What if I told you that you have within your control the ability to make every day a good day? We’ll explore how starting your day with God helps you have a good day. We’ll cover why it’s important to start your day with God, how to start your day with God, what the Bible says about starting your day, prayers to pray as you start your day, and a 5 minute morning routine.

Recently, a video was making its rounds on social media, basically making fun of the fact that Mondays seem to come too soon and too often. And with that comes our disdain for Mondays. Yet there are things that are in our direct control that we can do to help us have not only good Mondays but good days every day. In this post, we’re going to explore how starting your day with God helps you have a good day.

In honor of my latest book release, Today is Going to be a Good Day: 90 Promises from God to Start Your Day Off Right, I’m doing a series on the blog and podcast on how to help ourselves have a good day. Learning how to start your day with God is the perfect way to begin the series!

Every morning things fight for our attention: dishes in the sink or dishes that need to be put away from the dishwasher, morning coffee, email, getting children off to school, the early morning meeting, etc. If Satan can’t deter us from spending time with God, he will most definitely try to distract us because he knows if we start our day with God, God will be on our mind throughout the day.

Why is it important to start my day with God?

Starting our day with God keeps our eyes focused on the Problem Solver rather than the problems that present themselves throughout the day. What we focus on grows. So, if we focus on our problems, worries, and concerns, we’ll become less effective, more negative, and perhaps even more self-absorbed. But when we start our day with God, our focus is on the One who not only created us and knows us better than anyone else, but our focus is on the one who already knows what we will face and how to see us through.

By starting our days off with God, we have the ability to come to Him for wisdom for the situations we don’t understand, and in trusting Him to see us through the difficult moments, our stress level will be less, and our mood will be better.

 

 

How do I start my day with God?

The Bible talks about tithes and offerings, which we tend to associate with giving a portion of our income to the church or a ministry to further God’s work. Yet, what if we considered tithing a part of our day and our energy as well?

When Scripture talks about making an offering to God, it often refers to the first or the best whether it’s grain or cattle. Likewise, God wants our first or our best as well. By spending time with God early in the morning before the demands of the world crowd our schedule, we offer Him the first so that time with Him doesn’t get crowded out of our day. I’m convinced that God can and does do more with the leftover 90% of our day than we could do if we used 100% for the things that concern us.

How does the Bible say to start your day?

The Bible tells us countless ways to begin our day; each of which will contribute to having a good day.

1. Rejoice in the Lord—it’s hard to have a bad day when praise is on our lips and we focus on rejoicing in who God is.

Psalm 118:24, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

2. Bless the Lord—by blessing the Lord, our focus remains not on our problems but on the Problem Solver and makes room for God to do what only He can do. He knows what our day holds and how He will see us through it.

Psalm 103:1, “Bless the Lord , O my soul, all that is within me, bless his holy name.”

3. Put on the Armor of God—God knows that we are in a constant battle against the enemy of our soul, and He has forewarned us how we should prepare. In putting on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, we can and will persevere in the battle awaiting our day.

Ephesians 6:11, 13-18a, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil…Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance…”

4. Receive God’s steadfast love—we cannot give what we do not have. But by receiving God’s steadfast love, we can spill that love onto whomever we bump into throughout the day. God’s greatest desire is that all would know Him and receive His love, and He wants to use us to reach those who don’t.

Lamentations 3:22-23, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

5. Prepare to be a light—Each day we have a choice whether we focus inwardly on ourselves and our hurts, trials, and situations, or whether we focus on others and their needs. In focusing on others, we shine the light and love of Jesus into a hurting world and offer them an increased likelihood of having a good day.

Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

How do I pray to start a day?

1. Thanksgiving –in our digital age, we are used to having things at our fingertips instantaneously and expect God to answer our prayers like a vending machine. Yet, as a parent, I appreciate it when my children are grateful for what they already have before they ask for more. God is deserving of our gratitude and thanks even if he never did another thing for us. By starting our day with a prayer of thanks, we focus on all God has already provided to help us face whatever comes our way.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done” (Philippians 4:6 NLT).

2. Wisdom and guidance –God knows that our understanding and knowledge are limited by our humanness. He tells us to ask Him for wisdom and guidance, and that when we do, He will not shame or condemn us, but rather, He will give it generously. When we start our day by asking God for wisdom for the day, that positions us to avoid many of the issues and concerns that we would otherwise be ill-equipped to handle.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5 NIV).

3. Protection—The Bible warns us that we have a very real enemy (“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” Ephesians 6:12 NIV). But when we pray for protection from our enemies, God promises to be all that we need. My prayer is that God will be true to His word that no schemes of the enemy will prosper.

“No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the LORD. (Isaiah 54:17 NKJV).

4. Pray believing that God will answer—God tells us that when we pray, we must pray believing that God will answer (“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24 NIV), because if we do not believe, we are double-minded and unstable in all we do (James 1:8). God wants to see that our faith is strong, and that we truly believe His promises, including that He works everything we go through together for our good and for His glory.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28 NIV).

5 minute morning routine

1. Get up, use the restroom—upon rising, my focus is on eliminating as many distractions as possible.

2. Push the button on the coffee maker & leave phone in kitchen—I always focus a bit better after that first cup of java. But I’ve learned that if I bring my phone into my quiet time, I will get distracted Every. Single. Time. So, in order to limit distractions, I leave my phone in the kitchen.

3. Head to my chair where I’ve set things up the night before—I have the greatest success in my day when I prepare for it the night before by putting a blanket, my Bible, Journal, pens and post-it notes in my chair, and tidying my space of any potentially distracting clutter.

4. Pray for God to open my eyes to a fresh revelation of Him—because my knowledge and understanding is limited, I ask God to open my eyes and ears to hear and learn what He knows I need most.

5. Read through a devotional, then read the passage before and after—My quiet time with God in the morning usually starts by reading a short devotional, and then to help with my contextual understanding, I like to read the passage before and after in the Bible and pray for understanding and how God wants me to apply it to my life.

6. Journal highlights from the reading, and 3 things to be grateful for—I can tend to have a short memory when I get busy with the tasks of the day, so I find that writing down insights from my quiet time help me to remember it throughout the day. And while I’m at it, I challenge myself to write down 3 unique things I’m grateful for, because that helps me have a thankful mindset to carry me through any difficulties the day holds.

7. Prayer for the day, others’ needs, thanks for answered prayer—I typically end my quiet time with a prayer for the needs of the day, the needs of others that I’m aware of, and thanking God for the ways He has answered my prayers.

When you pre-order my new book, Today is Going to be a Good Day, you’ll receive a bundle of bonuses described below. One of the bonuses is a “Recipe for a Good Day,” a planner sheet you can print out to help you start your day off with God.

I’d love to hear about your morning routine, and what your time with God looks like, in the comments below.

My prayer for you is that you truly have a good day today!

 

Every day can be a good day when you trust the promises of God.

Today is Going to be a Good Day

Now Available!

My newest book, Today is Going to be a Good Day: 90 Promises from God to Start Your Day Off Right is now available!

This uplifting devotional helps you make each day a good day no matter what is going on in your life.

When life conspires to drag us down with all of its troubles, it can be hard to keep our spirits up. In times of severe illness and depression, I learned that when I stand on God’s promises, despite my circumstances, every day can be a good day.

Each reading includes Scripture, reflection, prayer, and a recommended playlist song designed to help you live out Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”

 

 

For more information on the book visit: Today is Going to be a Good Day Book