Developing a Christian morning routine is important for your spiritual growth. It also affects your attitude throughout the day.
I am one of those people who need a morning routine. If I don’t have one I get sucked into one of these two vortexes.
- The vortex of busy: You know that vortex of “Oh my goodness, I have so much to do…go..go…go. GET IT ALL DONE! Must run all the errands, meet all the people, do all the stuff. Wow, how is it 9 pm already?”
- The vortex of aimlessness: You know that vortex of “Oh today is going to be productive… I’m going to do lots of things. I should really check my email and Facebook. Wait I just got 5 text messages from people who I need to respond too? OK! Huh, when was the last time I vacuumed. Better do it now. Hmm getting hungry probably should make food for the family. Don’t know what to make. I’ll look online. 500 recipes later. TA-DA Tacos! Gosh, it’s already 9 pm?”
I hate these vortexes.
And if I am not careful they don’t just take over my day, they start to take over my life. I become too busy for the essentials or too unfocused to accomplish what I really desire.
The biggest flaws of those two are the lack of God time that happens.
That’s why I need my morning routine, but I prefer to call them my morning anchors. These are the things in my life that anchor me for the day. They help me avoid those vortexes and have a fruitful day.
The reason these are different than just routine tasks is what they do for you on a spiritual and physical level.
In real life, an anchor is used for when a ship needs to be centered in one location and not moved by the wind or the current.
In this day and age, it’s pretty windy and the current of our physical AND digital life (think phone, the internet, social media etc..) can really take us away from our center, which needs to be Jesus.
That’s why I think it’s important we develop some anchors and not just tasks. They need to be things we do that touch the core of who we are.
With that said, I want to share some of my morning anchors with you. These are things I do every morning. And if I skip it or something happens I can really see how it affects me throughout the day.
I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. Proverbs 8:17
Here are my 7 tasks that I try to do on a daily basis. I hope they inspire you in your journey in creating your own morning routine.
- Have Alone Time With Him – You can set this up to be 5min or 60min. It doesn’t matter just commune and seek Him. Worship and pray…ask for His presence to come and for Him to guide your day. If you need to get up a little earlier for this then do it. Trust me it will change things so much.
- Read Your Bible – I know some people like reading devotionals or other books. But I think it’s good to just read the Word without any commentary or someone’s thoughts attached to it. If we always rely on outside sources you will never fully understand what the Bible is saying. You will only capture bits and pieces. There are lots of wonderful and life-changing stories. You will miss them if you only use a devotional or book. I usually read about 2-3 chapters in my Bible and then read from a Christian non-fiction book.
- Write Down Any Dreams I had – If I happen to have a dream that night that I feel God is speaking to me through. I will then spend some time writing it out. I will also pray for God to give me insight into it.
- Write Down A To-Do List for the Day – I usually do this after my alone time with God and Bible. This is seriously important when it comes to avoiding stress and lack of focus. When you write a list out of things that need to be done you no longer have to carry that list in your head. You can just reference your list for the day. *Some people prefer to make a to-do list the night before. Try out both ways and see what works best for you.
- Eat A Healthy Breakfast or Fast – Food plays a big role on how you feel, your energy level and even mental clarity. It’s important to let your first meal be healthy. Starting with a good source of protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs or low carb. You can also do intermittent fasting.
- Think About What I Am Thankful For – Starting out your day with a thankful heart is so important. It gets our mind off of what I lack and onto everything God has provided for. Scripture makes it clear that thanksgiving ushers us into the presence of God. You can learn more about thankfulness here: HOW TO CULTIVATE A HEART OF THANKFULNESS Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. Psalms 100:4
- Eat a Frog – You are probably thinking I am crazy, but don’t click that X! I am talking about a concept by Brian Tracy’s book, Eat that Frog. The basic idea behind what Tracy teaches is that before 11 am do the one thing you don’t want to do (your frog) and just do it (eat it). If you accomplish your least favorite thing on your to-do list first it will set your day. This helps to defeat procrastination.
This is great if you have a certain goal you want to accomplish or perhaps the Lord has put something on your heart.
An example is that you want to write a book, but never seem to be able to work on it. Something always comes up! Well, eat that frog! Make a goal for that morning to write 1000 words or whatever steps you feel like you need to take to achieve your goal.
Create Your Own Morning Routine
Those are 6 of my anchors and my Christian morning routine. I don’t go crazy and have this huge list of tasks to-dos in the morning. Even with my type A personality that drives me crazy.
It’s import to keep it simple and rightly focus on the things that matter. Especially when it comes to spending time with the Lord.
I will say that I wake up around 6 or 6:30 am to have my alone time with God. If I don’t do that when everyone wakes up and I just have a hard time setting time away to focus. That’s me!
The one thing I will say is that you are not me and I am not you. Tweak your mornings to what you need to anchor yourself. If you need to exercise in the morning consider going on a prayer walk or jog.
Hate reading? Get an audio version of the Bible. There are lots of ways you can create anchors in your life.
Love to journal? Then add this into your routine.
Play around with your routine and you can even change it up every day. Just make sure to have your core anchors of spending time with God in place.
The key is consistency. If you do good for 3 days and all of a sudden fall off the bandwagon. No biggie…get right back on track. The more you do it the more it will become a habit and lifestyle.
I hope my morning Christian routine was helpful in your pursuit of God. I would love to hear the way you anchor yourself in the mornings. Drop me a comment below and let me know.
And don’t forget to check out these other Christian posts to help you grow in your faith and study of God’s word!
Author: Melissa Tumino
Melissa Tumino is a passionate minister, speaker and an ongoing learner of the Bible. She has been involved in church and vocational ministry for over 18 years. And is the founder of Think About Such Things. She has the heart to equip the saints by helping them get into the Word of God and fall more in love with Jesus. She also enjoys family, cooking, and reading. Connect with Melissa via her website at https://thinkaboutsuchthings.com/about-me/. She has spoken in churches in California, Oregon, Texas, and Mexico and has been featured in Guidepost Magazine and All Recipes Magazine.
