START YOUR DAY OFF RIGHT!

The alarm clock goes off at 4:45am, and disturbs my quiet slumber. I quickly hit the snooze button, giving myself an extra 15 minutes to try to wake up and begin my day. I pray quietly to God asking him for the energy and strength I need to get myself out of bed in a timely fashion. My second alarm rings at 5:00am and I am getting up… my day begins. I am ready to spend my first 45 minutes with God. I am ready for my daily connection time with my Abba Father.

I am going to be honest here, this used to be a difficult routine for me to stick to, getting up about an hour earlier than I needed to in order to spend some quiet time with God. Some mornings, I would hit the snooze button over and over just to get a little more sleep. “I will get up the next time the alarm rings” I would think to myself, not even thinking to ask God for some help with this matter. Before I knew it, 4-5 snoozes later, 6:00am rolled around and I had no choice, I HAD to get up.

There were some mornings that I did get up early and rather than focusing on God (which is the main reason I was supposed to be getting up in the first place) I would think of a hundred things I needed to do; the dishes from the night before, paying bills, preparing lunches or checking emails etc. etc. I would think, “let me do a few things first, and then I will get to my time with God.” Before long, it would be almost 7:00am and I have to get ready for work, and typically ended up rushing around, panicking, trying to get out the door on time. Let’s just say I had many “unglued” mornings.

I would then get frustrated with myself for not starting my day off right, with God, and rationalize, I will do it later, before I go to bed. Typically, that never happened either.
I have now realized the importance of spending time with God, not just on Sundays, not just a few times a week but each and every day! This is a routine that I now look forward to and if I miss a morning, I can tell that I will be feeling “off” for a good part of the day.

We are now living in a fast paced society full of technology and distractions. We need to quiet the noise around us! We need to get into His word, pray and talk to God. We need to be quiet, be still, listen to the Lord, and put our focus on God!

This is something I struggle with a lot! Ask my husband how often I am able to sit still and relax (besides watching an occasional movie here and there).

1 Chronicles 16:11 – Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.

Colossians 4:2 – Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

Psalm 119:147-148 – I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word. My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.

 

We need to stop trying to do things in the power of the flesh and rely on the strength of the Lord. Without God, we can do nothing. Without spending daily time with God, we cannot build our relationship with Him and understand who He is and what He can do for us in our lives.

Philippians 4:13 – “I can do anything through Christ which strengthens me.”

Philippians 4:7 – And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Charles Stanley states: “We can be tired, weary and emotionally distraught, but after spending time alone with God, we find that He injects into our bodies energy, power and strength.” Friends, I am here to tell you that this is the truth!

So, I finally began disciplining myself, and started setting my alarm earlier. When I got up, I would focus on God First…NOTHING ELSE. No dishes, no dinner, no bills, no Facebook (except for online bible study time) and focus on God! I have my “God basket” right next to the couch I sit on, with my bible, journal, highlighters, pens, devotional books etc. This way I don’t waste time looking for anything I may need. I also have my devotionals and my bible on my kindle so on there are some mornings I am reading and praying while I am riding on my exercise bike. What better way to start off a morning buy by strengthening my physical body as well as my spiritual mind!

Guess what happened now that I have made this part of my daily routine? My mornings go better, my days are brighter and I now look forward to my quiet time with God every day. Try it sometime! You may just like it!

Need help getting started, Check this out!

Lysa TerKeurst, president of Proverbs 31 Ministries states: “ We must exchange whispers with God before shouts with the world. Instead of immediately checking in with social media with the first moments of our day, we can truly make God first by giving Him our first thoughts.
With God’s vision and your help, Proverbs 31 Ministries is striving to eradicate Biblical poverty. And we have developed a free mobile app called the “First 5” to:
• Bring life and Truth to the First 5 minutes of every day.
• Provide a healthier alternative to hopping on social media in the first moments of our day.
• Give us the opportunity to share hope with the people in our lives who struggle with putting God’s Word first.

 

Check out the links below for more information.
http://proverbs31.org/devotions/devo/make-your-first-5-count/#sthash.Z35Pwwol.dpuf

http://first5.org/