Devotions: Morning Prayer

 

I rise before dawn and cry for help;
I wait for Your words.

Psalm 119:147 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

 

“I came before the dawn and cried out, I wait for and hope in what You say.” Dawn is the best time to come to God, especially in a time of distress. When it is quiet and we have nothing to distract us we are more attentive and dedicated to our time with God. I am not a morning person, but recently a serious issue came up, an important decision had to be made. I received a text about it in the early morning so I got up to pray about it. It was so much different from when I prayed about it later in the day. I was settled and had ears only for what God had to say. I didn’t have kids running around distracting me, there was nothing in the oven ready to come out. It was just God and me. Even though I don’t enjoy getting up early, I relished that week of getting up early to fast and pray. And God answered my prayers. I’m not saying this is a formula for getting God to answer prayer. He’s not a genie in a bottle here to do our bidding. Nor is there some magic trick to getting what we want. But there is something special about the morning, about taking the time to spend with Him, about starting your day with that devoted, serious time of prayer. One of the times when I experienced the most growth in my faith was the year after I graduated from college. For the first 3 months of the year I got up an hour early to spend time in prayer, every morning. It was so powerful. If you have something to bring before God, dedicate some time early in the morning to come before Him. Seek His words, don’t just look for the answer you want, but crave everything He has to say. Earnestly cry out to Him, and spend time doing it, don’t just throw out a prayer and go about your day. Wait on and hope for God. He longs to hear from you, to have you pour out your heart to Him.

 

 

 

To view a video of this devo, visit my facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/evelynbray.author

To receive these devotions daily, like my page or subscribe to my blog by entering your email in the subscription box to the right!

 

Translations of Greek and Hebrew words taken from blueletterbible.org