Pastor Kim is going to teach on the importance of praying early in the morning. Pastor Kim has always wondered why it was so important to pray early in the morning, and after looking at the Scriptures, several pointers became apparent.
God’s Presence in the Early Morning
First of all, it is very interesting that Jacob was wrestling with the Lord at night, but then God gave a reason why he had to get going.
Genesis 32:24-26: “And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.”
Genesis 32:30: “And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
Notice that Jacob had communion with the Lord, but this communion with the Lord was during a time before the day broke. It is as if God wanted to leave when the day was breaking. There is something important here about God’s presence being available in the morning.
Why is that?
It may be because, when the day comes, everyone is awake. Everyone is working. Everyone is active. There is noise and activity everywhere. Think about this: when you pray early in the morning, could your focus on God be much better? Could God’s presence be more available to you?
When the day begins, there is activity. You are starting your business, hearing the noise of traffic, and dealing with everything around you. But early in the morning, when everyone is inactive, you can give your attention to God.
Hearing God More Clearly
A second reason to pray early in the morning is that you can hear God more clearly. Sometimes you need all the things in your brain to be quiet so that you can finally hear God’s voice. Remember how God came to Elijah in a still small voice.
Sometimes you cannot hear God because you are so busy. Do you ever make time to think about God? Do you ever take time when the Holy Spirit is speaking to you, saying, “Hey, you know that’s the wrong thing to do,” or “You should be doing that”? Look at what happened when Samuel was not active, when he was sleeping.
1 Samuel 3:1: “And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision.”
The Word of God was very rare. It was very precious, and people wanted it.
1 Samuel 3:3: “And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;”
And the Lord called Samuel, and he answered, “Here am I.”
This was during the night.
1 Samuel 3:15: “And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision.”
Notice that hearing God more clearly came at a point before daylight broke. This is why early in the morning is best. It is done very early, before daylight breaks, so that you can hear God.
Have you noticed that you can hear God more when you wake up early in the morning? When everything is quiet, your neighbor’s television is not blaring, contemporary music is not blaring, and your mind is not thinking about fifty thousand things in your schedule that you have to finish in the middle of the day, you can focus on the Word of God.
Prayer Becomes More Direct in the Morning
The psalmist wrote something very interesting, repeating the emphasis on the morning. Prayer becomes more direct when it is done early in the morning. There is a difference when you are squeezing prayer time into the middle of the day while you are rushing around and being busy, compared to waking up first thing in the morning and praying without distraction or interference.
You can wake up very early and think, “Let me just pray first. I have plenty of time because I woke up very early.” Then, when your day begins, you run like a mad man. Hopefully you will not, but that is the type of culture we live in.
Psalm 5:3: “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.”
Notice that the psalmist repeated “in the morning” twice in one verse. Why?
Because he says, “Will I direct my prayer unto thee.” It is as if he is emphasizing more directness, more attentiveness, and more emphasis in that prayer in the morning. If you have prayed for many years, you know there is a difference when you start your prayer early in the morning compared to prayer in the middle or the end of the day.
When you wake up, you can say, “Okay, let’s start out with this,” and you are putting more direction and attentiveness into prayer. E. M. Bounds said that if prayer is not the first thing in your life, it becomes the last thing of the day. There is a lot of truth in that.
Prayer Before Trouble Comes
Why do you want to start out the morning with prayer?
One reason is to prevent punishment. Before you start out your day with a car accident, a phone call that a family tragedy has happened, or a catastrophe at work, perhaps you should pray. Maybe those things happen because you are reaping what you have sown, God is chastising you, or you have messed up.
You can pray: “Lord, deliver me from this problem. Forgive me for my sin. I repent. Help me not to make mistakes.”
It is one thing to pray that at the end of the day, after you made the mistake and after you went through the catastrophe. Isn’t it better to do it first thing in the morning so that you do not have these things happening in the middle of the day?
Look at Psalm 88. The context in verses 2 through 7 is that the Lord is putting David into trouble in His anger and wrath, as if David is going through punishment.
Psalm 88:13: “But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.”
David is praying in the morning. You could think of it this way: you are going to the wrong places, you have not gone to church as you are supposed to, and you are heading in the wrong direction. You might reap what you have sown. But then you pray first thing in the morning: “Lord, please forgive me. I repent. Don’t get me into a car accident. Protect me.”
Then what will the Lord have to do?
Sweet Fellowship With the Lord
Another reason to start early in the morning is because you need time in your hands to fellowship with the Lord. You need sweet fellowship. You need no interference. You need sweet fellowship with the Lord where it can be natural. You want some time to just talk to Him.
A lot of times we go by a clock system with prayer and our schedule. It is best that you start out early in the morning so you can take time to relax and be natural, just praying to the Lord. That is why Jesus woke up early.
Mark 1:34-39: “And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him. And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. And Simon and they that were with him followed after him. And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee. And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth. And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.”
Jesus was at work, and then He had to isolate Himself early in the morning before daylight came and before the first phone calls came. He needed some time to just talk with the Lord.
What gives you strength for the day? It is not watching television all day after work is over. It is before you start your work, your business, your trial, or your suffering. Talking to the Lord and having sweet fellowship with Him gives you strength to face the busyness and the problems you go through throughout the day.
Sanctifying Yourself and Others
Let’s be honest. How many people sin every day? Everyone does.
We have to understand that because we are going to sin throughout the day, it is important that we pray beforehand to sanctify ourselves and others. You can pray: “Lord, whatever sin I commit throughout the day, forgive me. Make me aware of it. Prevent it from happening. Help me.” Then you may see your sinful life change a lot more throughout the day.
Have you ever prayed for God to keep you away from temptation? You keep praying for God to deliver you from temptation and to give you victory over temptation, but you do not start your day that way. Early in the morning you can pray: “Lord, whatever temptation happens, prevent it. Stop it. Make me see it. I repent. Forgive me. Sanctify me. Have mercy on me.”
This is for other people too. You should do this for your church. If we did this for other people in the church, perhaps we would get more people coming to church. Perhaps more people in our church would gain victory over their sinful struggles.
Look at what Job did.
Job 1:5: “And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.”
Job did this constantly because he was not taking chances. He constantly sanctified himself and other people so that God could be pleased with him. These are good reasons why we should wake up in the morning: so that we can sanctify ourselves before the Lord and so that we can take sweet time with God.
Giving God the Preeminence
Remember E. M. Bounds’ statement: if prayer is not the first thing throughout your day, it tends to be the last thing throughout your day. The reason why you should start out early in the morning, first thing in the morning, in prayer is because God should have the preeminence. In other words, He should be first.
When people say, “I’ll do that first thing in the morning,” what does that mean? It means the person will do that job or responsibility because he prioritizes that thing or task above all other things. That is why you should pray early in the morning. It shows God, “Lord, You’re first in my life.”
Colossians 1:18: “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”
God likes to be first.
Who is the beginning? Christ.
Who is the firstborn from the dead? Christ.
Why does He do everything like this? “That in all things he might have the preeminence.”
So, is He the first thing in your morning?
Christ as the Day Star
This is why praying early in the morning is a recommended thing. If you have trouble sleeping at night, you should pray. Why?
Like Samuel, your sleep can be disrupted because God spoke to him. Pastor Kim used to do that when having trouble sleeping. Pastor Kim would pray.
Malachi 4:2: “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.”
If you compare that with 2 Peter, it refers to Jesus as that Day Star that arises.
2 Peter 1:19: “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:”
The reason you want to start out with Jesus Christ first thing in the morning is because He is the Day Star. Why did Jesus Christ call Himself the Day Star, or the Sun that rises up first thing in the morning? Jesus does not call Himself the moon. He calls Himself the Sun.
Why?
God uses illustrations, and if those illustrations are important to Him, we should think about them. Because of the illustration of Jesus Christ being the first thing that rises up in the morning, why not do prayer first thing in the morning? God takes this meaning seriously. He calls Himself the Day Star.
Why not apply that in your life?
Start the Day With Prayer
Hopefully praying early in the morning would be a blessing to you. The tendency now is that Satan has successfully influenced people toward sleeping late. What is sin naturally associated with? Late at night. You go to the bars. There is fornication. You go to the liquor stores. There is crime and criminal activity, violence, and drugs. Satan has switched our body clock so that we tend to go late at night rather than having our bodies wake up first thing early in the morning.