“In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly (Psalm 5:3, NIV).”

Mornings are a battle for me.  I shared a couple of days ago the conviction to be victorious in this battle.  Why is this so important?

1. The morning sets the tone for the day.  I find that as my morning goes, so goes my day.  Flesh or Spirit?  Self-centered or Christ-centered?  Hurried or unhurried?
2. The morning is quiet.  In a world of noise, the morning provides an opportunity to hear God’s still small voice.
3. The morning is fresh. Every 24 hours we are given the gift of a new beginning.  The morning provides the opportunity to revel in this gift.  “Morning by morning new mercies I see.”
4. The morning is a birthplace for faith–an expectation for what God will do in the day to come.  (See Psalm 5:3 above).

I believe that we can and should meet with God any time of the day.  But there is just something different about the morning.

My experience has been that victory in the morning doesn’t just happen.  It takes planning. Here are some practical ideas that might help:

1. Go to bed 30 minutes earlier.
2. Set your alarm and put it on the other side of the room. (No snooze!)
3. Have an intentional place for study and prayer.  Lay out your resources in this place the night before.
4. Have an intentional plan for study and prayer.  Let me know if you need help making a plan.

Feel free to check to see how my battle is going.  If you too have been thinking about this, I would love to hear from you.

“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).”