How do you start your day off? Do you start with an exercise routine? Do you wake-up with music blasting away? Do you eat a healthy breakfast or do you skip the breakfast and just settle for a warm cup of coffee? Do you make your bed? Do you pray or meditate? If you want the key to a bless day, starting your day off right should be the goal for all people, especially Christians.
I have known some people who would start their day with Maxwell house coffee and cigarettes. Otherwise their day was going to be bad. I am quite sure you know or have heard of people who couldn't get their day started unless they had a Coca-Cola or Pepsi. Believe me there are those who must start with caffeine and/or nicotine to get their bodies stimulated and moving. Doing their routine, over and over again, have caused their body to crave more and more for caffeine and nicotine.
As Christians, we should have that same craving for Christ, to be our day starter. Because Christ is our fulfillment, our energizer, our motivator, and our stimulator. There should be an urgency to have that one-on-one time with the Father, and that allows us to "start our day off right." The best preventive method for an unpleasant day is prayer. Prayer is not an insurance that nothing will happen, but it is our assurance that God's coverage will not default.
For the Christian, prayer is that exercise that "start the day off right." It is communicating to God, who has the power and authority to not only hear every word that is said, but answers every petition, if He desires. Charles H. Spurgeon says, "Prayer is the breath, the watchword, the comfort, the strength, the honor of a Christian." William E. Gladstone says, "Worry is a conversation you have with yourself about things you cannot change. Prayer is a conversation you have with God about things He can change."
Prayer should be one of the first things we do when our feet hit the floor in the morning. Prayer helps to free us from the entanglement and distractions of the day. It enforces a positive and Christ centered mind. As servants of Christ, we petition our Father from the heart, and at time, we open our ears to receive daily blessings.
Prayer has a purpose, and that purpose must be understood in order to appreciate its value. When we approach God, we must come with a deep humility, understanding that prayer is a privilege, available to those who "walk by faith and not by sight."
If the Lord Jesus felt the need to pray on a daily basis, how much more should we also pattern our lives with prayer? After all, He is our Lord and Savior, and He was totally without sin. He is that example whom we seek to be like.
Scripture tells us that Jesus, despite the hectic day and before ministering to others, got up early in the morning, very early, before daybreak, and went out to a solitary place where He spent time praying: "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed" (Mark 1:35). Jesus knew what he was going to be up against as He clothes Himself in humanity, as He began His public ministry. He had just had an encounter with Satan after His baptism by the Holy Spirit, at the happy hour at the Jordan River. He knew that there would be many attacks and obstacles confronting him.
The Lord knew that He must stay in constant fellowship with the Father and He made it a habit to devote the early hours of the day in prayer, for guidance and grace. He knew the importance of "starting the day off right." It meant seeking His Father's face early. Prayer was important to Him and should be important to us. Now if the Son of God relied on prayer, how much more do you and I also need prayer. No matter how much Jesus labored to help others, He still took time early in the morning to meet with His Father, realizing this intimacy was needed as He did His Father's will.
Prayer is essential to the Christian life. There is no other way we can declare our love for God and to God without a prayer life. With prayer, we are able to reach the throne room of heaven. Scripture tells us, "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are -- yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (Hebrews 4:14-16).
When we walk closely with God, prayers becomes as natural as breathing fresh air. Prayer is the breath of the soul. When we stop breathing, we die physically. When we stop praying, we die spiritually. There is no substitute for prayer. Scripture tells us, "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer.." (1 Peter 3:12a). Jesus is our greatest example of how to pray and when to pray; therefore, for the Christian "starting the day off right," means starting your day with prayer.
Prayer should be a priority in your life. Jesus made prayer a priority in His life. He not only prayed for Himself, but He prayed for humanity's sake. He stayed in constant contact with His Father. He was God divine and He was God in humanity, but His walk was loaded with prayers. When prayer becomes a priority in ones life, you do not wait for something extreme to happen to pray. The proactive Christian has already prayed before things happens.
You must make time to pray. There is no right or wrong time to pray. Prayer is about your vertical relationship with God, and what better way to "start the day off right." Spiritual growth is impossible without the practice of prayer. There is power in prayer. Prayer changes things.
Your place of prayer should be of the upmost importance to you. As Christians, we should without hesitation seek that place where we can be one with God without distraction. This is not to take away from family devotion. In the Book of Genesis, Abraham built altars unto Jehovah for prayer in some strange places as he was led by His Lord. Of course, you can pray anywhere at anytime, but sometimes, we should have a very special place to spend time with God.
Our prayer should be a prayer of sincerity. The Bible is a resource of prayers from Genesis to Revelation. When surveying those prayer warriors, we are able to see the depth of their hearts' cry, as they sought to reach God. Scripture tells us David prayed all day and he prayed from inside a cave. Paul and Silas prayed at mid-night. Hager prayed in the wilderness. Hezekiah prayed from his bed of affliction. Jonah prayed while in the belly of a fish.
God's people at all time have access to the presence of Him who awaits their sincere petition. No matter where we may be or what trouble may befall us, God can hear us, when it is coming from the heart.
There is always an opportunity for prayer. Christ always sought the opportunity to pray. He prayed at irregular intervals. He prayed before and after important events. It was His custom, always to steal away and pray, especially when the noises of earth were hushed.
There was never a cloud between the Father and the Son. The course was always clear. There was no searching of the right channel trying to pick up a signal. Jesus knew the Father and the Father knew Him. In His own words He said, "I and the Father are One" (John 10:30). Prayer during His earthly ministry was an essential part of their relationship.
If you want to be one with Jesus, then you must know how to seek His face. Therefore, you must have a relationship with Him. Scripture reminds us of these words spoken by Jesus, "I know my sheep and my sheep know me." I urge you to review your prayer life and see what might be missing.