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Why First Thing in the Morning is the Best Time for Prayer

By LaToya

I get a small commission for purchases made through links in this post.

Inside: Prayer is an important part of your quiet time with God and spiritual growth. Here are 3 reasons why early morning prayer is a good idea plus a little trick to help you consistently get up earlier each day!

I was really going to do it this year. I was going to get up early so I could have my quiet time with God before the day started.

Yes, I made that same commitment every year before that, and yes I always fell short every single year. But this year would be different. I had a plan. And I knew I could stick with it.

  1. Go to bed early so I’m not dog tired when my alarm goes off in the morning
  2. Have all my supplies ready to go right next to the bed
  3. Exercise during the day so I’m good and tired when it’s bedtime so I’m not up all night thinking about all the things

It was a good plan. I followed it perfectly. And guess what?

I woke up the first morning and promptly went back to sleep. The second morning I woke up and made it through my quiet time. The third day it just didn’t happen.

Consistency gets me every time!

I bet if you’ve ever decided to get up early or spend more time in the word you’ve had the same struggle. Big changes like that are hard to do even when you have the perfect plan and the best motivation.

But hope is not lost!

I found a little trick that helped me be more consistent. Not perfect. But I am doing better at getting up and starting my day with prayer and Bible study. I still have to do all the other things on my list but this one thing this what helps me see the most success.

Ready for it?

I get out of bed when my alarm goes off.

Yep, that’s it. I kick the covers off and stand up. Once that happens I grab my prayer notebook and Bible. It’s a simple step but it packs a big punch.

Related: How to Set Goals that You Can Actually Stick to

Prayer is an important part of your quiet time with God and spiritual growth. Here are 3 reasons why early morning prayer is a good idea plus a little trick to help you consistently get up earlier each day!

Sometimes we get overwhelmed by big goals and too many steps. One way to get over that feeling of overwhelm is to find something that will give you quick win. Something that you can do in 30 seconds that will get you one step closer to your goal.

Why 30 seconds? Because it’s enough time to make progress but not enough time to talk yourself out of moving forward. And it’s something that’s easy to check off your to-do list. Which then motivates you to keep going so you can check something else off.

For example, if you want to floss every day. A 30-second task that you can commit to is flossing one tooth each morning. Why? Because if you floss one tooth you’re not going to stop there. You are more likely to finish the rest of your mouth.

So the challenge is to figure out what is that one thing that you can do every day to achieve your spiritual goals.

My goal is to start my day with prayer.

I know there can be some controversy about if you have to do quiet time at a certain time each day in order to be in God’s will. I don’t want to get into that but if you give me a minute I want to make a case for starting your day with prayer.

3 Reasons Early Morning Prayer is Best

1. Jesus did it

Our main goal as Christians is to be more like Christ. So it’s important to take our cue from Jesus when it comes to our quiet times.

Mark 1:35 NLT – Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.

Jesus rose early in the morning to have time to talk with this Father. I don’t believe that God is calling all of use to rise before daybreak to pray but I do believe that He wants to hear from us first thing in the morning.

Prayer is an important part of your quiet time with God and spiritual growth. Here are 3 reasons why early morning prayer is a good idea plus a little trick to help you consistently get up earlier each day!

2. It’s the perfect time to get instructions for the day

One thing that I pray for daily is that God will lead and guide our day. I’m not prideful enough to think that just because I have a plan in place that things will go smoothly. Remember my plan for getting up early?

Psalm 5:3 NLT – Listen to my voice in the morning LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.

God already knows what we will face that day before we even open up our eyes. Why not take a few minutes to ask Him what that plan is? Do you have a BIG day at work … God has a plan for that. Spending the day taking care of your little ones? God has a plan for that as well.

God’s plans are perfect. And if we simply take the time to ask Him about it, He’s willing to share with us the right path to take.

Related: How to pray during hard times

3. Sometimes we need a little encouragement to put one step in the front of the other

If I’m 100% honest many times the reason that I struggle to get out of bed in the morning had nothing to do with how tired I was. Or my laziness or lack of consistency. Most of the time I just didn’t want to get up and face the day.

Psalm 119:147 NLT – I rise early, before the sun is up; I cry out for help and put my hope in your words.

Starting the day with prayer …

Talking to God about what’s on my mind and heart helped me put one foot in front of the other. Because when things are as bad as it can get the only thing that we can do it cry out to God for help and for mercy.

I always feel better when I spend time talking to God. He promises comfort when we need it and He never fails to deliver.

Make the commitment to start your day by talking to God. Make it even sweeter by spending a minute or two in the Word. And don’t forget to find that one thing that you can do in 30 seconds to make sure you keep that commitment.

Your Turn: Do you pray first thing in the morning? Does some other time work better for you?

Filed Under: Prayer

The 15 Minute Daily Routine That Will Make Your Faith Stronger

By LaToya

I get a small commission for purchases made through links in this post.

Inside: This simple trick is the best way to start your quiet time routine every day so you can grow your faith through prayer and Bible study.

Sometimes when I wake up in the morning, I’m already exhausted from thinking about all things that I need to cross off my to-do list for the day.

Of course, I still have a long road ahead before I can relax at the end of the day:

  • Homeschool lessons with the boys
  • A load (or 3) of laundry
  • Meals to prep and cook
  • Work that needs to be done so I can keep paying the bills
  • Tidying the house so it’s not a complete disaster when we all wake up the next day

At the top of my list, each morning is the one that must be done if I’m going to make it through the day without completely losing it: my quiet time with God.

Related: How to Make Quiet Time with God a Priority

Here’s the truth

I’m a single mom of 3 boys, WAHM, and I homeschool. I’m busy. Trying to do an hour straight doesn’t allow me to accomplish much because I get interrupted. So chunks of 15 minutes throughout the day work best.

I spend about 45 minutes a day in prayer and Bible study but not all at one time.

I like to think of it as my way of praying without ceasing.

This simple trick is the best way to start your quiet time routine every day so you can grow your faith through prayer and Bible study.

I am not an early riser. I don’t think it’s necessary to be up before the sun. I don’t try to get up before my children because they seem to think 4am is an appropriate wake-up time. (No idea where they get that from)

My goal is to be up by 7. And then I break up my quiet time into the following chunks:

Chunk #1: Quick Start with God

This chunk is meant to focus my heart and mind before I start my day. This is not when I pull out my Bible study or journaling. I’m not trying to go really deep. I just want to start my day off by checking in with God:

  • Singing a song while I make the bed and get myself ready
  • Finding just one verse or passage to read or pull out my current devotion
  • Spend a few minutes in prayer

I’m looking for a nugget to anchor myself throughout the day.

Related: How to get the most out of your devotionals

Chunk #2: Deep Dive with God

After school is done and my littlest guy is napping I have some time to go deep with God. I use this time for Bible study. This is anything from working through a video-based study to working through a word or topical study on my own.

The goal is to take at least 15 minutes to go deep in whatever God is sharing with me. I might also use this time for some focused prayer.

Related: 10 Best Tools for Studying the Bible

Chunk #3: Prayer and Journaling

I like to end my day with prayer. I pray for issues/concerns that have pop up during the day. I take a few minutes to pray as I write my to-do list for tomorrow. I take some time to pray for my friends and family.

This is also when I take some time to journal because I’m able to process and have complete thoughts because my boys are all asleep for the evening. I often make notes of how the anchor verse from that morning blessed me.

I use these 3 daily chunks for quiet time Monday to Friday. I don’t set aside quiet time on Sundays because that’s when we go to church. Once we get home from service I try to rest.

Saturdays are reserved for catching up on anything that I didn’t get to during the week or for another deep dive. Typically I spend time studying (and journaling) more about something that puzzled me during the week or just something I want to know more about. It’s also a day where you’ll find me reading a book on spiritual growth.

The important thing to do is find a routine that works for you. Even if everyone thinks you’re nuts.

I’d love to an interrupted hour to spend with God every day but in this season of life, I don’t. So I take my 15 minutes where I can grab them.

Your Turn: What does your quiet time routine look like?

Filed Under: Quiet Time

12 Worship Songs that will Revitalize Your Quiet Time

By LaToya

I get a small commission for purchases made through links in this post.

Inside: These 12 worship songs will add a new dimension to your quiet time with God. Next time you need words to pray or want to feel closer to God watch a few of these YouTube videos.

A few years ago I started keeping a playlist of worship songs that I liked or ones that spoke to me. Whenever I heard a song on the radio that blessed me in some way I looked it up on YouTube. I didn’t have a radio at home and I wanted to have some good Christian music to listen to.

I was out running errands one day, listening to the radio, singing a worship song and suddenly I started to cry.

Here are a few of the lyrics:

Good intentions
Never saved a soul
They never changed reality
You had to die for me
Cause I’m only human, you mend me
Tried so hard and still get lost
Give our all, but nothing’s complete
We need your love so strong
And I’m so flawed that you know I’m gonna fall
And you catch me
Your mercy
Your grace
My faith gives me strength to feel perfectly safe
Cause you’ll catch me

I don’t know about you but I make a lot of mistakes trying to get it “right”. I think I know what I need to do but then it ends up being a mistake. Then there’s the aftermath of a choice that seemed right at the time but ended up being out of God’s will.

I worry that I’ll really blow it one day. Completely miss out on the breakthrough that God has for me.

Can you relate?

Listen, we make mistakes. There’s no way to avoid it. Even when we seek God’s guidance there’s a chance that we may not get it 100% right. It’s easy to beat ourselves up and think that we are beyond hope and help. That’s a lie from the enemy.

God loves us. He loves you. He knows that you are going to make mistakes and He is waiting to catch you. You will be safe in His arms. And it took that song to remind of that.

Related: 3 Things to Remember when You go through a Trial

These 12 worship songs will add a new dimension to your quiet time with God. Next time you need words to pray or want to feel closer to God watch a few of these YouTube videos.

Why You Should Add Worship Songs to Your Quiet Time

1. To Put Words to Your Feelings

That morning while I was running errands I was trying to sort through my feelings. Being in a funk for a long time can often be overwhelming. I knew that I was feeling a lot of something but I couldn’t express exactly what it was.

As I listened to the words of that song that morning I realized that they were literally singing my feelings. All the things that I was struggling to make sense of where suddenly clear as I listened to the music.

2. To Find Words when you can’t pray

Just like there are times when I can’t put words to my emotions … I often struggle to find the words to pray. When the weight of my circumstance feels too heavy. Or the burdens of others are more than I can bare I find myself singing my prayers.

God always brings a hymn to mind during these times. But often as I listen to other worship music I begin to pray the lyrics to my Lord and Savior. As I pray the burden lifts and I often find myself able to pray again.

3. To remember who God is and what He’s promised you

My favorite reason for adding worship songs to my quiet time with God is to help me focus on Him and what He is doing in my life. Those songs that are written as if God is speaking directly to me.

Yes, I often hear God’s voice through the lyrics of a good worship song.

Related: The Secret to Hearing from God

12 Worship Songs That Will Revitalize Your Quiet Time with God

1. Elevation Worship – O Come to the Altar

2. Chris Tomlin – Jesus Loves Me

3. Lauren Daigle – How Can it Be

4. Kari Jobe – I am Not Alone

5. Natalie Grant – Clean

6. Passion – My Heart is Yours

7. I am They – Make a Way

8. Eddie James – Breakthrough

9. Gateway Worship – Grace that Won’t Let Go

10. Ellie Holcomb – Find You Here

11. Geoffrey Golden – Glory to the Lamb

12. Tauren Wells – Hills and Valleys

You might also enjoy: 10 Easter Quiet Time Songs

Your Turn: Do you have a favorite worship song?

Filed Under: Quiet Time

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