A short morning prayer can be one sentence: "Lord, this day is yours. Go before me, guide my words and my time, and help me love the people in front of me. Amen." Below are fifteen short morning prayers for strength, peace, work, gratitude and anxious mornings.
Each of these takes less than a minute. Pick one and pray it every morning for a week before you look at your phone, or rotate through them. All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version, which is in the public domain.
Prayers to give God the day
1. Lord, this day is yours. Go before me, guide my words and my time, and help me love the people in front of me. Amen.
2. Father, before anything else gets my attention, I give you my first thoughts. Fill this day with your presence. Amen.
3. Jesus, you rose early to pray. Teach me to start my day with you, not with the noise. Amen.
Prayers for strength
4. God, I don't feel ready for today. Give me strength for the next hour, and then the next. Amen.
5. Lord, renew my strength like you promised. Let me run and not be weary, walk and not faint. Amen.
"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:31
6. Father, I can do what today asks of me only through Christ who strengthens me. Be my strength. Amen.
Prayers for peace
7. Lord, my mind is already racing. Keep it fixed on you, and give me your perfect peace. Amen.
"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." Isaiah 26:3
8. God, I bring you the worry I woke up with. I can't carry it alone, so I'm handing it to you. Amen.
Prayers for work or school
9. Lord, let my work today be done heartily, as for you. Give me focus, patience and honest effort. Amen.
10. Father, bless the people I'll work with today. Help me be kind when I'm tired and truthful when it's hard. Amen.
11. God, give me wisdom for the decisions in front of me, and the humility to ask for help. Amen.
Prayers of thanks
12. Thank you, Lord, for rest, for breath and for another morning. Your mercies are new again today. Amen.
"It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22–23
13. This is the day you have made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. Amen.
Prayers before you pick up your phone
14. Lord, guard my eyes and my attention today. Let me look at what is good and turn away from what isn't. Amen.
15. Father, before I read anyone else's words, let me hear yours. Speak to me this morning. Amen.
"Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way." Psalm 119:37
For a fuller version of this last kind, see a simple morning prayer before you check your phone.
Bible verses to pray in the morning
"My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up." Psalm 5:3
"Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee." Psalm 143:8
"O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days." Psalm 90:14
"And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed." Mark 1:35
How long should a morning prayer be?
As long as you'll actually pray it. A one-sentence prayer you say every day does more than a long one you skip. Start short. Once the habit holds, add a psalm, pray for people by name, or sit quietly for a minute before you say Amen.
How do I remember to pray before I check my phone?
Make the phone wait. Prayer Latch locks the apps you choose at your wake-up time. When you reach for one, you pray first, with a guided prayer or your own words, and then hold to say Amen. Your apps open until the next lock time. The prayers above work well in your own words there.
Pray before you scroll
Prayer Latch locks your chosen apps each morning until you pray. Your first 7 days are free, no card needed.
Updated October 22, 2026 by the Prayer Latch team at Janus Works LLC.