Hey, everyone. Welcome to today's podcast. It's great to connect with you. Today, I'm going to talk about today's the title of the podcast today is how to start your day.
Okay. If you're anything like me, okay, I am not a morning person. And if you're like me, you probably don't just set up one alarm. You probably have three or four alarms that go off every few minutes to help you wake up.
The first alarm, for those of you who are normal, is saying this is one, it would be good to get up. This is one, this alarm here will give you plenty of time to get ready and do what you need to do. Our second alarm is a mental reminder that says if you get up now, you might have to hurry a little bit, but you still have enough time to get ready. And every alarm after that is just to remind you that you're out of time.
And if you don't get up right now, you're going to be late. If you're a three or four alarm kind of person, then you're probably rushing every morning and your routine makes life just a little bit more hectic and frantic than it should be. You know what I used to do? I used to wake up, lie in bed.
First thing I would do is grab my phone and just scroll through everything, see what's going on, read a couple news articles, see what's interesting, scroll through social media. Then I would get up and check that my kids were up and ready for school. Then I'd walk into the kitchen and ask Alexa for a daily news briefing. I would make some breakfast and then I would read the Bible while I eat breakfast.
And later on, after breakfast, I'd read some books and then finally make some time for prayer. It's not a bad or terrible way to start today, but I found a much better way. I changed the things that I do in the morning and it changed my perspective every single day. It changed the way I confronted life and obstacles every single day.
And if you change your morning routine, believe it or not, you change your life. I realized that if the first thing I do is look at my phone in the morning and see all of the social media post, all the people on vacation doing the things that I can't do and going places that I've never been. And depending on what I see or read, it could set my mood for the day. If one of the first things I do in the morning is listen to the news and we should absolutely pay attention to what's happening in our world.
But if the first thing that we do is go to the news, listen, the news is seldom exciting or even hopeful. And you know what it does? It just adds a little bit of anxiety to our already hectic day. But listen, if we change up our mornings and instead of the first thing that we do is reaching for our phones to scroll through social media and the news, if the Bible was the first thing we read and we allow it into our hearts and to our minds, then you know what, our perspective for the day changes and we start the day by seeing that everything is under control of our all good, powerful and loving Heavenly Father.
Let me suggest to you that you change your morning routine and you know what's worked for me and what can work for you, memorize a scripture. And then when you wake up and you stretch, recite it as the first thing you do in the morning. For example, when you wake up, you could recite Psalm chapter 16 verse 8. And this is what it says, you can wake up in the morning and say, I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. You can make it into a quick prayer, asking God to help you keep your eyes fixed on him throughout the entire day. Or you can use Psalm chapter 27 verse 1 that says, The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Whatever it is that you decide to memorize when you wake up in the morning to recite, make sure it's a portion of scripture that's going to provide you with hope for the day. After you wake up, after you stretch, and after you recite your daily psalm of hope, you know what, take 10 to 15 minutes to read your Bible and to pray. And I know right now you're saying, I don't have 10 to 15 extra minutes in the morning.
You know what, you would if you stopped scrolling through the news and your social media feed and your emails and text messages first thing in the morning. What does the Bible say about beginning your morning with prayer and spending some time with God? Let's read a few of these scriptures. And Psalm chapter 1, 43 verse eight, it says, Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go for to you and trust my life. Lamentations chapter 3 verse 22 and 23 say, The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning.
Great is your faithfulness. Psalm chapter 30, verse five says, Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning. Psalm 99, 92, two says, It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening. And finally, we jump to the New Testament in Mark chapter one verse 35, gives of an else, an example of Jesus.
It says 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. If you change your morning routine, you can end up changing your life. See you next time. Apply the word and make today.