January 10

When should we be listening for the voice of God? All the time. But, if we will make a point of tuning ourselves to Him upon awakening, we will have more opportunity to hear Him speak to us through the day. The reality is that if we begin to busy ourselves with daily tasks upon arising, the likelihood is that we’ll forget to turn our hearts and minds toward Him at all that day.

And if we neglect Him, we shall, sadly, neglect ourselves. If we negate His relevance by ignoring Him in the morning, we will negate our best time of assuring a blessed day for ourselves! There will be no other time through the day to actually begin the day with Him and to actually involve Him in the entirety of what we do all day long.

So, the Psalmist reminds us, “In the morning, O Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation.” (Psalm 5:3 NIV) If we will follow the example of the one who enjoyed such sweet fellowship with the Lord, the one through whom He penned so many of the up-lifting words of the sweet songs of His heart, we, too will find our expectation heightened because He wants us to anticipate much from Him!

We will more fully anticipate hearing the Lord speak to us because in His presence we shall be reminded that His mercies are new each day; that His delight is in us because we have chosen to abide in His presence. We shall be enriched, enlightened, encouraged, emboldened—because we know the Living Christ and commune with Him. We shall discover how blessed we are to hear and obey!