Starting Right
Starting Right is a 5 minute Day Starter to help keep you motivated, encouraged, and focused throughout your day. DannyMac is a pastor, teacher, motivational speaker, husband, and father. His years of leading and training people have given him vast experience in helping individuals to accomplish change in their lives and meet their goals. He can help you set the course for your day by offering practical advice from God's Word in a positive and fun way. There is no better way to begin your day than by Starting Right with DannyMac.
Starting Right
Waking Before Dying
Have you ever considered that sometimes our most profound spiritual insights come from the most unexpected sources? In this episode of Starting Right, we explore a touching story of a young father and his four-year-old son at bedtime prayers. When the little boy accidentally reversed the traditional bedtime prayer to say "If I should wake before I die," what seemed like a mistake revealed a powerful truth: God's desire isn't merely for us to make it to heaven someday—it's for us to truly live before we die.
This simple mix-up illuminates the vast difference between merely surviving and genuinely living the abundant life Christ offers. As Jesus declared, "I have come that you might have life and have it to the full." We explore what it means to be "children of light" in a world often dominated by darkness and fear. When others are consumed by anxiety, our peaceful presence becomes a powerful testimony to God's reality.
The childlike wisdom from this bedtime prayer mistake might just transform how you approach each day of your journey with God. Join me tomorrow as we continue discovering how to start our days by starting right.
Good morning and welcome to Starting Right. I am Danny Mac and I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great start to your day. So grab your cup of coffee, sit back and relax for the next five minutes as I help you start your day by starting right. Now. I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.
Speaker 1:This children's prayer has been around for a long time. In fact. It originated back in the 18th century and has been used in every generation since then. In fact, you probably prayed this yourself when you were just a child.
Speaker 1:Let me tell you a story about how a young father learned something brand new from this very old prayer. It was bedtime for the man's four-year-old son, so together they walked into his bedroom and they knelt beside his bed getting ready to have their evening prayers, as they always had. Together. They folded their hands and the dad began to pray, but his son stopped him and said Dad, I want to say it by myself tonight. Let me say it by myself. So the father said OK, you pray and I will listen. The boy was so excited. This was his first time praying by himself. So we got all set and he got through the first part of the prayer extremely well, powerfully strong. But then something happened and he got a little bit mixed up. He prayed it kind of like this Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep If I should wake before I die. And he stopped. He was embarrassed. He said oh daddy, I'm sorry, I got mixed up. I got mixed up. His dad put his arm around the boy and hugged him and said Not at all, son, not at all. I believe that's the first time that prayer has actually been properly prayed. What I want more than anything else for you is that you wake up before you die. The child drifted off to sleep, but the father thought more about those prophetic words if I should wake before I die, that's the most important part, he said.
Speaker 1:I love this story because it talks about this child who thought he'd made a mistake. He was trying so hard to do it right for dad and it came out wrong. And yet when it came out wrong for the child, it came out with a greater truth than what he would have said if he'd done it right. I love the fact that God wants us to live before we die. We're not here just to get to heaven. We're here to live in this earth and to occupy it and to be God's representatives, his ambassadors. The Bible calls us of his truth and his life and his light to this world and to be God's representatives, his ambassadors. The Bible calls us, of his truth and his life and his light to this world and to the people around us.
Speaker 1:We are to live, not just survive, and there's a huge difference between those two things, between surviving and living. Jesus declared that I have come, that you might have life and have it to the full. That life that Christ has for us is to be a full life here. It's not to be a life of just surviving, it's to be a life full of doing and being and accomplishing the things that God has for us, and he has so much for us. Ephesians, chapter 5 and verse 8, it says for you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.
Speaker 1:God's desire for us is that we live and that we live as people of light. So how do we do that? How do we live and shine this light. One of the ways that we can do that, and it's not always easy, but this is key. Because we have this relationship with God, we do not have to live in fear because of what's happening around us. Isaiah 41.10 says Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you, and I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. When we live without fear in the midst of people who are full of fear, we shine God's light to them, and not only is that a benefit to them, that's a benefit to us. And one more thing today we're told exactly how to live to let people see God work in us.
Speaker 1:Galatians 5.22. The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Remember that we are to live before we die and that we are people of light. Matthew 5.14 says you are the light of the world, like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden Down. In verse 16,. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. God speaks to us and says I have this light for you in your life. Let it shine. Let it shine to give you peace and strength, let it shine to others around you and let them see the truth of who God is, because they see it shining from you. Have a great day, my friends. We'll talk again tomorrow. Thank you for listening today and I invite you to join me Monday to Friday, right here on Starting Right with Danny Mac.
