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Morning Prayer
From a sermon delivered in the summer of 1996
Over the last few weeks we have been looking at those ways we become equipped and prepared to put on the armor of God and stand firm and strong in the day of evil. We are learning disciplines and habits that will enable us to be "strong in the Lord and the power of His might."
Two weeks ago we looked at the solitude and prayer life of Jesus. Last week we reminded ourselves that all prayer begins with being still before the Lord and acknowledging Him and His presence.
Over the month of July we will look at five different prayer disciplines, all of which are so important in keeping us in communion with our Father and growing in Him.
But prayer is not a "to do" to check off. Prayer is communion with our God and Father. Neither is prayer a "work" that justifies. We can only enter into communion with God through His prior justifying work. Out of this communion comes a life which glorifies and pleases our Father. He is the living water, the bread of life, the way, and the truth.
I believe private prayer to be the most essential of all elements of the Christian's life, again because prayer is communion with God, and knowing God is the very goal of life, and the only means to a life that will please Him and glorify Him.
This week we will look at the discipline of morning prayer. Although I will be giving practical advice about a 10-15 minute morning prayer time, there are other disciplines which can be incorporated into this short time, thus enriching it, and added to it, lengthening it.
For those who work second or third shift hours, I would ask you to take what is given here and apply it to the times which for you correspond to morning.
1. And there was evening and there was morning ...
And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. God made two great lights-the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning-the fourth day. (Gen. 1:14-19)
The older I get the more the very simplest things fill me with awe and wonder. I see and understand that God has placed me in a world with rhythms and boundaries and patterns. The earth travels around the sun on a slanted axis, bringing changes in seasons. The earth spins on this axis once each day, bringing night and day. The moon and stars lighten the night, and the sun the day. These rhythms bring variety and beauty and order to life. I as a creature am made to live in harmony with this created order with its patterns. What is so amazing is that as I am remade in Jesus and as I live by and through the Spirit, my experience of new life and salvation also harmonizes with the created patterns.
For example, every new day brings a reminder of the new start I have in the Lord. The light of morning comes after the darkness of night just as the light of forgiveness comes after the darkness of sin. The length of the day not only provides just the right amount for my physical body in its work and activity, the day is just the right amount of time for trusting God in the present, for living the life of faith. Jesus said that each day had enough worries, and we only need attend to these. Life in the Spirit is to be lived one day at a time.
2. Characteristics of the morning
When we awake early in the morning we awake to quietness and peace, but also to a sense of vulnerability. What is about morning that makes me feel fragile? In morning there is expectancy, but also a sense of weakness, even dread. Armies attack at dawn. Yet we also awake each morning to a sense of newness. Yesterday's troubles seem far away. As one writer puts it, "what human ill does not dawn seem to be an alleviation."
3. Why morning is a good time for prayer and devotion
The day is a small picture of the Christian life. "Today is the day of salvation." The Christian is forgiven of the past and has hope for the future, but lives in the Spirit today. "Today when you hear His voice, do not harden your heart." "Give us this day our daily bread." The follower of Jesus lives one day at a time.
Every morning that I awaken reminds me of God's mercy, protection, and sovereignty. I was helpless in the night, but he protected me. He chose in His wisdom for me to live one more day. Every morning I get to start over as a new creature in Christ. The dew that covers the grass in the morning reminds me of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus that covers me at the start of the day. No matter what I did yesterday, I get to start over today. The light of dawn breaking through the dark sky reminds me of the light of Christ breaking over a dark world. I too am to be light of the world. The calling of the birds reminds me of the proclamation of the good news of Jesus' resurrection. Every day I must be ready to proclaim the good news about Jesus.
Therefore each day has to be consecrated to the Lord just as we consecrated our whole life at conversion and baptism. Morning prayer is a way of acknowledging that the day ahead does not belong to me, that I am to live for God, that what I do in the day is to be for His glory and praise. Morning prayer is a way of acknowledging our dependence upon our Father. Morning prayer is like the tithe. It is the giving of our first fruits as a symbol of our total dependence and consecration to the Lord. Just as when we eat we give thanks for the food we are about to receive, in morning prayer we give thanks for the day we are about to live. In morning prayer we confess and admit that we cannot live as we ought, we cannot face the temptations, the decisions, the physical and emotional demands of the day in our own strength. We admit we cannot manufacture the opportunities to be light or to bring Jesus to a person who is needy, and we ask the Lord of the day to create opportunities, and to open our eyes to see them.
In the still of the morning we remain undistracted. There is a race each morning between our prayers and the distractions. Which will grab us first? The undistractedness of morning gives us a chance to listen to God, and even to hear him. Our morning prayer allows us to start each day by declaring who we really are. Before we get going trying to justify ourselves by our activity and busyness and achievement, we can stop before God and say, "you are who I am made for. My soul finds rest in you alone."
I am first and foremost a child of God, a follower of Jesus. This is who I am. This is my identity. I am also called to live as His child and follower. I am a child, and my calling is to live as one. Morning prayer keeps me centered on who I really am. It keeps me focused on my calling. To avoid it is like running from my calling. Jonah ran from God and ended up in the belly of a fish. I run from God when I say I will not meet with Him. Where will I end up?
4. Some examples from Scripture
We read in Mark 1:35 that early in the morning Jesus went out to a solitary place to pray. We saw in the sermon two weeks ago that stealing away to quiet places to pray was His pattern, and that the early morning was a typical time to do this.
At the temple in the Old Covenant era there was a morning sacrifice, signifying that each day belonged to the Lord.
The Psalms also paint a picture of the people of God approaching Him at the beginning of the day. We read several of those passages this morning.
Psalm 5:1-3 A psalm of David. Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.
Psalm 59:16 But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.
Psalm 90:14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
5. Some examples from church history
Morning prayers have been part of the pattern of the church from the earliest times. I will spare you the details of my own reading, and simply say for now that as I have been reading lately about the prayer patterns of the people of God through the centuries, I have been struck by the significance of this for the the Puritans in early America. Private morning prayer was a key part of the daily routine of everyday people in Puritan new England in the early period of America's history. As a man quoted by Spurgeon has put it:
"In the days of our fathers, when a person came early to the door of his neighbor, and desired to speak to the master of the house, it was as common a thing for the servants to tell him with freedom--'master is at prayer,' as it is now to say, 'my master is not up.' "
I like this quote. The last part, well, speaks to me!
6. The elements of morning prayer time
a. Stillness before the Lord
b. Thankfulness for getting me through another night
c. Acknowledgment of Christ's work on my behalf and affirmation who I am in Christ
d. Consecration of the day to Him
e. Seeking the presence and empowerment of the Spirit for strength and guidance for what the day brings
f. Seeking to be open to the opportunities that may come my way, asking to be used of God
g. Commitment of family and loved ones to God's care.
7. Some different methods for morning prayer
Different people need different amounts of structure. I would suggest that you have a written guide on a card or on a group of cards. This would then carry your mind through the various aspects of morning prayer until you "have it down." As you get used to it you will be able to pass more spontaneously through the different parts. I will suggest three or four structures this morning. Now remember, I'm talking about a 10-15 minute exercise. If you are doing Scripture memorization or study or reading, that will require another block of time.
The simplest approach of all to morning devotions is reading a devotional such as Daily Bread, or Table Talk, or My Utmost For His Highest. My suggestion is to do this in addition to a time of morning prayer as outlined below
a. Having a specific morning prayer guide, which you could customize on your own from the following:
Be still. Spend a few moments in quiet before God. You may just want to say in your heart something like, "O God" or "Father" or "O Lord God," however you address God in the quiet intimate moments.
Read a worship selection from Scripture, either from a Psalm or elsewhere. Or, you might read the first one or two stanzas from a hymn of praise. I suggest you cull 10-12 of these worship selections and write them on cards, and rotate them each day. Read the selection out loud as prayer and worship. Let the meaning sink in for a few moments and then praise God however your heart is led to do so.
Express your thanksgiving to God for getting you through another night, and for your physical life.
Thank God for your new life in Christ. There are scriptures that can be converted into prayers of thanksgiving and into statements of affirmation of our righteousness in Christ, our new life in Him. Think of the first few verses of Ephesians which can be rewritten as follows:
Eph 1:3-8 Praise be to the God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed me in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose me in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined me to be adopted as his son through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given me in the One he loves. In him I have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on me with all wisdom and understanding.
Consecrate the day ahead to the Lord. You may feel comfortable using your own words, or again you may want to read a Scripture or a hymn (such as "Take my Life"). Commit all activities and plans to Him, and ask that he would be glorified in all things.
Express to Him whatever challenges, fears, worries, anxieties that face you that day, and pray for strengthening, wisdom, discernment, for those particular matters.
Ask Him to bring opportunities for loving others, for being the presence of Christ in a situation, for being able to share about Christ with others.
Commit loved ones to His care, and praise Him for hearing your prayers.
b. Using the Lord's prayer as a guide.
The Lord's prayer provides a wonderful structure and guide for a morning prayer time. In praying through the different petitions of the prayer, one easily jumps from the actual words of the prayer into spontaneous personal petition. I would strongly advise reading about the Lord's prayer, in order to understand its parts. This would help you as you think of what to pray in the different parts:
Our Father who art in heaven
Hallowed be Thy name
Thy kingdom come and Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory, forever.
c. Praying the Psalms
Another way to have morning prayer is to slowly read through a Psalm, for the purpose of letting the prayer or message of the Psalm guide your prayer thoughts. We will be covering this type of prayer reading at a later time.
8. Some hindrances to morning prayer.
There are always a thousand reasons not to start the day in fellowship with God. Without question the biggest hindrance is our lack of commitment to this fellowship. If I have to be at work at 8 o'clock, than there are things which I just have to do in order to make this happen. Indeed, I will make sacrifices, since I am committed to this aspect of my life. Likewise, if I am to start my day in fellowship with my Father in heaven, there are things that I must do and obstacles I must overcome.
What are some of the hindrances? Well, sleepiness, or oversleeping, which often has to do with going to bed too late, or having a poor night's sleep, or being tired. We all have to judge the difference between sleepiness and slothfulness. Waking up late and being in a big rush can leave morning prayers forgotten. As it is said, do not shorten the morning by getting up late. The newspaper and radio and television are distractions to mind and spirit. They fill our thoughts with hundreds of other things to think and worry about. Just their physical presence can be a great temptation. Young children can make morning prayer seem impossible. I have always marveled at how a child can hear me tiptoeing around early in the morning and want to come join me. Moods can hinder us in our attempt to have morning prayer. When we are down we are often unmotivated. Unresolved sin can keep us from wanting to face God.
9. Preparing for morning prayer
How might you avoid some of these hindrances? I would start at night by getting things ready for the morning, getting out my clothes, getting food together if you take your lunch to work, setting up the coffee maker, getting work paraphernalia, wallet, purse, keys, etc. where it can be quickly found, Thus in the morning you will be less rushed and able to be more quiet if you are afraid of waking up someone.
Have a place set aside and ready without too many distractions nearby. It is hard for me to have prayer at my desk, because my mind keeps moving to all the little things that need doing. Likewise, you might want to avoid having magazines, papers, or other distractions too close.
Pray to God each night before bed that you will be able to get up and spend the beginning of your day with Him.
Generally I would suggest having morning prayer before breakfast unless the rumbling stomach would prove too distracting. However, coffee may help you wake up mentally.
10. The fruit of morning prayer
No amount of prayer of any kind can make our problems go away, or our walk with Jesus a simple matter. So I cannot say, "You do this and your life will all come together." But then, it is pagan prayer that seeks simply to sway the gods to look with favor upon the supplicant. Yet, as we come before God each day, will not ours lives reflect this daily communion? Will we not be more grounded in the love and care of our Father through Jesus His Son? Will we not be more aware of His grace, more open to His leading in our day to day lives? I believe so. Start small and build up. Learn to spend bits of time with Him, and then more and more. And always, go to Him as you are, not as you wish you were.
I pray that your mornings, evenings, and days will be transformed as you turn yourself to Him. |
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