I love sleep. Few things are better than when you are nice and warm, perfectly snuggled in bed. I have always considered myself to be a “night owl” for the majority of my life. Sleeping was something I looked forward to.
When Holy Spirit touched me, and I completely felt in Love with Jesus. I heard about some great pastors. How God used them to bless & heal people and they have brought many souls to Jesus. They are very sensitive with God’s voice. I read their books and found out that they have spent their time & talk with God every morning.
I still did my quiet time/devotion at night and felt it’s more effective. There were sometimes I did in the morning, sometime I successfully did it and most of the time end up fell asleep. “Sleeping in the presence of God.” But Abraham, Jacob, Job, King David, Moses and even Jesus prayed in the morning!
It’s written in Mark 1:35. 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.
When I went for bible study, the pastor talked again about having devotion in the morning.
This time I tried again, discipline myself with full commitment. Thanks God. Finally, I can do it daily. Well, it’s different!
The reasons to have a quiet time every morning are:
1. Let God to lead your day.
King David said in Psalm 5:3, O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.
When you start your day by filling your mind with God’s Word, with His Truth, those old thoughts don’t have a leg to stand on anymore. You’re able to put God in the driver’s seat where He belongs, rather than allowing that day to run all over you. You’re making a conscious choice about how you will view your day, which prepares you to recognize God’s gifts and His grace and hold onto them tightly so that the daily challenges won’t continue to sweep you away.
2. Peaceful mind and Joyful
Moses prayed In Psalm 90:14 "Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love; that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days."
Once I began a new routine of spending time with God first thing in the morning, my days radically changed. The problems didn’t go away, but the negative, anxious, stressful, and fearful thoughts that warred with my desire to handle it God’s way did start to go away. Little by little, I was regaining territory in the battle for my mind, and I was beginning to see my days and the obstacles that lay before me in a whole new light.
3. You are giving the 1st portion of your day to God, not the leftovers
Giving your morning to God is like using your phone when the battery is at 100% (full charge) – Your phone spent the night re-charging. Now, it is ready to go for the day. You could give God the last 3% of your battery life (when you are falling asleep, etc.) – Well, this is your choice.
4. Keep you healthy
A new study has found that night persons are at higher risk for several unhealthy conditions. And this is true regardless of the number of hours they sleep.
The study, conducted in Korea, looked at 1,620 participants between the ages of 47 and 59. They were divided in two groups, morning chronotypes group & evening group. The researchers compared the health of the morning and evening groups. They found that:
• Female evening chronotypes tended to have more abdominal fat and an increased risk of metabolic syndrome (a condition associated with the development of cardiovascular disease and diabetes).
• Male evening chronotypes overall had higher rates of diabetes and sarcopenia (a condition in which the body's muscle mass slowly declines).
• Evening chronotypes, though typically younger than morning chronotypes, generally had a higher percentage of body fat and higher blood triglyceride levels.
Even adjusting for age and lifestyle differences such as exercise, drug and alcohol consumption, and so on, the late risers were less healthy overall.
So, the morning is a great time to pray. It gets you focused on the things that matter most, such as God, family, career, and being thankful. Praying in the morning helps you meditate on those you love and even yourself.
If you have quiet time at night, that’s cool. This is my personal preference and after trying both for many years, I find mornings are way better. Hence, I think you should give mornings a try.
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