Tag: Prayer

I like to get the most out of my day. I feel like it is a good day when at night I can look back and feel like I accomplished something. It’s a good feeling to have days where you feel productive. Productivity has a way of making you feel better in every area of your life.

Netflix & What Would’ve Been

I despise the feeling of having a day off of work or being on vacation and wanting to get so many things done, and yet somehow nothing gets done. If you’re like me, you have this day marked on your calendar and you expect having a “free day” to do whatever you need or want. However,  the great plans that you had disappeared when you sat down to catch up on your Netflix queue. Before you know it, you’ve watched an entire season of House of Cards, it’s 6 o’ clock and you still haven’t showered!

Start the Right Way

One of the most important things that I’ve learned over the last couple of years is how important your morning routine is to the start of a great day. You can pretty much Google “How to have a great morning,” and get plenty of advice on how to get the most out of your day. What I see from these tips and morning routines are the biblical principles that God has laid out for us. So what does God say about how we are to start our day.

1. Plan the night before

The start to a great day actually begins the night before. Proverbs 21:5 Says that “the plans of the diligent leads to abundance”. A successful day actually begins the day before. Too many times we just let the day happen to us. We need to plan how we want our days to look in advance.

2. Praise & Worship

I like to start my day with some Praise & Worship. This helps me so that I’m not tempted to go back to sleep. Offering up praise and worship to God is a way get our blood pumping and our bodies moving. Having this time of praise and worship has a way of opening our hearts and helps us focus on God’s goodness at the start of the day.

3. Devotional

Having a good devotional is a  benefit. Most devotionals give a daily scripture, some reflection and a prayer at the end. I really like devotionals because they offer a focus for the day. It provides context and gives me a reference for what I can refer to throughout the day. Joshua 1:8 says it best. We are to “meditate on God’s word day and night.” Devotionals are great for this.

4. Pray

By this point in the morning routine, there you should flow from one thing to the next. It can be easy to flow from the devotional  prayer to a time of personal prayer. For me, I like to begin my personal time with expressing to God how thankful I am. Our prayer time should focus on God rather  than ourselves. While there are times we do need to express issues of our lives to God, there should also be times where we are praying for our families, friends and communities.

 

5. Journal

I am a big fan of writing in a journal. For me, it’s a great way to reflect on the previous day, and a way to transfer the thoughts in my head out on paper. Sitting down to journal after a time of prayer is a great way of getting in the habit of writing the things down that God tells us. Making using a journal a part of your morning routine helps to value God’s voice and His word.

6. Confessions/Affirmations

Ending the morning routine with confessions or affirmations is an awesome way to build up our confidence and self-esteem before  we step into the world. God’s word is most powerful when we speak it out of our mouths. We don’t just become the things we see and hear, we become what we say. Confessing God’s word over lives builds us up for so many things that we attack during the day.

 

Have you developed a morning routine? If not, what is holding you back? Let’s start today with getting the most out of our days.