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WHAT CONVINCED ME TO RENEW MY MORNING DEVOTION

During a global leadership conference (Haggai Leadership Experience), I had this conversation with a fellow participant.

Fellow Participant: “Do you have a structure in your devotion?” (He probably meant a designated time to read the bible and to worship)

Me: (Without a blink, I said) “I don’t have.”

This was not where the above conversation took place. But this is a photo of another meaningful conversation with fellow Haggai Participants. Photo was taken at Haleakala National Park in Maui, Hawaii, USA. Photo courtesy of Brother Junep Ocampo, our resident photo journalist. haha. 🙂

I said “I don’t have”, but what I truly meant is that when I was a new believer, I enjoyed every minute of alone time with Him. Everyday, I would wake up early in the morning and I was always excited to read His word and praise Him. I was looking forward to His new revelations and encouragements.  No one could even make me open the door of my room unless I am done singing praises to Him. Sadly, that was before. 

Somewhere along the way, the busyness of life got me. I became more complacent about my faith, started to trust in my own strength and I just go back to HIM for consultation. Yes, I reduced Jesus to merely being one of my consultants.

Yes, I reduced Jesus to merely being one of my consultants.

I lost that habit of meeting Him and I did not even notice it because everything was doing well in my life.

After coming home from the said conference (Haggai Leader Experience), admittedly, I still did not strictly go back to my former routine of morning devotion.

Blessedly, the organizers of Haggai sent me a recording of a Leadership Class that I missed. And while listening, I learned this:

We may have the office or the position (the position of a leader, a pastor, a speaker, an influencer), but not the anointing. We lose our anointing when we are not connected with our creator. And when we are not anointed, we are not effective.

And when we are not anointed, we are not effective.

In the recorded Leadership Class, the importance of seeking Him DAILY was reiterated.   The facilitator called it “Verdict Continuum” or a “Continuous Decision” of surrendering to Jesus. A believer, when he wakes up EVERY MORNING, apart from being thankful for another day, should say “Here I am Lord, Use Me”. Accordingly, we must have that continuous commitment of willingness to be mightily used by Him. We must have that continuous yearning for the Lord’s daily anointing. Otherwise, we lose our effectiveness.

A believer, when he wakes up EVERY MORNING, apart from being thankful for another day, should say “Here I am Lord, Use Me”.

That insight encouraged me.  And I was all the more fired up when in my morning devotion I read Psalm 105:4 – “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually”. 

“Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually”. 

It is written in the bible that we should seek His presence – CONTINUALLY. 

As a lawyer by profession, I stand by my arguments when these are evidence-based. It is easier to believe when there are clear reasons to do so. The Lord knows how my thought process is so He led me to Psalm 105:4.  This convinced me to finally settle to renew my morning devotion and yearn for the Lord’s anointing DAILY.  

This convinced me to finally settle to renew my morning devotion and yearn for the Lord’s anointing DAILY.

I would like to share to you how I bounced back to my morning devotion through the following tips:

5 PRACTICAL STEPS TO JUMPSTART YOUR MORNING DEVOTION

This photo was taken at the Prayer Garden at the Haggai Institute, Mid Pacific Center, Maui, Hawaii, USA. This is the garden where Christian Leaders from different nations start the day with a prayer at 6:45AM.

People are unique and I understand that we do things differently, but here are some practical tips that helped me jump start my renewed morning devotion:

  1. Find a time where every family member is still asleep. This gives you the freedom to worship and keeps you from being distracted. Just like what Jesus did when he prayed as shown in Matthew 14:23 – “And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone…”
  2. Find a designated place where you can do your study. This will make it easier for you to be on a worship/study mode. For me, I get out of the comforts of our room and use our dining table.  
  3. Make notes in your bible or have a separate notebook. What helped me go back to the lessons I learned from my readings are the scribbles in my bible. You can try that too. I also realized just while writing this that I might want to start having a notebook again where I can write my thoughts while studying to facilitate quick reference.
  4. Apply/Do what the Lord has spoken to you through your devotion. In Ezra 7:10, it says: “For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to DO IT…
  5. Discuss the insights that the Lord gave you.  You can tell about it to a friend, to a colleague, to someone you love, or you can even post it on social media.  In short, TEACH what you learned so you won’t forget. Ezra 7:10 fully states: For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and TO TEACH his statutes and rules in Israel. 

For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and TO TEACH his statutes and rules in Israel. 

There you go! I hope those tips will help you strengthen your relationship with the Lord as it did to me. 🙂 I will pray for you and I would like to request for your prayers too so that I may stay committed with the habit of having a morning devotion. 

If this article helped you, please do not hesitate to SHARE so that we can reach more people.

Blessings!

This is an image of how I make notes on my bible. It can be messy. But make it personally yours! 🙂

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