Hearing The Rooster Before It Crows

Start your morning in prayer. In the Garden, Peter was told by Christ to pray to avoid temptation, but Peter didn’t spend the time in prayer, did he? Instead Jesus found Peter and the others sleeping. Instead of praying, Peter was snoozing. Instead of waking early for a time of prayer, we often hit that snooze alarm again, don’t we? Snoozing instead of praying. Prayer should be the first thing we do each and every morning. Pray to avoid temptation. Pray for guidance. There is a morning prayer Darlene and I have on our fridge. It is the Tweety-Bird prayer. It shows a picture of Tweety-Bird and the prayer reads: “Dear Lord, So far to day, I’m doing all right. I haven’t gossiped, lost my temper, been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or self-indulgent. I haven’t complained, cursed, or eaten any chocolate… But I will be getting out of bed in a few minutes, and I think that I will really need your help then, Lord!”

We do not know what the day will hold. Pray for wisdom and strength to handle the things of the day in the way Christ would handle them. Seek Christ’s help. Peter didn’t ask Jesus to help him. ”How Lord? What can I do? Help me to avoid doing this thing.” Ask Christ’s help. Pray that you won’t deny Christ by your words, attitudes, or actions. We don’t know what the day will bring. The unexpected occurs. There will be times in our day when we will feel tired, afraid, or weary. It is during those times when we are the most vulnerable to fail Christ. So be prepared.

The time to hear the rooster is before it crows.

Prayer

Invitation:

Have you failed Christ in your words, attitudes and actions this week. Ask Christ to forgive

you. Ask His help in the week ahead. When Peter did hear the rooster crow, he didn’t ignore it. He realized his fault, & he repented. Christ forgave Peter, & He promises to forgive us too!

If you are not a Christian today, Christ has given you a warning. You don’t know what tomorrow may bring. You may not get that second chance Accept his gift of salvation and forgiveness today.

The words of our invitation hymn reads “Time after time, He has waited before and now He is waiting again.” How many times will the rooster crow before you will respond? Don’t delay. Heed the call today. Come as we stand and sing #321 The Savior is Waiting.”