Monday Reflection – May 25, 2020 Morning Prayers

Monday Reflection – May 25, 2020
Morning Prayers

O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch. Psalm 5:3

Charles Hummel wrote that many people often wish for many more hours in a day, so they could get more done. However, if we had it, we would soon be filling it up with more of the things that we are already squandering our present 24-hour day! His solution? Do what Jesus did, and get up and spend time with the Heavenly Father to begin the day. Get his direction and priorities for the day, and then follow that. The whole plan hinges on getting up and spending time with God first thing in the morning.

In today’s Watchword, David says, “In the morning … in the morning …”. One of the ways the Hebrews emphasize something is by repeating it. So David repeats “in the morning” showing the emphasis that he puts on it. It was in the morning that his prayer would rise up to God. His first duty of the day was going to be to let God hear his voice in prayer. Jesus had this pattern, for in Mark 1:35 it says, “And in the early morning, while it was still dark, He arose and went out and departed to a lonely place and was praying there.” This was his alone time with his father for he made it a priority to get up early and seek God.

In this verse, we hear David’s commitment to prayer; it is a very determined statement. He pleads his case to God. Another version says, “I will order my prayer to you”. This rendering is so beautiful because it conveys the sense or arranging or setting in order. It was used for the priests who were commanded to arrange the pieces of the sacrifice on the altar. This gives us the picture of a prayer that is not just a series of random thoughts, but which has structure and organization. There is also a high note of expectation in this verse for David talks about praying and watching, eagerly watching. It conveys the sense of looking up. For the Psalmist, he is going to pray then look up and watch and see what God will do in response to his prayer. Our prayers must be prayers of faith if they are going to please God as we wait expectantly on God’s response. The other thing too is that we pray but rush off without waiting on God’s response, yet we say prayer is communication with God. So many times our prayers have become a monologue where we talk to God and then disappear from the conversation. Significantly, our prayers should come from a relationship with God so that it is not just saying prayers but talking with the Lord with whom we have a personal relationship.

I am not here saying that we can and must only pray in the morning for we should pray without ceasing. Today’s New Testament text in Ephesians 6:18 says, “Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication…” What I believe is that it is important to begin our day by spending at least some time with God in his word and prayer. We should at least do something in the morning to begin our day with the Lord, because it affects the rest of our day. Stay in tune with the Lord and wait expectantly on him.

Jermaine Gibson