in a hurry, and You're never late. You've already seen every day of this week. And Your love won't run out on Thursday afternoon.

I don't number my days well, Father. I fill them, and then I complain that they're full. I wish whole weeks away, waiting for something better. I worry about time I don't have yet, and I waste the time I do have. Some mornings I go straight to the list and leave You for later. I try to find my worth in getting things done, and I feel empty when the list wins. Forgive me. Your loving devotion was here before I woke, and it'll still be here when I'm tired tonight.

Teach me to number my days. Give me a heart of wisdom for this week. Show me what matters on Monday, and what can wait until Friday, or forever. Help me say yes to the right things and no to the rest. When a conversation runs long, help me not to look at the clock. Give me time for the people You've put near me — the friend who needs a call, the neighbour who lives alone, the child who wants five more minutes at bedtime. Redeem the hours I'd waste. And where I've given my best years to things that don't last, turn me back to You.

Your servant Moses prayed, “Satisfy us in the morning with Your loving devotion, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” Satisfy me this morning, Father. I don't know how many days I have, and I'm leaving that with You. I don't know how this week will go either. Whatever it holds, “Your loving devotion is better than life”. So I can rest in Your love, and stop trying to earn a good week.

I pray for people who are counting days the hard way this morning. For someone in hospital, counting the days until they can go home. For someone grieving, starting November without the person they lost this year. For an older friend whose days feel long and empty, and who wonders if they still matter. Satisfy them with Your love too, Father, and let them know their days are seen. And show me which of them I can visit, or write to, soon.

Now the week begins. Go with me into this Monday, into the first message and the first job of the day. When I feel rushed, slow my heart down, and remind me this day is a gift from You. Let me notice small good things, a kind word, or the light coming through the window. If I reach Friday tired, let me still be glad, because I spent the week with You.

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 letter to the Ephesians, chapter three.

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21