By Yodit Kifle Smith​

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. (Psalm 90:14)
 
 
What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?

I wish I had a spiritual answer to give you all but in reality, after turning off my alarm (for the 5th time), I lie there with my phone glued to my hands, checking emails and scrolling through social media—for longer than I care to admit.

This is not the habit I want to continue in—especially as I seek to make better use of my time. While we may all have various routines, I want to encourage us with how we spend our first waking moments.
As I have been in the book of Psalms recently, I couldn’t help but notice the way in which the authors spoke of the morning and how the Lord convicted me to ponder on how I can renew my mind to consider the sacredness of this time:
 
And when I wake up, you are still with me! (Psalm 139:18):

Do we realize the power of these words? Our waking up is a miracle from God because He has willed for us to experience another day of grace and mercy with Him. What if we woke up with our hearts and minds in that disposition? Knowing that God is with us. He sustained us through the night and He will be faithful to sustain us through the day.

O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch. (Psalm 5:3):

How can the Lord hear our voice in the morning? We can make it a habit to wake up with praise on our lips. How easy is for us to wake up grumbling because we have so much to face that day or groggy and agitated because we just want more sleep? Guilty! But what if the first words we utter when waking up is, “Lord, thank you for the gift of this new day. I need you. Help me walk by faith.” And as gratitude overflows from our lips, we then are able to submit ourselves as a living sacrifice to the Lord (Romans 12:1).

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. (Psalm 90:14):

I am easily satisfied by social media—which is why I have convinced myself that I need to check it first thing in the morning. How foolish! We are reminded in this verse that we desperately need to be satisfied by God from the moment we wake up. Why? Because the enemy crouches by our bedside, waiting to devour us that day, seeking to tempt us with other things that pretend to satisfy us (1 Peter 5:8). However, making it a habit to be satisfied in God’s Word and in His presence produces a life that sings for joy, no matter the circumstances we may face that day.

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. (Psalm 143:8):

Each of us may have different routines in the morning, but one thing I have seen bear much fruit is getting in God’s Word in the morning. Whether for five minutes or an hour, it’s important that His Word renews our minds of His unfailing love and His Character. As Bible teacher Jen Wilkins powerfully stated, “Our hearts cannot love what our minds do not know.” And to add to that, we can put our trust in whom we don’t know. The author seeks the Lord to show him the way in which he should go because his whole life has been entrusted to Him. In the same way, we should seek and desire God to direct us each and every day. But it takes us trusting Him—which means it takes us knowing Him---which means it takes us getting into His Word.

But to You, O LORD, I cry for help; in the morning my prayer comes before You. (Psalm 88:13):

Prayer is not just a morning ritual but we see here how the author has made it clear that it starts from the time he awakes. Prayer is the act of faith of being completely dependent on God. And this verse shows us that we are to desperately cry out for His help in the morning. Asking for His wisdom and His truth to be our guide. Asking that our emotions would be submitted to Him as we go through the day—trusting that His spirit is working in us.
 
Sisters, every discipline of our faith in Christ is designed to keep us gazed on Him. May our mornings be used to set that gaze so we are fixed on Him through our days.
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The weekly devotionals seek to encourage you to dig deeper into Scripture as you take the time to daily read, meditate, and internalize the verses in the devotional, along with the passages provided below to give greater context. Take the time to read them throughout the week (repetition is important) and ask the Holy Spirit to help you grasp what God is showing you about Himself, about you, and how to live in light of these truths. 

Passages to read/memorize/meditate:

Psalm 139:18
Psalm 5:3
Psalm 90:14
Psalm 143:8
Psalm 88:13
Romans 12:1
1 Peter 5:8

Questions to Reflect on:

1. What are your habits in the morning?
2. What are practical ways of helping us remove the things that could/do distract us?
3. How has this devotional helped you see the preciousness of your morning time? 
4. What new habits will you seek for your mornings?

By Laura Hardin
(WITHIN Devotional Contributor)

We all have triggers that make us susceptible to certain sin issues. Maybe it’s a careless word spoken by a family member, a micromanaging boss, or the potent ache of loneliness. As Christians, we often look at these familiar temptations with the eyes of faith, believing we are stronger than the last time we fell in this area.
God knows us better than we know ourselves.
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Consider Peter. When Jesus told the disciples that they will all fall away from him, Peter confidently replied, “Even if everyone falls away, I will not” (Mark 14:27-29).

But Jesus knew Peter’s heart better than he knew his own. He knew his struggles with the fear of man and predicted that he would deny him that very night.

“If I have to die with you, I will never deny you,” Peter insisted, believing that he could never betray the one he had come to believe was the Messiah (Mark 10:31). He would rather die than be unfaithful. At least that’s how he felt in the moment. 

We are not unlike Peter. When we feel close to God, we declare with heart and song that we will worship God with all that we have and all that we are. Because we feel strong spiritually, we think we can resist familiar temptations in our own strength.

Jesus knew that without divine help, Peter would do the exact opposite of his faith-filled words. After catching Peter, James and John asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane, he specifically said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you stay awake one hour? Stay awake and pray so that you won’t enter temptation. The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Jesus singled Peter out, because Peter had every reason to be up praying with him, for he’d just been told that he was going to betray his Messiah. He should have been praying for God to intervene and empower him to be faithful. Instead he slept. Later that night, he denied Jesus three times before breaking down and weeping at his own folly. 

I wonder what would have happened if he had prayed with Jesus that night. I wonder how this incident shaped Peter’s understanding of the role of prayer in the faithfulness of his children. As God’s beloved, we have everything we need to be faithful to our Lord when triggered. Let us pray and depend on the Holy Spirit within.
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The weekly devotionals seek to encourage you to dig deeper into Scripture as you take the time to daily read, meditate, and internalize the verses in the devotional, along with the passages provided below to give greater context. Take the time to read them throughout the week (repetition is important) and ask the Holy Spirit to help you grasp what God is showing you about Himself, about you, and how to live in light of these truths. 

Passages to read/memorize/meditate:
John 21:15-19
1 Peter 4:7
1 Corinthians 10:12-13
Matthew 6:13
Isaiah 38:1-8*
Questions to Reflect on:

1. What triggers you to act contrary to who you are in Christ? What has triggered you this way in the past?

2. As you look ahead to the day or the week ahead, when will you be most tempted to “do you” in replace of following God?

3. What sin areas do you feel will never change? How do the above verses on prayer speak to your feelings?