With Each Sunrise, We Can Begin Our Prayer Again
by Monica Pugh | August 12, 2025
“Before we hang up, is there anything I can pray for you today, Monica?” said the customer service rep.
Her offer of prayer surprised me but I responded instantly. She asked if I would like to pray now or after we hung up.
I surprised myself by answering, “Oh, right now!” She offered the most beautiful prayer for my request.
How often do we reject offers like this out of our own uncomfortableness? It has taken me my entire life to become comfortable with the vulnerability of spontaneous prayer. God knew I needed this comfort through this stranger at that moment. The Holy Spirit guided her words and the soothing balm of God’s grace washed over me as she prayed. I allowed myself to receive.
St. Ignatius of Loyola says, “Prayer is entirely God’s gift; yet God asks that we dispose ourselves to receive that gift.” One of the ways to receive is by establishing a regular daily prayer life. This requires intentional time spent praying.
When I first determined to pray every day, my morning prayer was very simple: “Good morning, Lord. Thank you for another day.”
I said something similar as I climbed into bed.
This simplicity helped me establish regularity. The regularity inspired a desire in me to learn more about prayer and ways to pray.
The fourth pillar of the Catechism is entitled Christian Prayer. Not only did it teach me, but it also showed me prayer is where I enter into relationship with God. If I am not praying, I cannot know what God’s will is for my life. Today I end the day with The Examen.
The Examen is a five step mental prayer written by St. Ignatius in the 16th century to recognize God’s presence throughout the day before sleep. It begins by acknowledging God and asking the Holy Spirit for guidance through the reflection. Gratefulness comes next. Find at least one blessing from the day and give thanks for it. The third step is reviewing when we felt close to God or farther away from God throughout the day.
For moments where we moved farther from God, we ask forgiveness. Perhaps a harsh word was spoken or despair was allowed to creep into thoughts. Maybe we were ungrateful or did not accept God’s love.
Those moments are acknowledged with an Act of Contrition or perhaps the Jesus Prayer. “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” This prayer addressed to God acknowledges our sinfulness and hopes to lead us to a state of humbleness and repentance through the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
The final step is to resolve to do better tomorrow with the desire to act wisely knowing the day might bring surprises.
With each sunrise, we can begin again. Good morning, Lord. Thank you for another day. And when retiring, acknowledge, give thanks, reflect, repent, and resolve. When we intentionally pray, we receive from God, we grow and learn and hope to give it away just like the woman on the other end of the phone did for me.