“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.  - Mark 1:35 (NIV) 

“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.” –  Psalm 63:1 (KJV)

“My soul yearns for you in the night;  in the morning my spirit longs for you.” – Isaiah 26:9 (KJV) 

Many years ago, the Lord revealed in our midst that the secret of our success- of our growth and our ability to achieve everything the Lord wants for us- was to pray early in the morning, while it is still dark outside. 

These snapshots depict one of our churches (in a town called Timoteo, in Minas Gerais, Brazil) in different phases of an early morning prayer service.  Notice how full the church is at such an early hour (6 am) – this is a blessing in itself! 

Usually a brother leading the meeting (a worker, deacon, or pastor) opens the meeting asking everyone to kneel in the Lord’s presence as we seek to renew the blessing of Jesus’ redemptive blood in our lives.  (We apologize that the photos have a problem with the color – the church was not brightly lit at 6 am when they were taken).

Then everyone is seated, sometimes singing a brief, prayerful song.  Then members take turns standing and praying about specific items mentioned by the meeting’s leader, as in this photo.  Notice that children also participate in these meetings when possible.

These prayer meetings typically last 20-30 minutes.  Some brethren go straight to work or school from the church, while others return to their homes.  To close the meeting, the brother leading it often asks people to stand together for a closing prayer, and sometimes reads a Psalm or other encouraging verse from the Bible before dismissing those assembled.

Of course, we should pray all throughout the day.  Sometimes the Lord will calls us to have a prayer vigil where we stay at the church interceding until it is late at night, even midnight.

 Even so, there is a special blessing when we pray in the early morning, before the sun rises.  The Word of God records specifically that Jesus prayed at this time.  In Psalms and Isaiah it speaks of seeking the Lord in these times.  Many stories in the Bible describe the Lord’s servants having special experiences in the early morning- Moses, Joshua, Jacob, etc.  Sometimes the Lord actually reveals that it is important for the whole church to meet in the early morning to intercede for a particular need.

We have found, as a Body, that brethren have really wonderful and profound experiences when they pray at this time.  The brethren seem to have more gifts (revelations and visions).  The spiritual gifts are more detailed and clear.  There is often a stronger feeling of the Lord’s presence and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 

We also know that throughout church history, many of the men used the most by God prayed early in the morning.  Charles Finney, perhaps the greatest American revivalist (d. 1876), would regularly rise at 4:00 a.m. and pray for two to four hours before he began his day.  Many others in church history shared his experience- the Lord called them to get up at this time to pray.  And the power of the Holy Spirit was released to accomplish amazing things.

We live in a continuation of this project that God has been doing for many years.  It is now our turn to seek the Lord and be used by him to reach this generation. 

It is a sacrifice for us physically to get up early.  Everyone wants to stay in bed and sleep more, especially at this time of day.  It is easier to stay up late than to get up early.  This kind of physical sacrifice is similar to fasting, in which we deny our desire to eat and drink.  This sacrifice requires extra determination on our part and demonstrates to God how serious we are about interceding for a particular need. 

There are fewer distractions early in the morning.  This enables us to have a more focused prayer time that is richer and more fruitful.  Even though we are tired and sleepy, these things are not as disruptive to our prayers as the phone calls and traffic we hear later, not to mention the frequent sounds of people arguing, shouting, playing loud worldly music, etc. Also, most businesses are closed and most of society is still asleep, so we cannot feel distracted by our impatience to go do certain errands, talk to other people, or complete certain projects. 

It is good for our hearts and minds to put God as the first thing of the day.  As we attend to the Lord first, by seeking him before we go to work or do other things, we honor him.  We will be more likely to give the Lord the top priority in our decisions when we have put him as our first thing we do each day.