Before All

Before All

Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Psalm 5:3

GOD IS NOT PARTIAL TO OUR PRAYING at any particular time of the day. He is timeless, and even on this single planet, it’s always morning somewhere. The idea of bringing our requests to him in the morning is not meant to be an order, a ritual, or a scheduling issue. Still, it does reflect our priorities, and for a God who asks for the firstfruits of our labors, the first of our time seems appropriate. When we set aside the first and last moments of our day to talk with him, all the time in between seems better ordered, and we are more solidly anchored in our relationship with him. Devoting our morning hours to him is a way of saying all the rest are his too.

Why is that important? Because if we don’t live our lives with God as our reference point, we find ourselves wrestling with hard decisions more often, arranging our priorities with greater difficulty, and settling for circumstances that are not his will for us. And if we don’t bring our requests to him early, we tend to live without expectancy. We don’t go through our days with anticipation of how our morning prayers play out or how he might give answers and encouragements along the way. When we don’t lay his promises out before him as gifts we’ve claimed, we miss opportunities to receive their fulfillment or be reminded that fulfillment is coming. If we don’t set the tone for our day with him, the day may take on a very unwelcome tone. And we’ll go along with it if our minds are not fixed on him.

Fix your mind, heart, prayers, and faith on God every moment of the day, but especially early in the morning. Give him the firstfruits of your time. See how your hope swells, your anticipation grows more focused, and his presence becomes more noticeable. It is far better to fit the demands of your schedule around your prayers than to try to fit your prayers around the demands of your schedule. The trajectory of your day—and of your life—will become far more satisfying.

Let God have your first awaking thoughts. . . . Cast yourself upon him for the day which follows.