First Thing Prayer

“My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.” (Ps 5:3-4 AV)

The purpose of morning prayer is found in the verse that follows.  There is a reason we do our devotions first thing in the morning.  David does not state his perfection as the means by which he approaches God first thing in the morning.  Rather, it is the LORD’s feelings on sin that drive him to the throne before the day starts.  Because God has no pleasure in wickedness, David goes to the LORD before anything else transpires so he might not fall to wickedness that day.  What further bolsters this understanding is David’s mention of what his day might look like.  In particular, he will be surrounded by those who are wicked.  This was part of his kingly duties.  He would have to judge according to the law which meant he would have to deal with wickedness.  Being surrounded by it, he did not want to succumb to it.  Starting our day off with prayer for protection from sin is the way to start a day!

I taught Bible classes many years ago to freshmen and sophomores.  It was a pleasure to teach them basic Bible doctrine, Old and New Testament Survey, and a host of other topics along the way.  My class was designed to leave them with something they would remember.  So, my preparation was not intended to test their memory skills.  What I was aiming for was their comprehension of the material and devising a way wherein the material would stick with them.  Tests and exams were part of the class.  However, what I used more than testing was worksheets.  From these worksheets, I wrote tests and exams.  It was designed to be a system of reinforcement and not a system merely for the intelligent.  The class was designed to be labor-centered rather than purely scholastic.  One of the benefits of teaching at a Christian school was prayer.  Prayer in the classroom was encouraged and expected.  We prayed before each class began.  We prayed for God’s guidance and the ministry of the Holy Spirit as we studied His word.  We especially prayed before each exam and test.  Even if it was an open-book test, we still prayed.  We prayed before we attempted anything.  Why?  Why bother?  You know what you know, right?

We will pray before some of the most important tests of life.  Those we see as life-altering.  But every day is a test.  Every day we get up and the world, the flesh, and the devil hit us head-on.  There is no ducking it.  There is no escape.  The battle is on from the moment we get up until we rest our heads on our pillows.  We know the tests of holiness and faithfulness are coming.  We know the moment we determine to love the LORD with our whole heart, mind, body, and soul adversaries are chomping at the bit to test our resolve.  If we know the test is coming, why don’t we prepare for it?  Why don’t we go to God first thing in the morning and ask for His strength?  Why don’t we seek out the Holy Spirit and beg Him to work through us so that we might not fail the tests that lie ahead?  Why don’t we seek the example of our LORD Jesus Christ and ask Him to remind us what it looks like to live for God?  It is foolish to face a test and not go in prepared.  Prayer is part of that preparation.