Jesus Christ wielded tremendous power while on earth. Part of His secret was an early morning daily communion with the Father. To have a strong personal devotional life and wield influence like Jesus, your daily devotion should take place very early in the morning. But not only that, it should be private.

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for Him, and when they found Him, they exclaimed: ‘Everyone is looking for you!’ Jesus replied, ‘Let us go somewhere else to the nearby villages so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.’”
~ Mark 1: 35 – 38

In addition to leaving very early in the morning for His daily devotion, Jesus also chose a solitary place. So His communion with the Father was early and private. It is important that these two things characterize your daily devotion.

You shouldn’t get up by 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. to have morning devotion. My biological father taught me this, during my childhood days. Most times then, we would wake up as late as seven-o’clock in the morning. But he will still insist that we must pray as a family in the morning. Our lateness didn’t deter him, but we would be well rebuked for waking up late.  He would tell us that having family devotions that late in the morning was merely a show to impress the neighbors. He called it hypocrisy. As far he was concerned, we were merely trying to tell the neighborhood that we pray. Of course, we understood the point that he was trying to make.

Our family morning devotion was instituted by my mother, while my father was away at the university. She continued to run it, while my father, as the priest, presided over it. They made sure it started by five-o’clock in the morning. They always woke us up by five-o’clock in the morning so we could pray as a family. However, they usually woke up an hour earlier, by four-o’clock in the morning, to have their personal early morning devotion. And by five-o’clock, the rest of us would be woken up to join them.

We had such a strong family altar. The same can be your story today by the help of the Holy Spirit, in Jesus’ name.

Amen.

Memory Verse:
Mark 1:35-38
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for Him, and when they found Him, they exclaimed: ‘Everyone is looking for you!’ Jesus replied, ‘Let us go somewhere else to the nearby villages so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.’”

Prayer:
Father, please energize me by your Holy Spirit to make my daily devotion early and private. Also help me to establish a very strong family altar, in Jesus’ name.
Amen.