“Wake Up!!”
God has a way of making His message clear.
I talked about The One Thing in my previous post – challenging you to listen to God and do the One Thing He was asking of you in this next year.
My One Thing, the thing God put on my heart, was to get up earlier every day and pray more. 
I need to pray more consistently, to pray with better content, and greater concentration. Mind you, I already get up 30 minutes before my kids… I make my coffee and sit down to work on my Read Thru The Bible plan. But by time I am awake, my coffee is cool enough to drink, and I’ve made it through 3 chapters of Jeremiah… there really isn’t much time to pray. At least, not to really get down on your knees and pray in a concentrated manner.
I told God I would do it on Wednesday night. Then it was Sunday morning and I still hadn’t started.
Sunday afternoon I picked up Anne Graham Lotz’s book The Magnificent Obsession and on page 55 I read this:
“God commanded me to repent of my shallowness, I asked Him How? His answer was so practical and simple… Wake up!! I was to literally wake up by setting my alarm earlier than I would otherwise need to and spend time with Him before my day began and my household stirred.”
Well, my goodness! She got the same instructions as me!
So Monday morning I got up earlier. I hugged my hot coffee cup and this is what I read:
“And I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear and I called to you but you did not answer.” – Jeremiah 7:13 (NASB)
“I have sent you (Judah) all My servants and prophets, daily rising up early and sending them…” – Jeremiah 7:25 (NASB)
Three times this week God has made this clear to me – making extra time to meet with Him in the morning is important. Apparently early is (at least one time) when God speaks, when God calls to us, and when He sends His servants and prophets out to do their work for the day.
I need to keep getting up early so I don’t miss anything!
“It is better to be sleep deprived than God deprived.” – Anne Graham Lotz
Mindy Clemons 
I have been receiving the same message from God! I have set the alarm 30 minutes earlier but laid in bed while praying! Not exactly what God is calling me to do! Need to be more intentional with my time and with my prayer life.
Anne’s book is so amazing – I am glad we are reading it!
So glad you got called also… Maybe we can hold each other accountable!
So right on!! In my second week of 5:00 am mornings for that reason and needing to get some exercise in before our school day starts. Tired. 🙂
Carey Sent from my iPhone
But taking care of yourself! Well done. Keep at it.
Thank you for always sharing in an authentic way! So encouraging to know that we ALL struggle…just aren’t always honest about it. Thank you for pushing us out of our “comfort” zone and challenging us with His word!
Oh yes… always a struggle!
Oh my goodness, I get up two hours before my boys, and I STILL don’t make prayer a priority. I’ve been convicted for weeks to be more diligent in this area – thanks for being another voice in the wilderness that is my prayer life!
Liz! What do you do with your two hours?! LOL.