The Best Way to Start the Day
April 25th, 2008 by Brett Wagner
Here is how my day began…bliss!
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It looks like the only way to start the day!
So, BW, is there a certain order to your morning devotions? Have you found a good way or format that seems to be the best way to start your day? Over the years I have changed, or rather I’ve tired to imporve my time in the morning. At the moment I have been so blessed wake up, sit up in bed, give myself a second to wake up, and then I grab my hymnbook; it’s the hymnbook that Spurgeon put together for his church. I love to open to the section “Praise to Jesus”, or “Communion with Christ” and read some of the hymns by Watts, Wesley, or Newton. It is so refreshing. From there I like to go to a Psalm or a Proverb.
So that’s me at the moment; how about you?
Hey Matt,
Good question. My morning devotions have gone through different seasons (as the seasons of life change), but the foundation remains the same. I am most unlike you in that I am not able to wake up and jump right in. I need a shower and to pour myself a cup of coffee before I settle in. (right now Pike’s Place is the blend of choice).
Sometimes I will begin with a devotional like Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening, other times I will just jump right into the Psalms. My routine has usually been to read a Psalm to get the juices flowing and then turn over to a book of the Bible that I am reading through.
Something that has really helped me is to see this time as a springboard for prayer…or seeing prayer as the end result. This helps fight off the ruts of reading to read or trying to get through a certain amount of Scripture. What I mean by this is to take a key verse or thought from the morning’s reading and use that as a framework for prayer.
Also, something I have done recently is to make a prayer bookmark. It is basically just a bullet list of things to pray for broken up by days. I am too scattered (or too tired) to systematically go through a list each day so I have broken it up into days. Monday through Friday I try to pray for one or two items. (Immediate family, the pastoral team at church, high school students, high school leaders, my neighbors, my friends, extended family and missions). This has kept me from feeling like I am never praying for anything and kept me disciplined in praying.
Good question, thanks for asking!