How to Spend Time with Jesus in the Morning

In a previous post, we discussed the importance of spending time with Jesus every morning and how to build up this critical habit. 

But how do we actually spend time with Jesus?

The goal of our morning time with Jesus

We shouldn’t view spending time with the Lord Jesus each morning as a dry, religious duty that must be fulfilled. If we treat it like a task on our to-do list, then it won’t be very enjoyable. 

Actually, every morning is a precious opportunity to spend uninterrupted time alone with  our dear Savior whom we love and who loves us. Although He lives in us and is always with us, we need to spend dedicated time with Him in order to deepen our personal relationship with Him. 

The Lord Jesus doesn’t just want us to believe in Him; He wants us to love Him. After all, He demonstrated His love by dying on the cross for us. Now He wants to have an intimate, loving relationship with us. First Timothy 1:14 says:

“And the grace of our Lord superabounded with faith and love in Christ Jesus.”

In the New Testament Recovery Version, note 2 on faith and love explains:

“Through faith we receive the Lord (John 1:12), and through love we enjoy the Lord whom we have received (John 14:21, 23; 21:15-17).”

So being with the Lord Jesus in the morning is to be with the One we love; it’s a time to enjoy Him. We can greet Him each morning by telling Him, “Lord Jesus, I love You.” When we do this, we sense a sweetness within. And the more we tell the Lord we love Him, the more our love for Him grows, and the more we enjoy Him. 

Just as spending time with someone we love doesn’t always follow a certain formula, being with Jesus is the same. The goal is simply to have a living touch with Him in our spirit. 

So what does spending time with Jesus in the morning look like? What do we do during this time? Let’s look at a few ways we can have this kind of living touch with Him. 

We can call on the Lord’s name

Although we may not know how or what to pray, we can always call on the name of the Lord: “Oh, Lord Jesus!” This simple practice helps us open our heart to Him and exercise our spirit to contact Him. 

Romans 10:12 says:

“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all who call upon Him.”

Instead of being preoccupied with other things, we can simply call on Jesus. When we call out to Him, we get His very Person. This is how we experience everything He is to us and all He’s accomplished for us. He’s so rich to us when we call! 

We can confess our sins

Often, as we begin to open to the Lord by calling on His name, He speaks to us through our conscience concerning a sin we’ve committed. In order to maintain our fellowship with the Lord, it’s very important to have a purified conscience. We need to confess our sins to the Lord Jesus as He makes us aware of them.

We’ve all experienced the awkwardness of being with someone after we’ve offended them. Although we still care for one another, a barrier separates us, making it hard for us to have a pleasant time or even speak to each other.

Our relationship with the Lord Jesus is even more sensitive. He lives in us and knows all things. Although He wants to fellowship with us, He can’t tolerate sin. So when we sin or disobey Him, a barrier immediately forms that separates us from Him.

First John 1:9 says:

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

When we confess our sins to Jesus, we’re forgiven and washed. According to Isaiah 43:25, He even forgets our sins once we’ve confessed them! All barriers are removed, and we sense peace between us and the Lord. We can once again fellowship freely with the Lord with a light and open heart.

We can read and pray with the Word of God

Our time with the Lord in the morning should include reading the Bible. The goal in these times is not to study the Word, but to be fed. The best way to be fed with God’s Word is to pray with the words that we read. 

Ephesians 6:17-18 says:

“And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit.”

Sometimes as we read the Bible in a prayerful way, we’re struck by a particular verse or phrase. We can stop to linger over that portion and pray it to the Lord. When we approach the Word in this way, we may not even finish the rest of the chapter or verse we’re reading—the goal is to come to His presence and be fed.

For example, let’s say you come to John 4 in your Bible reading. Verse 10 stands out to you, which says: “Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

You can pray: “Lord Jesus, give me a drink. I come to You right now. Thank You, Lord, You are the living water that satisfies me.”

Whatever else we may do during our time in the morning with Jesus, we should always include time in the Word. We can speak to Jesus with the words of the Bible, and He can speak to us through His Word. As we pray with the Word of God, it nourishes, refreshes, enlightens, and strengthens us.

We can thank the Lord

We aren’t always in the best mood first thing in the morning. But when we spend some time to thank the Lord, our hearts are uplifted. And the more we thank Him, the more we realize just how much we have to be thankful for.

Ephesians 5:20 says:

“Giving thanks at all times for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father.”

Our time in the morning can be one of those “all times” when we give thanks to our God and Father. We can begin with a simple, “Thank You for a new day,” or “Thank You for loving me.”

We can also thank the Lord for the many specific ways He’s cared for us. We can thank Him for being our Savior, our Shepherd, and our life. 

The Bible reveals so much concerning the person of Christ and what He’s done for us that we can never run out of things to give thanks for.

We can sing to Jesus

Ephesians 5:19 says:

“Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord.”

Sometimes a hymn expresses our thoughts and feelings better than our own words can. Singing a hymn can open us deeply to the Lord Jesus. Our morning times are a great time to sing to the Lord.

Hymnal.net is an excellent resource for finding hymns, including the accompanying music.

Spending time with a wonderful Person

The Lord Jesus is a wonderful Person who wants to have an intimate, loving relationship with us. So rather than starting our day by bringing Him all the things we’re preoccupied with, we should first come to Him to enjoy His presence. Once we’ve contacted the Lord in our spirit and enjoyed Him in His Word, He will lead us to pray for specific matters according to His will.

In this post, we mentioned five things we can do during our time with the Lord. However, we shouldn’t take them as a method we need to adhere to, or specific steps we need to follow. Some days we may begin by thanking the Lord Jesus. He may then shine on us concerning a specific sin or offense, and we can confess that to Him. Other times, as we read and pray with His Word, we may be reminded of a hymn, and we sing to Him. There’s no set formula; the goal is to have a living touch with the Lord each morning.

If we open our heart and exercise our spirit to contact our wonderful Lord, we’ll usually have an inward sense about how to spend our time together. This keeps our time with Him from becoming methodical, routine, or stale. Instead, we’ll enjoy our Lord Jesus freshly morning by morning. And the more we practice, the more the Lord will show us how to contact Him in a living and personal way.

If you live in the US, you can order a free New Testament Recovery Version here to use in your time with the Lord.