The Morning Hour

Anyone who has done even a little reading about those who have strongly modeled a life of prayer learns that the morning hour is not an hour to be wasted.   It seems that those who pray mightily are those who intentionally rise early to pray.  There was a time in my life when I lived by an agreement with the Almighty which went something like, "I won't bother you before eight o'clock if You won't bother me!"   Of course, this was not the first foolish thing I have ever said, nor will it likely be the last. 

 

As I moved through the years I finally came to a place of realizing that so many could not be wrong.  In the beginning early morning praying was hard.  It was done only with a lot of grumbling and effort.  But, somehow I managed to stay with it long enough for it to become a part of the discipline of my life.  I remember the final catalyst.  I was preaching a revival for a friend and staying with his family in the parsonage.  As we shared together, I discovered that he was one of those morning folks who got up early to pray.  His witness to me stirred my heart in such a way that a new routine for praying began to grow in me. 

 

And while the morning hour usually includes moments of praying, there are those times when I pull the covers over my head and retreat into my past.  I wish I was where I wanted to be, but find myself still on the road to where it is.  Perfection in anything has never been something in which I have excelled.  Somewhere I have learned the lesson that the destination is not as important as the journey.  It is an encouraging word for this old guy who has often found more struggle in the practice of spiritual disciplines than those models of prayer about which I have read.  But, as the Word says, "I press on...."  (Ephesians 3:14)