Are You A Morning Person?

Psalm 5:1-3 – Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. (KJV)

The early bird gets the worm.

Early to bed, early to rise — makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.

Common proverbs such as these are meant to encourage us to get up early in the morning to start our day. Yet just getting up early in the morning should not be enough for those who have dedicated their lives to the Lord. Many, if not all, of us have no problems getting up early to go to work or school. If we need to be at work early on a particular day, we have no problem arising with the sound of the alarm clock to get our day under way. Or if we have planned a special golfing, fishing, or shopping trip we can awake with eager anticipation of what the coming day will hold. So getting up early is not truly a problem. That is, until we have to get up early for someone other than ourselves. Many of us struggle to get up a few moments earlier in the morning in order to be able to dedicate the first fruits of our day to our Lord.

Having a time of quiet meditation and prayer is essential to the Christian life. Now, while I am not saying that a person cannot have this special time in the evenings, there just seems to be something so much more special about having that time of commitment as the first part of the day. "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up." King David realized the importance of giving of our time to the Lord. Personally, I feel that God would have for us to devote a portion of each morning to Him. God desires the first fruits of all of our lives, not just of our money or our talents. It is often much easier to give God the time we have "left over" in the evenings after our daily tasks have been completed. But just think how much more meaningful it would be to God to know that you took special effort and care in the morning to give your time to Him.

If nothing else we should give thanks to God each morning for the night of rest we have had and for blessing us with a new day in our lives. I have learned that giving time to God early in the morning always has its rewards as well. On the days when I have missed or skipped my morning quiet time, it has been quite noticeable by the way my day goes. Days just seem to flow so much more smoothly when they are started the right way. Recently I had started getting up even earlier in the morning to go running with a neighbour and at times I found myself foregoing part of my quiet time in order to run. During that time Satan played upon my life and my spirit more than he ever has. That was all the confirmation I needed as to how much importance there is in dedicating that time to God.

I realize that many people really struggle in the mornings. I myself have never really been a morning person, but if part of our morning is dedicated to the Father, He will help to make each of us a morning person. And He will give the guidance and strength we need to make it through the rest of the day.

Prayer: Most gracious and loving Father, we give You praise and honour and glory. Give each of us strength to come before You each morning and direct our prayers to You. Help us to awaken each morning with a renewed spirit and desire to spend that quality time in Your presence. Amen.

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