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Throughout college I was the night owl. Oh, sometimes I would have early classes, but even then I was notorious for showing up to class with my toothbrush in one hand and a Diet Pepsi® in the other. I would howl with amusement whenever someone would talk about a morning prayer meeting, let alone time in prayer before the meeting. But I must also admit that I struggled throughout my college days to believe that God loved me or that he would actually answer my prayers. Because I didn’t expect God to answer, I didn’t see the point of asking. Consequently, I didn’t see God answer much prayer. It was kind of cyclical. This began to change as I entered graduate school and was plunged once again into a new group of peers, the vast majority of whom did not know Jesus. I began to take more seriously the need to commit my day, and the people I would see, to the Lord in prayer. My time with him in the morning became important to me. An amazing thing happened: not only did I see changes in the lives of my friends, but I also saw major changes in my perspective as I sought to love them.

I can remember the chapter camp I attended just before beginning my first year on staff. I had taken off work and gone with the express purpose of getting to know the students with whom I would be working the following fall. One night near the end of the week I climbed on top of a huge rock, pulled my knees up to my chin and began to sob. Only one student had come to camp—and he was graduating! There were no returning leaders, and no leadership material was in sight. What was I thinking! As tears rolled down my face I began to cry out to God. “Lord, I don’t know what to do. Please bring me at least one leader. Please move in the hearts of the students; cause their hearts to break for the things that break your heart.” Not even two weeks later a student (I’ll call her Margaret) called to tell me that she would be transferring to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in the fall. Would I be interested in having her lead a study? Would I? I can’t begin to tell you the circles I danced within the limitations of the phone cord! Over the next year, the Lord raised up a leadership team of four students, not counting Margaret. While Margaret did transfer at the end of the next year, God continued to raise up faithful students whose hearts were breaking for the things that break the heart of God.

Driven to my knees

Weakness and a sense of inadequacy have often been the motivations which have driven me to my knees. The funny thing is that the longer I walk with God, the more inadequate I feel and the more I recognize a need to come before the Lord in prayer. Each day has people to love, places to visit and projects to do. Which will I give myself to? Is there a word of encouragement God wants me to share? Will someone who needs the Lord come across my path? I hope so, but how will I know how to handle it if I have not first spent time with Jesus? In his book Power Through Prayer, E. M. Bounds wrote, “The men and women who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees. When we fritter away the early morning opportunities and freshness in pursuits other than seeking God, we will make poor headway seeking him the rest of the day. If God is not first in our thoughts and efforts in the morning, he will be in last place in the evening.”

I used to think it didn’t matter whether I spent time in prayer in the morning, but now I think perhaps it does. To begin the day with prayer does several things. First, it puts Jesus as my highest priority. In a world where busyness is rewarded, my walk with God becomes one of many priorities. But Jesus tells us, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). The context of this verse is a discussion about God’s provision for birds and lilies despite their lack of work. Jesus explains that God will care for our needs as well, so we can take our eyes off the “things” and keep our focus on him. By spending time with Jesus before I begin my busyness, I am saying, “I know that you are more important than these things. You are my first priority. Let’s enjoy this time alone before we enter into the activities of the day.” Which brings up the second point.

Spending time with Jesus first thing in the morning permits me to bring the day before him so he can order my priorities. I don’t know about you, but I find that there are far more opportunities than I can pursue in any given day. Something must give, but what? As I spend time with Jesus, I present to him the demands, expectations, people and activities of the day. Together we wade through them and determine the priorities and which things will be considered expendable or even dropped from the day’s list. When I fail to do this I find that I am more harried and frustrated. I overbook my schedule and end up shortchanging God and everyone else. Instead of pleasing everyone, I have pleased no one, especially the Lord—the One whom I most want to please.

Third, spending time with God in the morning also puts the events of the day within the context of our relationship, rather than the other way around. We enter the day together. I tend to be more aware of his presence and am more likely to continue to discuss the day’s events with him as they happen. If I feel too tired to get up or too rushed to spend time with him, I end up squeezing God out of the schedule and reach the end of the day wondering where he was. Even if I do catch time with him later in the day, I bring a boatload of baggage which must be unpacked—baggage which would not have been there in the morning.

Fourth, meeting God early means my first interaction of the day is with the One who loves me, and that establishes perspective. As I have already hinted, people pleasing is quite a problem for me. It’s easy for me to become disappointed or discouraged when others don’t appreciate the hard work I’ve done, the talk I just gave, the sacrifices I’ve made or my attempts at loving them. I can end up wondering if anyone might be encouraged by my company, my words or my efforts. Humanly speaking, that might be true. But God longs to spend time with me! In fact, he delights in spending time with me. He enjoys looking into my eyes and hearing my voice. He doesn’t tire of holding me when life seems lacking or when I’ve been betrayed by a friend. He loves me! I can’t think of a better way to begin my day than in conversation with One who rejoices in the way I was made, who delights in sharing his heart with me and hearing what is on mine. To begin the day in such a way gives me courage to enter into the remainder of the day, knowing who I am and whose I am. The battles aren’t quite as scary.

Practical steps

“Well,” you may be thinking, “that sounds great, but I’m not a morning person. I can’t even think before I’ve had two cups of coffee. Are you saying I’m doomed to horrible days?” No. However, I am saying that it may be life-changing for you to spend the beginning of your day, whenever it begins, with Jesus. That may require getting up a little earlier, especially if you are used to getting up at 10:45 for your 11:00 a.m. class. Perhaps you’ll want to get up at—oh, say 9:45 (gulp!).

Beyond the issue of “how early is early?” what will it take to pursue this grand adventure?

1. Make the decision to begin your day with Jesus. Sound simple? You’d be amazed how many people don’t decide. Saying, “Cool, I might like that” doesn’t require a commitment and it won’t help you get out of bed on a cold winter’s morning. You need to decide that this is something you really want to do.

2. Determine where you’ll spend your morning time. Gather everything you’ll need—Bible, notebook, pen, songbook, music (that way you won’t need to look for it in the morning). I can’t tell you the number of mornings I’ve rolled over in bed and gone back to sleep because I glanced over at my favorite chair only to find it stacked full of stuff. Clearing the chair seems like too overwhelming a thought. I don’t know about you, but I can’t afford any excuses. Some nights, when I am exceptionally tired, I grind the coffee and get the coffee maker ready so that all I have to do in the morning is flip a switch on the way to the shower. Doesn’t sound very spiritual, does it? But it works.

3. Go to bed in time to get adequate sleep. The average human needs seven and a half hours of sleep. (You may think that you only need five or three, but most likely you crash and burn regularly.) To get up at 9:45 a.m. would require that you go to bed at 2:15 a.m. For those of us who have class a little earlier in the day, a 10:00 p.m. bedtime would provide ample sleep for a 5:30 a.m. rendezvous with Jesus.

4. Get out of bed and do whatever you need to do to wake up. I enjoy praying in bed. Its comfortable. I love the feel of my pillow, the smell of my flannel sheets. But if I fall back asleep, I’ve not only missed my time with Jesus, but I’m also late for my first appointment—likely a prayer meeting! Personally, I need coffee, or at the very least to brush my teeth, in order to be alert enough to enjoy time with God. Maybe you need to begin your time with God during a run or by making an omelet.

King David once said, “In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation” (Psalm 5:3). In Psalm 57:8, David cries out, “Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.” While you may not awaken the dawn, may you greet Jesus as you begin each day—and see what a difference it makes.