A Morning Routine That Will Give You Fresh Perspective

You fumble for your phone, snooze your alarm, reposition your head on the pillow. You’ll feel behind as soon as you’re awake enough to realize how many times you’ve repeated this sequence, but for now, you’re tired. Plumb tired.

As you drum your fingers on the counter watching the Keurig spit coffee into your favorite mug, the what-ifs spin through your head. What if I’m late? What if I stopped skipping my workout, breakfast, time with God? What if I were more disciplined? What if I had a better morning routine?

Although I’m not a coffee drinker, I’ve turned my alarm on snooze countless times and asked these same questions. But the thing about a morning routine is it has to be practical or you won’t actually stick with it. It also has to impact your life in such a way that you’re not willing to miss it.

Years ago, I landed on a hybrid morning routine that pulled inspiration from two of my favorite writers, Emily P. Freeman and Ann Voskamp. It’s a flexible model that keeps the important things a priority without letting me get hung up on how long I spend or how much I read. Read my original morning routine post here, or stick with me to see where I’ve adapted it to this current season.

My Current Morning Routine

I begin with prayer. Lately, I’ve adopted the practice of praying a breath prayer before getting out of bed every morning. Then I turn on one of those songs I cannot stop listening to in my Beats and get my green energy powder (because, like I said, I don’t drink coffee).

Next, I spend some time kneeling, listening, surrendering. When I’m ready (aka can peel my face off the floor because I’d stay here as long as I’m able), I begin reading my Bible. Often, it’s a chapter or less. Sometimes it’s one verse I just can’t move away from. I think or pray through the verse that most resonates while I fill the margins of my Bible with the lyrics of the worship song that’s playing.

Third, I open my journal. Write out the verse I’ve been chewing on. Then add more lines of gratitude. My journal is a mess of verses, written prayers, sketched-out ideas, and my numbered gratitude list. Sometimes the words are smudged with tears because raw worship music and time on my face with God make me cry. (Reason #100 why I wake up before everyone else in the house.)

The next part of my morning routine is to read a few pages from one of the books I’m currently reading. If I’ve run out of time, I read later on in the day, and jump straight to the last step of my morning routine: end-capping it in prayer. Whispered prayer. Written prayer. Recited prayer. It doesn’t always look the same, but either way, it postures my heart to keep listening and my hands to stay open.

My Takeaways

I’m learning that the physical posture of surrender greatly affects my heart. That it helps me be open and honest with God. Makes thin the space between heaven and here. Ushers me to holy ground where God is near and He alone matters.

I’m learning that the first thing on my mind is sticky. It stays with me the rest of the day. A breath prayer is a simple way to focus my attention on Jesus first.

I’m learning that my word of the year has to stay present or it won’t grow me. My breath prayer reminds me of my intention and invites God to be in what ripples out from my life.

I’m learning, too, that gratitude at the beginning of the day is important. It’s gratitude in the now that teaches our hearts to praise God because we know He IS good, not because He’s answered us the way we expected or wanted.

It’s gratitude in the now that teaches our hearts to praise God because we know He IS good, not because He’s answered us the way we expected or wanted.

Fresh Perspective

Can we talk a little more about gratitude? It seems inconsequential—to write out praise and thanks at the beginning rather than the end of the day. But it’s key to gaining fresh perspective, and here’s why.

It takes a different kind of surrender to stand where the fissures run deep and declare that God is here and we trust Him. To plant our feet in life’s ampersands but our faith in the steadfast, never-changing love of God. To count the mundane as a gift while turning our faces towards heaven.

Gratitude is a before, not an after, because without thanks, we can’t see the gift in the grime and grief and groans of a world aching for its Creator.

Hebrews 12:28 comes to mind:

Since we are receiving our right to an unshakeable kingdom we should be extremely thankful and offer God the purest worship that delights his heart as we lay down our lives in absolute surrender, filled with awe. For our God is a holy, consuming fire!”
TPT

Writing in my gratitude journal at the beginning of the day is a daily reminder that God is good nevertheless.

Maybe you want to believe God is good regardless, but to be honest, it’s a struggle. Would you give a morning gratitude practice a try? Don’t just take my word for it. Every week on Begin Within: A Gratitude Series, I get to share stories of gratitude changing lives. Turning around marriages. Healing deep relational and trauma wounds. Replacing anxiety, depression, fear with joy, peace, grace. It’s a privilege to get this front row seat, but these stories are for you.

If you’re not getting the weekly gratitude story in your inbox yet, you can sign up here.

Begin Within is about more than just you practicing gratitude. It’s about gratitude softening your heart and pressing you deeper into God because what’s inside always ripples out. And I envision God filling the ripples of your life. The gratitude you cultivate impacting your family. Your neighborhood. Your church and school and workplace and community.

Let’s pray.

May we be the kind of people who “offer up to God a steady stream of praise sacrifices” (Hebrews 13:15 TPT. Who don’t wait to tell God thanks until after it’s answered, resolved, tidy but stand in the now and declare that He’s good nevertheless. May gratitude saturate and soften our hearts. And may the good things God grows inside us ripple far and wide.

Just a friend over here in your corner,

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