Morning Preparation

Start the day with God. This is your best preparation. This is the best part of the day because it is the beginning of the day. Appointments have yet to assault your calendar. Interruptions are blocked from your schedule. Each day is a new day full of opportunity, challenges and problems.

Because each day is unique, we need a daily dose of God. We need His wisdom, His forgiveness and His perspective. Just as our body needs exercising and bathing, so our mind, soul and heart need God’s cleansing and renewal. Time with God feeds our soul like a nice meal nourishes our body. A malnourished soul will lead to a sick life. You can fast from God, but this is not a healthy fast.

Your fasting from God may be as result of moving too quickly. Slow down your pace or He may slow it down for you. Assuming you have rested well the night before, your mind and body are the most receptive in the morning.

Therefore, it makes sense to use this pliable time of the day to recalibrate with God. First in, first out is a good description of what happens in the morning. If the worries of the world consume our beginning of the day, then worry will come out first during the day. If trust in God fills our day’s beginning, then trust will come out first during the day.

Jesus modeled this for us as He rose before the day began to spend time quietly with His heavenly Father. You may need to find a quiet spot with the fewest distractions so that you can listen intently to your heavenly Father. Wake up with God while the world sleeps. Then, when the world awakes, you can greet it with grace and truth.

Your time with God need not be complicated. Converse just as you do daily with certain friends; keep the dialogue honest and open. God already knows our heart, but we forget and we need a reminder. My heart deceives me, but God cuts through the deception and gets to the core of the matter. My anger may cause me to sin by not letting go of a person or a situation. Sometimes it is hard to let go and trust God with the matter.

You cannot blame another for your bad attitude; this is between you and God. Ask Him to do an attitude check and to fill your “gratitude tank” before you run out of gas. If gratitude is not motivating your living, you will burn through energy like dried out firewood on a blistering cold winter night. Without daily doses of divine gratitude, your enthusiasm will be sucked away like smoke up a chimney. The morning is an ideal time to lay our requests before our heavenly Father.

These can be requests that flow from the desires of our heart. When you walk close with God, the desires of your heart will align more closely with His wishes for your life. This is reassuring. As you walk with Jesus each day, ask Him by faith for a pure heart. Request from Him the right spouse and a new career opportunity in His timing. Look to Him for courage to walk away from a relationship or a deal, or request that same courage from Him to accept a new challenge—one that forces you out of your comfort zone. Ask Him for the trust and the patience to accept His timing with all of the issues that are crowding your mind. There is no better way to start your day than with God!

Taken from the Dose 3 reading in Boyd Bailey’s Infusion. This 90-day devotional book is a compilation of the reader’s favorites from Wisdom Hunters daily devotional. Andy Stanley says, “I have walked with Boyd for over 20 years and I am definitely wiser for it. You are going to love this book!”