Day 49: Jesus, You Awaken Me For Quiet Time

I love the early mornings with the Lord. Just yesterday, a friend asked me what time I arise for quiet time in the morning. I hesitate sharing my response because I don’t want anyone to think my time should be their time for quiet time. I have been an early morning person since I was born. What can I say? I awaken a short time before 4 am almost every day (sometimes 5 am:)). I’m so awake by 4 am most days that I must get up and get going.

In one of Isaiah’s Servant Songs about the Messiah, this early morning is seen: “Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught” (Isaiah 50:4). Jesus often arose early in the morning to talk with His Father alone, apart from others. We see Jesus’ early morning example in Mark 1:35, “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”

So much happens in those early morning hours alone with the Lord. I love how it is still dark outside. I grab a steaming cup of coffee. If it’s cold outside, sometimes I turn on this virtual fireplace I have on DVD that even makes crackling sounds. Okay, you can stop laughing ☺. But I like the ambience of a wonderful fire and we don’t have a real fireplace and the virtual one is pretty cool! Then, I grab my devotionals, Bible, and Quiet Time Notebook and sit with the Lord preparing my heart for time alone with Him. I am loving Streams in the Desert right now. In fact, the whole topic of morning quiet time was the focus of Streams today. The verses were Exodus 34:2-3 where God is speaking to Moses: “Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain.” Then, I read this devotion today and just got SO excited about morning quiet time with the Lord:

“The morning watch is essential. You must not face the day until you have faced God, nor look into the face of others until you have looked into His. You cannot expect to be victorious, if the day begins only in your own strength. Face the work of every day with the influence of a few thoughtful, quiet moments with your hear and God. Do not meet other people, even those of your own home, until you have first met the great Guest and honored Companion of your life—Jesus Christ. Meet Him alone. Meet Him regularly. Meet Him with His open book of counsel before you; and face the regular and the irregular duties of each day with the influence of His personality definitely controlling your every act.”

Don’t those words encourage you to make the most of your time and draw near to your Lord! I must say – I DO love the morning hours with the Lord. So much has been accomplished over the years early in the morning with the Lord. I just finished writing my 21st book and I can truthfully say that the Lord has given and developed EVERY idea for each of those books early in the morning alone with Him. I can think clearly when I sit alone with Him. I love to think deeply about what He is saying in His Word and then write about it in my quiet time notebook. I remember the day He showed me that hope comes from the promises He gives in His Word (Lamentations 3:21-23). I remember the morning He showed me in Psalm 9:10 that trust comes from knowing His names (His character and attributes). One morning He took me from Luke 10:42 to a cross-reference in Psalm 27:4 and that verse became my life verse. Then, there was the morning deep in a dark night of the soul when He took me to Psalm 84:5 and I realized I needed to set my heart on pilgrimage. That verse altered the course of my life when I learned that I could not set my roots deep down in the things on earth and that true life, real life was found in God and God alone. Out of that verse came my very first book, Pilgrimage of the Heart. Then, there was the quiet time when the Lord took me through Psalm 119 and I saw a repeated word – revive. Through that word and subsequent study in my quiet time, I learned all about personal, spiritual revival. That led to my book of quiet times, Revive My Heart, and the 30 day journey, Set My Heart On Fire. I could go on and on. An unbelievable adventure of discovery, joy, and radical intimacy with the King of Kings awaits any who are willing to draw near and know Him.

I do indeed love the early morning hours. Some may need the quiet of the night. Whenever you choose to spend time with Him, you will never be disappointed. A feast awaits you! Oh, and I did a little math. Did you know that if you arise at 5 am instead of 7 am, those two extra hours a day give you an extra month of awake hours (quiet time with the Lord) a year! Yes, you heard me correctly – check it out for yourself. Take 2 hrs and multiply it by 365 days and you come up with 730 hrs. Then divide 730 by 24 (hrs in a day), and you will get 30.416 days. One solid month with Jesus a year! Now that’s what I call quiet time! God bless you as you continue on in this great adventure of knowing Him.

My Response: Lord Jesus, thank You for the incredible blessing of time alone with you in the early morning hours. I look forward to our next time together and my ears are open to hear You speak. In Jesus’ name, Amen.