For Lent, I decided to add an hour to my day. I'm not approaching it legalistically. If we turn devotions into a time card that we punch in and punch out it loses it's punch awfully quick. I just want to spend more time with God. I genuinely want to know Him more.
You ever had an early flight or early meeting and you wake up all night because you're afraid you missed your alarm? That is what happened to me today. I was really anticipating an extra hour with the Lord. At one point, I woke up and checked my clock because I was afraid I had overslept. It was 3:48 AM.
I'm not a morning person per se. I'm more of an owl than a lark. But I believe that how you start your day sets the tone. If I get up late, I feel rushed in my spirit. If I get up early, I feel like I find God's rest. I love starting my day when it's still dark out. And I've always been inspired by Mark 1:35. It's not just an isolated incident. I believe it's a recurring routine in the life of Jesus. "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place to pray."
Somewhere within that simple verse is the secret to spiritual fulfillment and fruitfulness. You need to make a daily appointment with God. Call it a quiet time. Call it a spiritual workout. Call it a devotional. What it boils down to is this, a set time and a set place to seek God.
I had a father-in-law, Bob Schmidgall, that God used in amazing ways. He planted and pastored the same church for more than thirty years. My desire to pastor one church for life derives from his example. Even though he died eleven years ago, he continues to be my model for ministry. And one of the things he modeled was this early morning routine. He grew up on the farm, so it might have come more naturally for him, but early morning prayer was part of the warp and woof of his life. His days would start around 5 AM, but sometimes start as early as 3:30 AM. I'll be honest, that is insane! For most of us, if we got up that early to pray all we'd pray is: "Lord, keep me awake." And we'd be grumpy dwarf the rest of the day. But I saw the way God used him because he gave God the first fruits of the day!
Long story short, I'm adding an hour to my day during Lent. I'm believing God will take my addition and multiply it for His purposes.
You ever had an early flight or early meeting and you wake up all night because you're afraid you missed your alarm? That is what happened to me today. I was really anticipating an extra hour with the Lord. At one point, I woke up and checked my clock because I was afraid I had overslept. It was 3:48 AM.
I'm not a morning person per se. I'm more of an owl than a lark. But I believe that how you start your day sets the tone. If I get up late, I feel rushed in my spirit. If I get up early, I feel like I find God's rest. I love starting my day when it's still dark out. And I've always been inspired by Mark 1:35. It's not just an isolated incident. I believe it's a recurring routine in the life of Jesus. "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place to pray."
Somewhere within that simple verse is the secret to spiritual fulfillment and fruitfulness. You need to make a daily appointment with God. Call it a quiet time. Call it a spiritual workout. Call it a devotional. What it boils down to is this, a set time and a set place to seek God.
I had a father-in-law, Bob Schmidgall, that God used in amazing ways. He planted and pastored the same church for more than thirty years. My desire to pastor one church for life derives from his example. Even though he died eleven years ago, he continues to be my model for ministry. And one of the things he modeled was this early morning routine. He grew up on the farm, so it might have come more naturally for him, but early morning prayer was part of the warp and woof of his life. His days would start around 5 AM, but sometimes start as early as 3:30 AM. I'll be honest, that is insane! For most of us, if we got up that early to pray all we'd pray is: "Lord, keep me awake." And we'd be grumpy dwarf the rest of the day. But I saw the way God used him because he gave God the first fruits of the day!
Long story short, I'm adding an hour to my day during Lent. I'm believing God will take my addition and multiply it for His purposes.
11 Comments:
very good!!!
Excellent point about adding something rather than the traditional "giving something up" for Lent. It's a much more positive response and more beneficial than not eating chocolate and thinking that we are somehow connecting with the sacrifice of Christ.
I did something like this last fall. After the time I committed to, I lost the habit quickly. I'm still trying to gain it back, and this has inspired me to make a new effort.
Your post inspires/challenges. I've been in a wrestle for a few months about when is the best time of my day to spend that time. I've always been a "get up early and do it first" guy. Waking up early causes dragginess--not honoring to God to live like that all day. At night I'm so tired at times I can't hang with it. It is a serious wrestle. I so need that time.
Shane,
You're going to think I'm crazy, but I would highly recommend a nap. Most great leaders I've read about took naps. Not kidding. You can get up early and stay up late if you take a 10-20 minute nap. I realize that isn't possible everywhere, but it's one thing that helps me!
Real men nap!
Mark
Very powerful, I think I might do this
Mike
http://crosscampusministry.com
Mark, Something in your post touches me, and I pray this is a real start for you. I believe the success in your life will not be the extra hour, it will be the answering the call to seek a deeper life in Him. He is calling you to this, right? It really sounds like it.
What you said about your father-in-law is so true. I remember the summer that I interned at Calvary Temple in Naperville. No matter what time I arrived at the church, Pastor Schmidgall's car was always there and you would find him in prayer. As a young college student, that is something that impressed me. I think about that often. There are no short cuts to having a blessed ministry.
I too had the anticipation of an early date today.
I appreciate you sharing this. I am not a morning person either, but I find that if I don't have my prayer or Bible study in the morning then I rarely get to it later in the day. So tonight I will set the clock a little earlier and hope that God calls us home before that time comes!
Really encouraged me, I can't to encourage my leaders in this. I came across this old book that talks about all the biblical "early morning scenes". I'm excited to see how the Lord will write some for me!
http://books.google.com/books?id=bn3DluXfeSsC&printsec=titlepage&dq=early+morning+bible
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