98 Degrees of Sunrise Devotions

Goal #30: Get up at 6:00am every weekday for two weeks and have breakfast/devotionals on the back porch.

I'm standing at the foot of this mountain

Wishing so bad that I could touch that sky

But in the time it takes to make my wish

I never take a step and I never try

I wish that I were closer to Jesus

But not enough to get me out of bed

For an early morning prayer before the

Rushes of my life take me instead

-Past the Wishing, Sara Groves

In high school, I used to set the above song as my alarm in the morning in hopes that it would guilt-trip me into getting my lazy rear out of bed to do my devotions. It is a great song with a great message, but it didn't work - my motivation wasn't genuine. I then put morning devotions on my 101 list because it was important to me yes, but also because I thought maybe it would help me to get a good habit started. But I can honestly say that I recently started doing my early morning devotions because I had a desire too - not for guilt and not to check something of my list - but because God has really been doing a work in me and I wanted to spend more time with Him. I didn't even really think about it being on my list until my best friend (when I mentioned to her something I had read in my devotions) asked me if I was doing it for my list. Wow. That is a sad reflection of my recent Christian walk, eh? It was such an uncommon thing for me to be having a morning devotion, that my friend assumed I was doing it because of my list. I have very much enjoyed these mornings and have seen such a difference in my heart attitude throughout the day. Something about seeing a beautiful early morning sky while talking to God and reading His Word is such a refreshing combination.

But hooooo-boy it is hot outside! Even at 6:00am(ish) the Arizona temperatures are already flirting with 100 degrees. The sleep-deprivation has been a struggle too,  I've got to fully make this commitment and go to bed earlier so that I can get up at 6:00am with out feeling drugged for the rest of the day. I started by getting up a little earlier each day to ween myself off of sleep (7:00am became 6:45am, became 6:30am, etc) so maybe I need to do the same on the other end to ween myself off of my night-owl habits. 

Anyway - I am loving this time of quiet, slow mornings and of prayer and reading my Bible. I've been so convicted, encouraged and challenged with so much of what I've been reading. Especially Luke 6:17-49 which rocked me so deeply that I studied it for three days in a row and even that wasn't enough time for me to really take it all in. I keep coming back to it over and over - trying to really let it settle in my heart so that the idea behind "out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks" will start to produce better fruit in my own life. 

I'm not sure how I survived without this time up until this point. I guess I was just too busy to notice what I was missing.

Q4U-  What has God been teaching you lately? I would love to hear about what you're reading and learning.