Help For the Non-Morning Person
What can you do when you want to spend time in God’s Word early, but you’re not a morning person?
I am not, let me repeat, I am not a morning person. As matter of fact, I absolutely do not understand those of you who wake up all chipper, jump out of bed, throw open the curtains, and welcome the day with a smile and a song. It seems unnatural to me. It’s just wrong.
No matter what time I go to bed the night before, getting out of bed the next morning is pure torture. My eyes feel like they have had acid sprayed in them, my ears are assaulted by screaming birds, the last thing I want to do is talk, and I walk like a zombie to the bathroom.
Begin With The Word
Now try to read your Bible is this state. It just doesn’t work. And yet I know that it is good for my soul to begin the day by focusing on the one Person by whose power I breathe and move and make it through my day (Acts 17:28).
Beginning the day with the word of God is important because the moment we open our eyes we are engaging in war. This war is against the weaknesses of our flesh, the very alluring, yet false promises of the world, and the sly schemes of Satan.
We need to strap on our armor and engage all that comes at us with wisdom and faith. But our armor is not found in positive thinking, pep talks, or new schedules. Not even the natural state of a “morning person” is enough to start warring. Our armor is the word of God. It is how our minds are renewed, our faith strengthened, wisdom is learned, and temptations overcome.
There is no way around it, whether we are a morning person or not, the best thing we can do for ourselves is to begin the day in God’s word.
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.
Psalm 143:8
How to Begin the Day With the Lord
Now, I am not talking about staggering out of bed in order to do an in-depth Bible study. Believe me, I could never do that first thing in the morning. I study later in the day. I am simply talking about getting the word of God in us shortly after we wake up.
But how does someone who only feels half alive in the morning begin the day with the Lord?
Let me share with you something that has been a huge help to me. Electronics. That’s right, electronics are not all bad. I believe they are a gift from God that sadly have been misused and even used for evil, but that doesn’t make it bad in and of itself.
So here are a few things that I do without even having to get out of bed.
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Read the Word
Don’t worry, you can do this, and you can do with minimal movement. My phone lies on my nightstand and so all I have to do is reach over, grab my phone, open my Bible app and begin reading. I don’t sleep very well (probably one of the reasons mornings are so hard for me) and I often wake up early and so after I read my Bible, I open my kindle app and read a few pages in a good Christian book.
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Listen to the Word
Now if you don’t want to read, you can have it read to you. Sometimes I place my phone under my pillow (or plug in my ear buds), turn on my ESV app and have Max Mcclean read to me. This is really great if you want to read a whole book or if you are reading a chapter of Proverbs a day.
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Meditate on The Word
Meditating on the word is important and too often neglected. We need to mull over the truth that we read so that it can seep into our minds and reach our hearts. So after you read or have Mr. McClean read to you, take a few moments to simply think about the truth that you have heard. What does the passage teach about God? What is God calling you to believe or do?
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Pray
Since you are laying down and your eyes are probably closed anyway, use this time to pray. Praise God for his goodness and faithfulness to you. Talk to him about all that is planned for the day and the hopes that you have or the fears that are trying to overwhelm you. Pour out your heart and ask him to fill your soul.
Before the secular commences, begin with the spiritual.
Before care insinuates, preoccupy the mind with peace.
Before temptation assails, fortify the heart with prayer.
Before sorrow beclouds, irradiate the soul with Divine sunshine.
– Octavius Winslow 1856
As you break through the fog of sleep get creative so you can water your soul in the morning and be ready for the good works that God has prepared for you to do this day (Eph 2:10).
Blessings,
