A Prayer for the First Day Sober

Father, today is day one, and it is terrifying and holy at the same time. I woke up clear for the first time in longer than I can remember, and the day stretches out ahead of me with nothing to hide behind.

I confess I am not even sure I know how to live an ordinary hour without it. Every familiar moment feels suddenly bare and strange.

But here I am, awake, breathing, choosing this. So I give You this first fragile day before I lose my nerve.

Hold me through the hours that used to belong to my habit. When the afternoon goes quiet and the wanting creeps in, fill that hour with something true. Remind me, when this feels impossible, that I am doing the bravest thing I have ever done by simply staying clean until tonight.

You make all things new, and today You are making me new, starting now, starting here, in this trembling first step.

I give You my shaky beginning, my one small day. Let me lay my head down tonight and know I did it, that I made it through the first one. And let this be the first stone in a road that leads me home. Amen.