“I love them that love me: and they that in the morning early watch for me, shall find me”
Proverbs 8:17
The Word & Tea, Early Morning Watch
4:57 am, January 2, 2012.
It has been my hear’ts desire to arise early to be in the Presence of the Lord. Actually I’ve been strongly impressed to do so, but like in my previous post, my excuses and resistance were heeded to. I became spiritually impoverished because of it.
New Year, new intentions, new pressing into Jesus, new resolve.
As we know, intention, desire and resolve don’t sustain us consistently in the long run but my new conviction about OBEDIENCE has added the exclamation mark for me right now. And I have been unabashadely praying, “Lord, my spirit is willing but my flesh is weak; please grant me more willingness to be as willing as you want me to be”.
A quirky prayer but wholeheartedly sincere nonetheless.
But that is what God desires isn’t it? Truth in the inward parts. “Behold, You desire Truth in the inward parts…” Psalm 51:6a
So at 4:45 a.m. this morning, I arose through that willingness which He imparted into my semi-willing spirit, brought out a devotional book to read while I made morning tea. I was intent on not wasting one minute of that preparation time by letting my thoughts wander to the list of assignments that are on my ‘To-Do’ list today, as that is usually where they go, which leads to my lack of focus, mis-management of time and a sense of overwhelm.
I recall reading about Martin Luther’s attitude towards the necessity of prayer in the face of all the day’s ‘To Do’s’:
“If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.” Martin Luther
Seems an irony and somewhat incredulous: if my work list is so long that I need every waking second to accomplish it all in one day, then how could I ever sacrifice an hour or hours, to sit before my Spiritual Commanding Officer to receive His empowerment and marching orders for the day??
“Prayer is a spiritual law which cooperates with the mind of God. It has more in it than merely petition. It clothes itself in reality and power, with the force of God Himself. It is an attitude of spirit and mind. Language is secondary in true prayer.” Gossner
Should we not be viewing all of this temporal life through a heavenly and eternal vision? We are born again, not of human flesh but of the spirit, therefore are we not even now, spiritual beings having a human experience? the Spirit of God dwells in you
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.” Romans 8:5-9a
I have greatly digressed from my original thought – about rising early to sit with the Lord………
I have. And I loved it. I really, REALLY loved it. I am enjoying it so much – I don’t want to stop.
Join me in The Grail Prayer
Lord Jesus,
I give you my hands to do your work.
I give you my feet to go your way.
I give you my eyes to see as you do.
I give you my tongue to speak your words.
I give you my mind that you may think in me.
I give you my spirit that you may pray in me.
Above all,
I give you my heart that you may love in me
your Father and all mankind.
I give you my whole self that you may grow in me,
so that it is you, Lord Jesus,
who live and work and pray in me. Amen.
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What does this reflection have to do with ‘health’?
I am learning that if I do not take this spiritual time away with the Lord each day, then I cannot prioritize and do my work well.
I have experienced also that when I am not doing my work well, the same lack of focus, sense of overwhelm and time mismanagement cause me to mismanage and impoverish my own self-care: healthy eating, stress management and exercise; three critical components to health and wellness.
So for me, it starts with the early morning Word & Tea.
Where does it start for you?
Links
Isaiah 45:6 "That men may know from the east and the rising of the sun and from the west and the setting of the sun that there is no God besides Me. I am the Lord, and no one else"
Song: GIVE ME JESUS, Fernando Ortega
Christianhealthcoach's Blog 