Do I Have to Get Up Early to Pray? Part 1

Scripture — Mark 1:35 (NRSV)

In the morning, while it was still very dark, [Jesus] got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.

Devotion

Years ago, when I was the director of a church college ministry, two of my leaders were an older married couple, Jack and Anna. They were deeply devoted to the ministry, not only in their serving, but also in their praying. Jack and Anna would get up every morning at 5:00 a.m. to spend an hour in prayer together. I found that quite impressive. (Occasionally, I found it bothersome, because Anna might call me with some item of church business after she finished praying. For her, 6:00 a.m. was the start of the day. For me, it was closer to the middle of the night.)

Growing up as a Christian, I often heard mature believers describe their personal prayer lives. Almost without exception, they got up early in the morning to pray. Some, like Jack and Anna, prayed for more than an hour before the sun came up. I admired these Christians and hoped to be like them.

Unfortunately, I was not a “morning person” like my father. I was a “night person” like my mother. Therefore my best efforts at early morning prayer, usually following a week at summer camp, lasted for a few days at most. Inevitably, I’d end up sleeping through my appointed prayer time and feeling ashamed about my lack of discipline and zeal for Jesus.

Now and then, my sense of spiritual failure was exacerbated by Christian leaders who taught that early morning prayer is necessary for Christians who really want to follow Jesus. After all, Jesus himself got up “while it was still dark” and “went out to a deserted place, where he prayed” (1:35). Doesn’t that clinch the case for the necessity of early morning prayer?

Well, not necessarily. Those who required early morning prayer in imitation of Jesus rarely “went out to a deserted place” when they prayed, which would seem to be as essential as the time of day if the example of Jesus is to become the absolute rule for all Christians. Nowhere did Jesus tell his followers that they always have to pray before the sun comes up. In fact, he seems to have let them sleep when he went out on his own. Moreover, we have evidence from the gospels that Jesus prayed in the afternoon/evening (Matt 14:22-23) as well as all night (Luke 6:12). At one point he told a parable to his disciples “to show them that they should always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1). It’s likely that Jesus engaged in the Jewish practice of praying three times each day (at least): morning, afternoon, and evening.

So, as followers of Jesus, we should not be caught in the legalism of early morning prayer. Daily prayer can happen at different times, depending on how we’re wired and the patterns of our lives. Surely, beginning our day with prayer is an excellent discipline. But some of us are best suited to opening a conversation with the Lord in the morning and devoting more time to that conversation later in the day. I know some deeply devoted Christians who enjoy their most intimate time with the Lord at night before bed. Years ago I read a book by a wise Christian who would wake up at 3:00 a.m. every morning to pray for an hour before going back to sleep! Personally, I am now able to pray most mornings, even before the sun comes up. But I think this is mostly a matter of my getting older, not my amazing spiritual discipline.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Jesus’ “All-Nighter”.