Why the first minutes matter
Scripture often places prayer at the start of the day. Psalm 5 is a morning prayer, and Mark records Jesus going out to pray before a long day of crowds.
2 Listen to the voice of my cry, my King and my God, for I pray to you. 3 LORD, in the morning you will hear my voice. In the morning I will lay my requests before you, and will watch expectantly. David says “in the morning” twice in one verse. He brings his requests and then watches expectantly: prayer starts the day rather than closing it.
In context35 Early in the morning, while it was still dark, he rose up and went out, and departed into a deserted place, and prayed there. Jesus goes out while it is still dark, the morning after a night of healing crowds in Capernaum. Simon and the others soon come looking for him (verses 36 and 37).
In contextFor many of us the first thing we reach for is the phone, so a notification gets the first word. A morning routine is deciding ahead of time what gets it instead.
A five-minute morning routine
- Choose one anchorTie prayer to something you already do every morning: getting out of bed, making coffee, sitting in the car before you drive. Pray in the same place each day.
- Read before you scrollRead a short passage first. Three verses are enough to give your prayer something to answer. A psalm, a few verses from a Gospel, or the next verses in a book you're reading through all work.
- Pray in a simple orderThank God for one specific thing. Confess what's already on your mind. Ask for what today needs. Name one person to pray for.
- Take one phrase with youChoose a few words from what you read and carry them into the day. Say them again at lunch or before a hard conversation.
- Let it shrink on hard daysOn a rushed morning, one verse and one honest sentence still count. A routine lasts when it can get smaller without stopping.
A short morning prayer
22 It is because of the LORD’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his mercies don’t fail. 23 They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Lamentations was written in grief after Jerusalem fell. The hope that God's mercies are “new every morning” is spoken from loss, not from an easy day.
In contextWhen the morning starts on your phone
If your phone is the first thing in your hand, put the prayer in front of it. Some people charge the phone outside the bedroom. Others use a lock on the apps they open first.
8 Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for I trust in you. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to you. A prayer for the start of the day: to hear of God's loving kindness in the morning, and to know which way to walk.
In contextIf the hard part isn't the morning but staying present through the day, read how to pray when you're distracted. If temptation is strongest at a particular time, see how to overcome temptation with Scripture.
Questions
- How long should a morning prayer be?
- A few minutes is a good start. Five honest minutes you keep every day usually last longer than an hour you can't. Make it longer when it starts to feel too short.
- Should I read the Bible before or after I pray?
- Either works. Reading first gives your prayer words to respond to, which helps on mornings when your mind feels blank.
- What if I miss a morning?
- Start again the next morning. A routine is a direction to keep coming back to, not a streak to protect.
Make prayer the first thing your phone asks for
Set PrayLock's Daily Reset Time to when you wake up, and the apps you choose stay locked each morning until you pray. You can choose to read three verses first.
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