| 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 5:2-3 |
| Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. |
| —Mark 1:35 |
I have written a blog about this general subject before. But I believe that certain subjects bear visiting again from time to time.
Bishop Ralph Spaulding Cushman (1879-1960) wrote over 25 books on evangelism, stewardship, and prayer. He faithfully served seven congregations until becoming a denominational executive for the latter part of his earthly ministry. One of his most famous poems appears immediately below: 1
I met God in the morning
when the day was at its best,
And His Presence came like sunrise,
Like a glory in my breast.
All day long the Presence lingered,
All day long He stayed with me,
And we sailed in perfect calmness
O’er a very troubled sea.
Other ships were blown and battered,
Other ships were sore distressed,
But the winds that seemed to drive them,
Brought to me a peace and rest.
Then I thought of other mornings,
With a keen remorse of mind,
When I too had loosed the moorings,
With the presence left behind.
So, I think I know the secret,
Learned from many a troubled way:
You must seek Him in the morning
If you want Him through the day!
There’s something very special about setting aside time at the beginning of each new day to meet with God. We “listen” to Him by reading His written Word—the Bible. We talk with Him in prayer. This time together at the beginning of the day becomes an important and very precious few moments.
In the Lord’s Prayer we begin by acknowledging that God is our Father. He has chosen to adopt us into His Eternal Kingdom. As beleivers in the Lord Jesus Christ we are no longer mere creatures that He has created, but we have become children. As children, chosen by God before the foundation of the earth to belong to Him, we have the rights and privileges of children. We come into God’s presence as His children and we rightly may call Him “Father.” Not only do we call Him “Father,” but we acknowledge that He is. He is not someone who once was. Rather, He currently exists in all His power and glory. And, He waits to welcome us.
We really don’t understand this. We don’t get it. The God of the Universe, the One who spoke a word and all creation came into being, has chosen us as His children. And, He waits to welcome us to come and sit with Him and talk with Him.
Prayer is a fundamental, cohesive, and powerful component of our relationship with God. He is not only willing to have us talk with Him, He welcomes it. He expects it. He longs for it. He waits for it. He waits for us. He wants us to come and sit with Him a while and talk with Him. We have the authority of no one less than the Son of God, Himself, telling us to come into the Father’s Presence and sit a while.
I encourage each one of us to seek God each day. As Bishop Cushman suggests, meeting God first thing in the morning will set us on the right path for the day that stretches ahead.
I would also encourage each of us to meet with God at the end of each day. Talk to Him about what’s happened during the hours that stretched between our time with Him in the morning and these moments as the day comes to a close. He cares about us. He wants to know what we’re feeling, hoping, wishing, and dreaming. He wants to know the things that trouble us and the things that bring us joy.
So, start now. Don’t put it off. Plan now to meet with God as a new day dawns. We will be very glad we did.
| 1 Cushman, Ralph Spaulding. Practicing the Presence: A Quest for God. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1936. This book is now believed to be in the Public Domain. Though this citation is now noted to be in the Public Domain, in the case of someone claiming Copyright protection of this material, please note that, in each case, whenever a citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such a citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder. |
