I used to be a night person for a long time I guess. My wife was the early morning person. I would pray and study the Bible at night. There were however times before going to work when I spent time with God. Since the time that I was in the hospital a year ago, my life has changed. I had to get up early for various reasons. I was getting up at 5:00 am or 5:30 am. My breakfast didn’t come until 8 am. So I started my early morning routine of reading, praying, and writing in my journal. Sixteen days of this new routine developed into a habit. I can say that I’m still doing this and it has been enriching. I thank God for this change. God didn’t put me in the hospital so this would happen but I did make lemonade out of it.
King David said in Psalm 63:1 (NKJV) –1 O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. There is something about seeking God in the morning. Your mind seems to be much clearer in the early hours. It is much quieter. Your mind isn’t filled with all clutter and all that you have to do for that day. There are times I want to sleep in but I make myself get up. God doesn’t condemn you if you sleep in late. He loves you. He looks forward to hearing from you any time of the day. Look at Proverbs 20:13 (NKJV) –13 Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty; Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread. This is speaking of a natural situation. Yet, when I read this verse I saw it as a spiritual truth. Let’s read it this way: Do not love spiritual sleep, lest you come to spiritual poverty. Open your spiritual eyes and you will be satisfied with spiritual bread. We know that Jesus is the Bread that came down from heaven. Jesus is the Word made flesh. Rising early to meet the Lord is a great opportunity to receive fresh manna from heaven. To receive fresh bread. To receive fresh revelation from the Word of God.
The Apostle Paul prayed this prayer in Ephesians. Ephesians 1:17-20 (NKJV) –17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places. This is a great prayer to pray. This prayer by Paul was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. I encourage you to let this be your prayer as well. Are you hungry for God? Are you thirsting for Him? Will you rise early to meet the Lord? I love the quietness of the morning and the solitude it brings. Hearing the Lord speak to you in your heart is a ripe opportunity that can keep you from spiritual poverty.
In the life of Jesus, we see this discipline of getting up early. Mark 1:35 (NKJV) –35 Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place, and there He prayed. We are in good company when we follow in the Lord’s footsteps. Apostle Paul’s exhortation in Philippians 2:5 (NKJV) –5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Although Paul wasn’t speaking about prayer in this context yet it is still an attribute of Jesus to seek His Father early at times. There were also other times as well. Luke 6:12 (NKJV) –12 Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. Our prayer life should be led by the Holy Spirit and not something out of obligation or a sense of religious duty. Just the simple fact that we want to spend time with our Father in Heaven because we love Him. I like what Apostle John said. 1 John 1:3 (NKJV) –3 That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. Time with God in the early hours is a wonderful thing. Our lives are so busy and filled with so many things to do and take care of. It seems that we have so many responsibilities in this age.
Do you know that giving God the first fruit of our day will cause us to reap the blessing of the rest of our day? Matthew 6:33 (NKJV) -33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. I think that God will bless our day and cause it to be fruitful and productive. This is a heart thing folks. It is honoring our God before we do all the stuff that we have to do. Here is King David’s heart: Psalm 5:2-3 (NKJV) -2 Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray. 3 My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up. Our present lifestyle is looking at what we have to do on any given day. Here David is looking up to God first. The lifestyle of earliness shows our dependence on God. Praying, meditating in his word. Receiving strength and wisdom for our day.
Judges 21:4 (NKJV) –4 So it was, on the next morning, that the people rose early and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Morning time with our Father in heaven is our altar time. We humbly dedicate those early hours to Him alone. It is a time in the presence of God, in the Word of God that alters our lives for the better. What a blessing and a joy to spend time with Him. Our offerings today are our bodies and our souls to God-Romans 12:1 (AMP) -1 I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship. We engage in this discipline because we love God and want to spend Him. God doesn’t condemn us if we miss a day or two. At times our flesh is weak but our heart is willing.
I remember Jesus saying something like Matthew 26:40-41 (NKJV) –40 Then He came to the disciples and found them asleep, and said to Peter, “What? Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” God understands our weaknesses at times. He doesn’t fall off His throne and heaven doesn’t stop functioning. God looks at our hearts. He knows we want in our hearts to spend time with Him. The Holy Spirit is there to encourage us and not condemn us. We need to assure our hearts of God’s love and keep moving forward. Stop condemning yourself!
A beautiful picture we see in scripture in the Old Testament is found in Isaiah 40:29-31 (NKJV) –29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might, He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. If you are feeling weak, feeling inadequate, and feeling without strength there is hope. You don’t have to chicken out when it comes to spending time with God in the morning. You can be an eagle. Eagles depend on the wind’s current for continual flight. It continues to reach new heights as the wind carries him. So is spending time with God. It’s amazing to see how far you can climb in life when depending on God for strength, wisdom, and direction. The word wait in Hebrew is qāwâ. It means to bind together (perhaps by twisting). To look for, to hope. The winding or twisting together of a strand of rope. Spending time with God is a time of exchange. Exchanging our weakness for His strength. We could say our strands of weakness twisted together with His strength. Our hopelessness twisted together with His hope. Our feelings of inadequacies with His confidence. Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) –13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. The “all things”, are things that God says we can do in His Word. Look at Psalm 27:14 (NKJV) –14 Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!
If you have a desire to be an early morning person God will help you. It starts with desire. God promises to give us our heart’s desire. As a matter of fact, He puts that desire in our hearts. Psalm 20:4 (NKJV) –4 May He grant you according to your heart’s desire, And fulfill all your purpose. Our spirit longs to connect with God who is Spirit. Is this your purpose? John 4:23-24 (KJV) –23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
In conclusion, we must remember why God created us. The Westminster Shorter Catechism states “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” We are created for God’s pleasure. To have a relationship with Him. The morning time with God is enjoying Him and any other time of the day. Ephesians 5:14 (NKJV) –14 Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.“This speaks of the salvation that Christ gives. We are no longer walking in spiritual darkness but in the light. To be spiritually awake to the age in which we live. To discern the times in which we live so that we may walk in wisdom. Again in Romans 13:11-12 (NKJV) –11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. We now can enjoy walking in the light because of our salvation. Spending time with God is putting off the old garments and putting on the new ones. One of the first things we do in the morning is to get dressed. Early morning time with God is getting dressed spiritually. Preparing our hearts and minds for a new day. Seeking God for strength and wisdom! Time to wake up sleepy head! You can do it! So whatever time we choose to spend time with God, let us do it consistently, lovingly, and learn to depend on Him. This is the doorway to walking in the light and the revelation of all that God has for us in Christ.
In Christ’s love
Brent and Linda Bushen
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