start the day right

I think most of us know we should be spending more quality time with God. Many people know they should be having a daily quiet time with God. Most of us want to have this time in addition to needing this time. But, unfortunately for some people, it just doesn’t seem to happen. In life, there are other things that we want and need, like eating for instance. But, for the most part, most of us simply don’t choose not to eat. We find the time. So, why is it that we don’t feed our hunger for time with God just the same? I honestly don’t believe it is for lack of wanting to have this time. I think it may be because life has so many distractions. That is why it is so important to start our day out right having this time with God be the first thing we do. If we don’t, the day tends to fall into the vicious cycle of one thing leading to another and the next thing you know we are wrapped up in the complications of the day with less peace in our hearts and souls than we should have. Philippians 4:6-7 says Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. God wants us to have peace in our hearts and minds. The best way to have this is to start our days with God. Revelations 3:20 says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. Not only should we desire to have a relationship with God... God desires to have a relationship with us. E. M. Bounds, a pastor around the time of the Civil War said, “The men who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees. He who fritters away the early morning, its opportunity and freshness, in other pursuits than seeking God will make poor headway seeking Him the rest of the day.” It is said that he prayed daily from 4 am until 7 am! There is someone who practiced what he preached. For many of us, our daily routine starts with grabbing our cell phone from the nightstand, maybe even as we have every intention of having our time with God. We then get dragged into the rabbit hole of texts, emails and social media. The next thing you know, 20 or 30 minutes have gone by and we haven’t spoken a word with God or had a moment of the peace that comes along with that quiet time that we should start our day with. It is important for us to have those times in life where we simply unplug from everything going on around us, find a nice, quiet place with no distractions and simply listen for what God is trying to tell us. Many people pray to God for answers to questions or problems. But, unfortunately, few of us actually take the time to patiently take the time to listen to what God has to say to us as an answer. Time in God’s word, the Bible is imperative. However, I believe that each morning before we dig into God’s word, we should invite God into our presence as a means of asking him what He would like us to hear for the day. We should quiet ourselves as we enter God’s presence. When you do this, a peace will fall over your soul. When we take time after quieting our soul and listening to God, we should then praise Him. Next, we should ask the Holy Spirit to open our mind, search our heart and examine our life. If we do this, God will prepare our spirit and make us more receptive to what we are about to read. When we pray, we should remember what it says in Psalm 51:10-12 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit. What a way to reconnect with God when we may have been feeling a bit disconnected. When we read God’s word, ask ourselves, how does this apply to my life? What is God saying to me specifically? Make God’s word personal to yourself. Then, sometimes harder than asking how does this apply to me, we need to ask, what needs to change in my life based on what I read? I believe if we all started our days like this, we would all live more fulfilled, peaceful, happy and intentional lives. Just the way God intended for us.