Every morning I open my eyes to start the day, I am faced with two options: go right to the bathroom to start my morning routine or spend time with God. I would like to say that every day I choose the latter, however, sometimes sleepiness or laziness gets the best of me and I put off my time with God until later or even the next day. When I start my day with the prayer, worship and/or the word, I find I am happy, my mind is clear, and I can tackle whatever comes my way that day more efficiently. When I start my day with laziness, I find I keep that standard going throughout the day and I typically don’t get much accomplished. God is our source and we can do nothing without Him, including getting through our day (John 15:5).

If we look to Jesus as our perfect example, we find that He rose many times in the morning to get His personal time with God. I think one reason He rose in the morning was the amount of activity that filled His days. Jesus performed miracles, healed, taught, corrected and saved. Each day I believe He needed to mentally prepare. He chose to prepare by rising in the mornings and giving His first moments to the Father.

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” (Mark 1:35 NIV)

We should do the same (James 1:22). If we rise in the mornings, we also give God the first fruits of our day and lean on Him for daily direction. We may think we have some time later in the day to spend quiet time with God, but there is no telling what can come up. If instead we wake up in the mornings and enjoy time with God, chances are there will be very few interruptions. There is also no harm in spending time with God more than once a day. So, if we end up having a few moments in our afternoons and evenings to spend with God it will only add to our lives. Any time spent with God is time well spent.

“Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:8)

I remember back when I was in undergrad, I had so much going on that I had to sit down and write out my list of priorities. I did this so that when events or situations conflicted I could go right to my list and choose what was most important to me. On my list, I had my personal relationship with God as priority number one. So, when my heavy eyes begged me to stay asleep or my laziness requested that I procrastinate my time with God, it was imperative that I remembered that sleep was nowhere on my priority list and neither was laziness.

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33 NIV)

Spending time with God in the mornings can be easier said than done if we don’t know what to do during our quiet time. Or rather, we may know what to do, just not how to do it – like prayer. Other things we can do to enjoy time with God include: praying, Bible reading, worshiping, re-reading past Bible notes, journaling, and reading daily devotionals. One of my favorite books in the Bible to start my day with is Proverbs. Not only does Proverbs contain 31 chapters, which can easily coincide with days in the month, but the quick wisdom is amazing and so applicable to daily life.

Just let the God lead you through your morning quiet time, He won’t let you down (Galatians 5:25).

Seven-Min. Devotionals