Daily Guideposts 2016: 7-Day Reading PlanSample

I fall asleep every night around ten o’clock, and a few minutes after I’ve gotten into bed I hear it: a deep rumbly sound that starts loudly and then dissipates. It took me a while to figure out what it was, but eventually I did.

My neighbor, who lives around the corner, is a police officer who works the night shift. Each night when I’m ending my day, his is just beginning. I hear the sound of his engine, his car backing slowly down the driveway, and then turning and heading out of the neighborhood. I’ve developed a kinship of sorts with his routine. A feeling of comfort and security sweeps over me the moment I hear his car start up.

It inspires me to pray for him. Lord, please watch over my neighbor who will be working tonight to keep me and my community safe. It also inspires me to pray for all those—firefighters, EMTs, police officers, doctors, nurses, and aides—who leave their homes to begin work when I’m about to end my day.

Lord, I continue, bless the clerks at the grocery stores who are busy stocking the shelves tonight with all the items I’ll need tomorrow. And don’t forget the bakers who will rise up in the early morning hours to bake the cakes for all of the birthdays being celebrated. For these and others who work at night while I sleep, I pray.

Lord, Who is always ever-vigilant and ever-present in my world, thank You for those who work while I rest.

—Melody Bonnette Swang

Digging Deeper: Deuteronomy 15:10, Psalm 90:17