UP & AT ‘EM!

When our kids were young and living at home, it was sometimes a challenge to get them out of bed for school. My solution was to go into their rooms singing “rise and shine and give God the glory, glory children of the Lord.” Yes, it was as irritating as it sounds! I’m pretty sure my kids – who are all adults now – still hate that song! 

Conventional wisdom encourages early rising. It was Benjamin Franklin who said, “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” In the competitive world we live in we are even reminded, “The early bird gets the worm.” 

THE VALUE OF EARLY PRAYER

Even in our desire to know God, early rising has value. The Psalmist said “…early will I seek thee.” (Psalm 63:1 KJV) The New International Version says, “earnestly I seek you…” The words “early” and “earnestly” come from a Hebrew word that means “to break forth” like “the breaking of the dawn”. A secondary meaning is “to break in” like prying a door open to “seek” what’s inside. In either case, there is a search going on that takes priority- hence the idea in one translation that we seek God early, and in the other we seek God earnestly. In both cases, He is our number one priority -so both translations are correct and actually teach the same thing- we want God first -so we seek Him early and earnestly. 

From a practical standpoint seeking God early makes the most sense. Jesus got up “while it was still dark” to seek God in prayer (Mark 1:35). There are, generally, fewer demands on us early in the morning. Even if we get up only 15 minutes earlier then usual, to give God our first thoughts in the morning, I believe our day will be better for it. God has a plan for your day. Spend time with Him early and discover the power of His daily guidance.

The principle reason for starting early is true in other areas of life too. For instance, in sports you wouldn’t want to get the game plan from the coach after the game – you would want it before the game. Why then, in the more important arena of life itself, would we not seek direction from God as early as possible each day?

Of course we can pray at all hours of the day and night and we are encouraged to do so (1 Thessalonians 5:17). It has been my experience, however, that the longer I wait before seeking God in prayer the harder it is to do it. My day gets busy, my mind gets distracted, and my time is often not my own. Many others have learned the same lessons in the school of prayer. So, start early seeking God and enjoy the benefits all day long. Get up and give your day to God.

-JKB