MORNINGS – A GIFT FROM GOD

“At no other time have I so sharp an understanding of what God means to do with me as in those hours when other folks are still asleep. Then I hear God best and learn His plan!” George Washington Carver

One of the greatest privileges we have in this earthly life is spending time with the living God in the early mornings before our day takes off. The enemy would have us respond to this practice of seeking God early in the morning as law. God’s heart is that we see it as a gift He wants to give us in the mornings via our fellowship with Him before our day begins. If we can see it as a gift, not as law, and then trust Him to enable us to receive it and walk in it, few things in life will impact us like this practice. I think it is fair to say that no other habit bears the fruit and transforms our inner man like the early morning time with the Living God.

As we look into God's revelation about this, I want to start with the Psalmists’ early morning habit of seeking and worshipping God:

"In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch." Psalms 5:3

"Evening and morning and at noon, I will complain and murmur, And He will hear my voice."Psalms 55:17

"Awake, my glory! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn." Psalms 57:8

"But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength; Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning, For You have been my stronghold And a refuge in the day of my distress." Psalms 59:16

"O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly (lit. early); My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water." Psalm 63:1; "But I, O Lord, have cried out to You for help, And in the morning my prayer comes before You." Psalm 88:13

"O Satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days." Psalm 90:14

"It is good to give thanks to the Lord And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning And Your faithfulness by night." Psalm 92:1-2

"Awake, harp and lyre; I will awaken the dawn!" Psalm 108:2

"I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Your words." Psalm 119:147

"My soul waits for the Lord More than the watcmen for the morning; Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning." Psalm 130:6

"Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning; For I trust in You." Psalm 143:8

I love Job's habit regarding the spiritual welfare of his children:

"When the days of feasting had completed their cycle, Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings acording to the number of them all; for Job said, "Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." Thus Job did continually." Job 1:5

Daniel's early morning habit is more implied than clearly stated

"Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, pryaing and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously."Daniel 6:10

What about God's own habit?

"And now, because you have done all these things," declares the Lord, "and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you but you did not answer," Jeremiah 7:13

"Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets, daily rising early and sending them." Jeremiah 7:25

"The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are obseved. So they do not drink wine to this day, for they have obeyed their father's command. But I have spoken to you again and again (literally should be translated "rising early and speaking"); yet you have not listened ot Me. Also I have sent to you all My servants the prophets sending them again and again (literally should be translated "rising early and speaking" instead of "again and again"), saying: Turn now every man from his evil way and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to worship them. Then you will dwell int he land which I have given to you and to your forefathers; but you have not inclined your ear or listened to Me." Jeremiah 35:14,15

Jesus’ early morning habit is highly instructive:

"The Lord God has given Me the tongue of disciples, That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple." Isaiah 50:4

"In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there." Mark 1:35

Godly men and women through the ages have spoken of the importance of the early morning hours re: fellowship and communion with God:

“The first hour of waking is the rudder that guides the whole day.” Henry Ward Beecher

“Walking the dawn-wind, Jesus, heavenly Lover, In the still beauty of the waking morn, Unveil Thyself to me, and with the vision Shall come the strength for trials yet unborn.” Amy Carmichael

“For me, the solitude of early morning is the most precious time of day. There is a quiet serenity that disappears a few hours later with the hustle and bustle of the multitude. Early morning hours symbolize for me a rebirth; the anxieties, frustrations and woes of the preceding day seem to have washed away during the night. God has granted another day of life, another chance to do something worthwhile for humanity.” Michael E. DeBakey, heart surgeon

“I have so much to do that I must spend the first three hours of each day in prayer.” Martin Luther

“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. If God is not first in our thoughts and efforts in the morning, He will be in the last place the remainder of the day.” E. M. Bounds - Power Through Prayer “A desire for God which cannot break the chains of sleep is a weak thing and will do but little good for God after it has indulged itself fully. The desire for God that keeps so far behind the devil and the world at the beginning of the day will never catch up.” E.M. Bounds – Power Through Prayer

“He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find Him the rest of the day.” John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress

These are the passages in the Bible where the phrase “Early in the Morning” appears. Not all have to do with spending time with God, but they are worth meditation on (best with context in view):

Genesis 19:27 Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the LORD; Gesesis 20:8 So Abimelech arose early in the morning and called all his servants and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were greatly frightened. Genesis 21:14 So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away…” Genesis 22:3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took….Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Genesis 28:18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar , and poured oil on its top. Genesis 31:55 And early in the morning Laban arose, and kissed his sons and daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place. Exodus 8:20 Now the LORD said to Moses, “Rise early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh, as he comes out to the water, and say to Him, ‘Thus says the LORD, ”Let my people go…” Exodus 9:13 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and say to him ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, “Let My people go, that they may serve ME.” Exodus 24:4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. Then he arose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. Exodus 34:4 So he cut out two stone tablets like the former ones, and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and he took two stone tablets in his hand. Joshua 3:1 Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and he and all the sons of Israel set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan, and they lodged there before they crossed. Joshua 6:12 Now Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. Joshua 7:16 So Joshua arose early in the morning and brought Israel near by tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken. Joshua 8:10 Now Joshua rose early in the morning and mustered the people, and he went up with the elders of Israel before the people of Ai. Judges 19:8 And on the fifth day he arose to go early in the morning, and the girl’s father said, “Please sustain yourself, and wait until afternoon.”; so both of them ate. I Samuel 1:19 Then they arose early in the morning and worshipped before the LORD, and returned again to their house in Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. I Samuel 15:12 And Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel, saying “ Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded…” I Samuel 17:20 So David arose early in the morning and left the flock with a keeper and took the supplies and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the circle of the camp while the army was …. I Samuel 29:10 “Now then arise early in the morning with servants of your lord who have come with you, and as soon as you have arisen early in the morning and have light, depart.” II Chronicles 20:20 And they rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in the LORD, your God, and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed.” Job 1:5 And it came about, when the days of feasting had completed their cycle, that Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually. Matthew 20:1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.” Luke 21:38 And all the people would get up early in the morning to come to Him in the temple to listen to Him. Luke 24:22 “But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning,…” John 8:2 And early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them.