Day 240 Daily Morning Prayer “REST IS NOT QUITTING”

0:00You're listening to words for the soul, food for the heart, your daily morning prayer podcast. Now join in with your host, Jackie Wickware. Good morning, praying people. Before we begin today's prayer, want to say to you if these prayers are helping you start your day stronger. Take a moment to follow this podcast on the platform, Buzzsprout, Apple Podcast, Spotify. I heart-ready or wherever you enjoy your podcast and if today's prayer blesses you, share it with someone and simply tell them this helped me and I thought it might help you too. Because encouragement grows when we pass it along. And yesterday we were reminded of something freeing, the truth that options are not

1:02obligations. And now today we take the next step, let's pray. God of rhythm and renewal, you created a world that moves with balance, day and night. Work and rest, effort and restoration. But sometimes we forget that rest is not the opposite of purpose, it is a part of it. So today we pause, not because we are abandoning the work, but because wise builders step back, long enough to breathe. Some of us have been carrying a great deal this week, responsibilities, decisions, emotions,

2:04dreams we are trying to protect while still surviving every day life. And when we are tired, the temptation is to either quit completely or push ourselves into exhaustion. But today we remember something different, rest is not quitting, rest is preparation, even during this season of reflection called land, it invites us to remember that stepping back for a moment can help us step forward with greater strength. But quiet the racing of our minds, and ease the tension we carry in our bodies remind us that our value is not measured by constant activity. Help us breathe normal again, help us notice the small progress that has already happened

3:13this week, because even small steps are still steps. And the life we want is still on the other side of work we cannot skip. So today we rest without guilt, we restore without apology, we breathe without pressure, and we trust that tomorrow we will return to the work with renewed strength, a man, a man. Give yourself one intentional hour today at least to rest your mind, step away from pressure, because you can. And simply breathe, because breath gives us brand new life, where so many other things

4:16and people are operating in ways to suffocate us, breathe, breathe. And during that hour, write down one thing you completed or learned this week, and then honor that progress. Let's affirm this together, rest, strengthens, the work I cannot skip. Now go out and have yourself, a marvelous day just because it's meant for you.