| Growing in Prayer | Put God First |
|---|---|
| Objective | Begin to put God first every day |
| Seedtime | 32 minutes (2 minute read, 30 minute podcast) |
| Feedtime | 1 hour |
| Directive | Take 15 minutes each day for 4 days to spend time with God first thing in the morning. Make a morning offering, and read through and pray with the Gospel of the day. |
I’m sure you’ve all heard the saying, “early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”. To be honest, it’s not wrong. I know from personal experience that when I get up early, my day always seems to go better. When I sleep in, it throws my whole day off balance and I feel like I’m constantly playing catch up.
So if that is true for waking up early, then is it the same for our prayer time?
I would argue, absolutely yes! Below are three reasons why:
LEARN FROM EXAMPLE
Throughout the bible leaders and prophets, including Jesus Himself, rose early to pray. These are just a few examples:
Mark (1:35):
“And in the morning, a great while before day, [Jesus] rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed.”
Job (1:5):
“And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.”
Genesis (32:3):
“So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; and he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.”
Joshua (6:12):
“Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord.”
CUTS OUT DISTRACTIONS
My day is filled with distractions. There’s always something that needs to get done. And If I have distractions, I’m sure the majority of people do too. Rather than trying to fit Jesus into my busyness, I choose to make a special time for Him in the stillness. People are always in a rush in the morning, whether it is getting the children ready for school or beating the traffic to work. There is something so special about claiming that time for God when it is quiet and still and you can focus on the Lord.
SETS UP YOUR DAY
Matthew (6:33):
“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.”
Our days are full of ups and downs. By inviting God into our day at the very beginning, we invite Him to walk alongside us through the joys, challenges, blessings and struggles. If we put God first, then our day will be an extension of our prayer, and He will give us the grace to follow Him. Even if we offer God each day before bed, we are only giving back to Him what we have achieved by ourselves. Of course, God can use everything we offer Him, but how good would it be to say every morning, “I want to follow You today. Your Will be done”?
Take some time and listen to this podcast by Jeff Cavins Why Morning is the Best Time to Pray. This podcast will give more insight into this subject and how you can offer your day to God more fully. Then use the directive above to grow this seed into a rose.
Golden Rose 