The Morning Hour
It is impossible to live out our daily Christian life apart from the relationship we have with our Savior. We cannot resist sin, we cannot be led by the power of the Holy Spirit, and we cannot overcome the flesh apart from having close fellowship with God.
The key to the Christian life and being able to live it out effectively is the morning hour. The morning hour, the quiet hour, the still hour, or our quiet time. It is important that we all devote a portion of our day to seeking God and spending time in fellowship with Him. I want to make the argument today that this time of fellowship with God should be carved out during the first hour of the day.
Here are several reasons that I make this argument.
1. Jesus took time in the morning to get away from the crowds and pray. Mark 1:35 ESV - [35] And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he (Jesus) departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
2. Taking the first hour of the day to spend time with God shows it is a priority in our life.
3. In the morning there will be no excuses to get in the way of taking time to be alone with God.
4. What better way to start our day that by starting it with a conversation with the God of the universe.
The key to the Christian life is our surrender to Christ so that the Lord can reign and rule in our lives. There is no better time to surrender ourselves to the Spirit of Christ than in the morning. The goal of this quiet hour is to obtain the presence of God in our life for the whole day. This personal morning devotional is for the purpose of allowing nothing to separate us from Him throughout the day.
We talk all the time about doing a “devotional”. The word devotion defined is “loyalty to a person”. Why would declare loyalty to a person when the day is over and nothing can be done for that person. The best time to declare our devotion to God is as the day begins, this will allow us all day to show our devotion to God to others.
John 15 talks about our abiding relationship with Jesus. The best way to abide in Christ is to connect to Him in the morning and therefore be connected throughout the day. To live out the day unconnected to Jesus until the day the over seems like the waste of a day.
Andrew Murray says “A believer cannot stand for one moment without Christ”. I believe this statement is true because I have tried to stand without Christ and it does not work. Why would we stand in the morning without first spending time in the presence of our Lord and Savior.
The key to having Christ formed in us as believers is to spend time with Christ daily and allowing Him to transform us from the inside out. This is done by our abiding relationship with Him not just in the morning but throughout the day.
Our culture loves sports. We love to see people be great at sports and we love to see people who are devoted to the teams that we love. We praise people for outworking the competition. Think about how people love Peyton Manning and his work ethic at being a quarterback. Peyton had the determination to be best, to rise early and put in the work that nobody else was willing to put in. This determination that we admire should not just be for athletes we admire. We ourselves should have a determination to secure the presence of God in our lives on a daily basis. We should wake up every morning determined to experience the presence of our Lord and Savior in this quiet hour of the day.
Matthew 6:6 ESV - [6] But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Here is my encouragement, be like Peyton Manning who used to rise early and watch film and study because he was determined to win. My encouragement to us is to rise early, shut the door, and spend time with our Lord and Savior and allow that unbroken fellowship of the morning hour time to transform us into what God has called us to be. Make this your personal devotion. Be devoted to that quiet hour and spending time with the Lord.
The loving Christ waits to meet you there.
Listen to this song by Shane and Shane – Give me Jesus. “In the morning when I rise, Give me Jesus”.
Additional verses for resources.
Isaiah 50:4 ESV - [4] The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.
Psalm 5:1-3 ESV - [1] Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning. [2] Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray. [3] O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.
Psalm 59:16-17 ESV - [16] But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. [17] O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.
Psalm 88:12-13 ESV - [12] Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? [13] But I, O LORD, cry to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you.
Psalm 90:13-14 ESV - [13] Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants! [14] Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Psalm 92:1-2 ESV - [1] It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; [2] to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night,
Psalm 143:7-8 ESV - [7] Answer me quickly, O LORD! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit. [8] Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
John 8:1-2 ESV - [1] but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. [2] Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.