I am my best self in the mornings. I get more done, I am more focused, and I just love the feeling that I have an entire day ahead of me. When I first started, it seemed like a natural fit for me to do my devotional time/quiet time in the mornings for this reason. I wanted to give God my best self, and I am simply not my best self after 5 pm.

These are the things that I do every morning that set the tone for the rest of my day. Doing this gives me encouragement to draw from all day long. It also gives me a scripture on my heart that I can share with someone who may need it. I love the way I am doing bible study right now, but it is not a rigid regimen. If I feel like I want to focus on prayer alone one morning, I do it. If I feel like I just want to focus on reading the word, I do that instead. Why not?

 

Here is what I am currently doing.

 

Jesus Calling

I have had this devotional for years now and have completely gone through it a total of 0 times. Embarrassing, I know, but I never committed to it until this year. I have been consistent with it this year, I’m happy to report. I love how every day in the devotional gives you biblical truths in layman’s terms or in the form of a letter! I also love that it points you back to the scriptures that the “love letter” is drawing from. Every day in the devotional is relatable for someone like me- a worrier and a person dealing with impatience amongst other problems. I recommend this devotional to anyone who is looking for something to read daily that points them back to scripture.

 

The Bible

This part of my quiet time is the crux of what I need. If I do nothing else, I try to get some bible time in (and since Jesus Calling has scriptural references, I sometimes use that if I am running late). I am a firm believer in interaction with the text. I feel like I am more focused on reading and less distracted if I am making sure that I am deriving points from the text every so often. Interaction with the text simply means that I am very daintily scribbling all over my Bible. I am highlighting, I am underlining, I am writing in margins, and I am referring to other scriptures as I read. I have a Bible specifically for this and I have more about how I scribble and destroy my Bible here.

 

My Prayer Book

I started doing this a couple of years back when I first was exposed to Heather Lindsey’s ministry. She recommends keeping a prayer journal. I don’t know what it is about me and blank notebooks and excuses to write in them, but I was sold. I do this informally and I have gone through about 4 notebooks in this manner. This year I have a larger notebook that may take a while to fill up, but I adore writing in it. My entries are all prayers to God. In them, I tell him how I feel, thank him for answering my prayers, ask him when he will respond to my prayers (David style), ask him for help, and pray for others. It’s basically my blood, sweat, and tears in a notebook. It is a big must for me because as a distractible person, I find myself getting distracted when I pray (I will forever keep it real with you guys). Writing my prayers down keeps me focused and engaged while I am talking to the Creator of the Universe. Doing this has honestly helped my prayer life and I am incredibly grateful.

Another benefit of doing this is that when I pray about something, I can go back and see that God has always answered my prayers in the past. I can go back and see that God has always been faithful. It really helps my faith because truth be told, he doesn’t fail me. It also halts some of my “God, why haven’t you responded to my prayers yet??” prayers.

 

This is what I do every morning, it takes maybe 30 minutes and I can see the dazzling effects of having intentional daily quiet time. If I forget to do it one morning (which happens sometimes, especially on weekends) I simply try to do it in the evening or get back to it the next day. Easy.

Another beautiful thing that I have added is a friend who also does her own devotional in the morning. She texts me to make sure I have had my quiet time and I LOVE the accountability.

 

What are some of your morning devotional habits? I would love to hear about them in the comments!

 

Love you guys!

 

Lise