Psalm 5:3 In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation.

Starting each day focused on God is fundamentally so simple, yet it is powerful and at the same time not so easy. We have a tendency to turn to God after we have exhausted every other possibility, when that is the opposite of the logical sequence. If we turn to God first, that’s not to say we won’t apply ourselves diligently, but it’s to let Him show us how to apply ourselves so that we won’t be wasting physical, emotional, and spiritual resources. When our eyes are turned to ourselves instead of to God, we tend either to become proud and conceited, or to despair and give up before we start. The Japanese for this verse specifies “at dawn.” That’s to say, before doing anything else. Once we get started with the day, all sorts of things demand our attention and a clear focus on God becomes increasingly difficult. How early we start and how long we spend depends on our circumstances. It’s recorded that Jesus sometimes got up “at daybreak” (Luke 4:42) to pray. That’s perfectly in line with what David says here. We need to be careful that morning devotions aren’t mechanical. Different translations express it differently, but it’s clear that David is expectant toward God. He doesn’t know exactly how God is going to answer, but he’s sure that He will answer. That’s the attitude to have every time we get alone with God.

It took me a while to get into the consistent habit of starting each day with God, but it’s been many, many years now since I did, and I am deeply grateful to God for enabling me to do so. For a period of several years I didn’t want to do anything before having my devotional time, and it made me less than charitable toward those who made demands on me. I now know that’s not expressing God’s love accurately, and I am able to be more gracious toward interruptions. However, that’s not to say that I enjoy such interruptions! As a pastor, one of my strongest desires is that each believer in my care develop a consistent devotional life habit. Even if it’s as simple as praying, “Lord, good morning. Help me walk with you today,” when you first wake up, it is so helpful in living as we really want to, in joyful participation in God’s plans for us. I do understand that it’s not easy getting into that habit, but it’s a mystery why some people can’t seem to understand that it’s desirable. People naturally don’t see me at my devotions, so modeling isn’t done so directly, but I need to be consistent in encouraging them to follow through on their own. Morning devotions are a time of putting on the armor of God, (Ephesians 6:13-17) and as fierce as the battle is, that’s essential!

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for the hint at how to keep the subject in people’s awareness. There’s so much I want to teach them! Help me have Your wisdom as to what to teach when and how, and help me trust Your Spirit to implant Your truth in their hearts, so that together we may walk in all that You intend, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!