Awaken The Dawn

First Things First

The other day, I asked our sixth grade teacher at the acad- emy, “Don’t you ever get tired of coming down to the early morning prayer meeting?” I realized that the woman was married, had older children at home, and was a grandmother. Surely, she was stretching herself too much. “Oh, no,” she said brightly, “I have so many things to pray about that I just wouldn’t make it if I didn’t take the time to pray!” A local pastor started early morning prayer after hearing me speak on the subject. “Tell me,” I said, “has it made a difference in your life?” He broke into a grand smile and said, “Things are just going wonderful, and I now find that I have to pray more than an hour;- there are so many prayer requests!” I appreciate and con- firm the testimony of Bill Hybels in his excellent book, Too Busy Not to Pray : (3) Prayer becomes continuous. How in the world does a per- son pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17)? Continuous prayer is a staggering concept; but if you can begin your day with an hour of serious, Spirit-quickened prayer, you will find yourself clothed throughout the day with an aura of prayer that will amaze you. Paul did not mean we are to pray continuously over prayer lists and problems, he meant that Christians can live in an attitude of prayer and communion with God even when secular tasks are being performed. When the process of early morning prayer is repeated every day, the life of prayer becomes more and more consistent and conceivable through the Holy Spirit. Set the tone of the day with early morning prayer, and 13 My life with God is a constant adventure, and it all begins with prayer. Regular prayer, early in the morning, alone with Him. Prayer that listens as well as speaks. 4