I’m sitting here, once again, trying to have my God-time first thing in the morning. You could call it my “prayer time” but for me, since I’m talking (praying) and interacting with Jesus all day, it’s more a time to give him my undivided attention. Over the years I’ve had morning-God-time advocates tell me how Jesus went off and prayed the first thing in the morning and so, to be like Jesus, we should have our prayer time the first thing in the morning.
I’ve been trying it. And honestly, I just flat-out dislike it, in fact, I find myself almost angry as I sit here and force myself to do something that doesn’t come naturally and that isn’t “me.” It doesn’t work for me, but, before you burn me at the stake, hear me out.
Sitting here I attempt to force myself to relax and let go of what my day ahead holds, telling myself (again) that if I spend enough time here I’ll be able to let go of everything and get my head focused. Leaning my head back against the futon to relax I jerk it back up again—I can’t mess up my hair for the day ahead by flattening the back of it. I also realize that one thing that is messing me up is that I’m wearing shoes (after Achilles Tendonitis I’m ordered by my doctor to always wear shoes, which is quite the adjustment after going barefoot inside my whole life). Shoes feel formal and I can’t curl up comfortably.
My Jesus-time usually happens at the end of the day when I’m in my pajamas, comfortable, relaxed, and peaceful. I can sit and have open-ended time with Jesus, no deadlines or calendar full of things to do. However, I’m determined to give this a fair chance, after all, we all know that Jesus did it first thing in the morning so that’s obviously the “right” time of day. I lean over and take my shoes off and curl my feet up under me, though it feels alien to do that before I’ve even begun my day. “Maybe I should listen to worship music first,” I think, but I’m not in the mood for music. “Well Jesus, what my head really wants to do is to use this time to think, to brainstorm about my habits (since I’m reading Gretchen Rubin’s wonderful book on habits—“Better Than Before”), but that’s not really God-time so I’m going to try to ignore that.”
Once again I think about how much I don’t want to do this. “I wonder, Jesus, I know that the Bible supports all those “first thing in the morning” people, but didn’t you EVER go off by yourself and pray at any other time?” I pull out my trusty phone, tap the NIV Bible, and touch the little magnifying glass icon. Now I’m off and running. It doesn’t take long because I can only find eight verses in the Gospels (searching both NIV and KJV) where Jesus goes off to pray, and I about fall over when I see what the Bible really says about Jesus’ prayer times. (The verses are below if you’re interested). I am stunned. Out of eight verses referring to Jesus going off to pray, only ONE says it was the first thing in the morning! There are four verses that are at an unknown time of the day but NOT the first thing in the morning, and three verses that don’t say but could have been the first thing. What! After all these years of being told that we should be like Jesus and put our prayer time first? Apparently Jesus went off to pray whenever he had the opportunity, he didn’t make any rules about it, he didn’t tell us when to go pray, and he didn’t set any precedence about when is the most spiritual time to pray, in fact, if you’re going by the Bible it’s more spiritual to not have your prayer time in the mornings!
I’m sticking to my belief that we’re all created unique and that God delights in our being who he created us to be, with our personalities and quirks and sense of what works best for us. Whew, I can now quit doing something that doesn’t work for me and go back to my wonderful evening Jesus-time.
If you don’t yet know when the best time for your Jesus-time is, keep experimenting until you find what fits you. And if it’s not the first thing in the morning, I give you Biblical permission to have your prayer time Jesus’ way—anytime that works for you or when you can get away.
PRAYER BY JESUS—TIME OF DAY
1st Thing in the Morning
Mark 1:35—And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. (KJV)
Unknown, but not 1st thing
(after feeding the 5,000 & later walking on water)
Matthew 14:23—And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: … (KJV)
(after feeding the 5,000 & later walking on water)
Mark 6:46—And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. (KJV)
(After feeding multitudes & the disciples asked how to pray)
Luke 9:18—And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: … (KJV)
(After feeding multitudes & the disciples asked how to pray)
Luke 11:1—And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, …
(KJV)
Unknown, but possibly 1st thing in the morning
Luke 6:12—And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, … (KJV)
Luke 5:16—And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed. (KJV)
Luke 9:28—And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. (KJV)
Image credit: Waiting for the Word: https://www.flickr.com/photos/waitingfortheword/albums/72157626252302251
I have the same problem because I am just not a morning person, and my husband is up before me and i want to be completely alone with the Jesus. I wait until he goes to bed and that is very late, but it works for me!
m.
Life is like that, we’re so unique and our lives are so different that we can’t dictate formulas. It’s funny that I’m a “morning person” and yet I want my God-time relaxed. I think that’s because I’m not just reading an allotted portion of the Bible or a devotional or study book, I’m just with Jesus to be together, so I want open-ended time, not a set time where at the end I have to get up and go. My mom told me that you should put your God-time first because it’s putting God first in your day, but I wake telling him good morning and am interacting with him throughout the day, so I’d rather enjoy him with quality time when I can relax and chill without a deadline.
Hilarious! Of course we don’t want to mess our hair up. But then we can’t be comfortable and there is too formal of a feeling to enjoy a good relaxed friendship.
In spite of that, I still try to spend time with Jesus in the morning. For me, it’s because I tend to take off running to get things accomplished and I may not get back to a quiet, settled down place.
I totally agree with you that we are all unique and God thoroughly enjoys that uniqueness. I think He is pretty spontaneous, too—so anytime we are there, He is there.
Thanks for sharing the scriptures you found.
I admit that it IS hard to make time in the evening, and I have to watch my time or I’m too tired for my God-time to be much more than relaxing with Jesus, but then, I love those times too. :) Just sitting there quietly in his presence leaning against his shoulder and letting myself relax. Ah, bliss.