MORNING PRAYER

Feel free to take the two polls at left.

I was just wondering what you thought about spending time alone with God in the MORNING vs. at OTHER times during the day. Of course, I know some of you are going to say, 'I pray without ceasing. That means I'm praying ALL DAY LONG.' And I get that.

But I'm talking about that time during your day when you really FOCUS on God ... when you sit and listen to Him ... when you soak in what He is trying to say to you and speak to you thru the Word ... when is THAT time?

And I'll just tip my hand. Psalm 5:3 says, "In the morning, O Lord, You hear my voice. In the morning I lay my requests before You and wait with expectation."

I know, I know - you're saying: "I'm not a morning person." I can hear it now.

But it just seems that once your day gets moving, the problems of the day crowd in and it's very tough to find that quiet place once the engines start rolling. Schedules in the year 2008 just don't allow it. In the morning, our minds and hearts are freer from issues and we can commit the entire 24 hour period to God in the morning. There is also the element of first fruits offerings to God - we give Him the BEST right off the top -- the FIRST and BEST of our money (first check is our giving) - the FIRST and BEST of our time -- the FIRST of our day.

And ... while we have been asleep, God has been working. He has made changes in all of nature while we have slept. Morning is our time to thank Him and recognize His power. Morning prayer also prepares us for ACTION - to take on what God has prepared for us that day. When we commit something to God that we KNOW will be happening on a given day, once we arrive at that moment, we can more easily see Him at work because we are conscious of having included Him in that circumstance via prayer at the day's beginning.

And we can come full circle to experience the reality of Psalm 4:8 - "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety," and let God start the amazing process all over again the next day.

But don't take it from me. Express your own opinion.

Vote in the polls at left. The first is on prayer (again) - but a little different than the one we took last time. The other is loosely related, just my curiosity coming out. Please participate.

And be blessed.