Do I Actually Need To Change My Worship Time?

“Worship the Lord in the splendor of His Holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth.”-Psalm 96:9*

The month of August I want to focus on worship and what it means to me.  Worship is defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary as “to honor or reverence as a divine being or supernatural power.”*   I like to say I set aside dedicated time every day to do this, but I would not be totally honest.  There are a lot of distractions in my life which jeopardize my worship time with God.   The easy part is identifying what I am choosing to do instead of having certain focus time with Him.  The hard part is making it happen.

I have to choose to make the change.

Making time for God should be natural and from what I hear from others, first thing in the morning.  It seems reasonable to me to wake up, grab a cup of coffee, and open up my bible.  Problem is, it rarely happens in the morning and here’s why.

I am a grump and a mess when I wake up.  It doesn’t matter what time I set the alarm and rise early or sleep in.  I don’t even like myself when I first wake up, why would God?  It takes a miracle for me to motivate, clean up, dress, and get out the door to make my contribution to the world.  My usual time is to find a few minutes around lunch to read the bible, but I generally feel like I a failure since half my day is gone.

What’s a girl to do?

I ask God for forgiveness and extend myself a little grace.

I spend daily time with God, but it is more fluid than structured.  I pray daily, and multiple times throughout the day so I am confident in talking to Him.  I also sing along to the Christian radio station daily and know this type of music is uplifting and a form of worship.  I belong to a church and am involved in activities which allow me to be the hands and feet of Jesus.    So, why can’t I be like all the others who start their day off in God’s word?

Well, perhaps I need to understand I am unique and because I am such a slug in the morning, I would not absorb the knowledge which He intends for me.  Perhaps I need to stop comparing my study ways with others and focus on reading the bible.  And inevitably I need to accept this works for me and God is okay with the choice.

The reason I share this is not when and how I worship, but why.  I find peace and comfort in all the ways I worship and my why is Him.  My life is so full of blessings and gifts and it is because I have a personal relationship with God.  He is there through the good, the bad, and the ugly me in the morning.  I honor Him no matter what time of the day I choose to spend praying, singing, or reading.  My worship is carving out my time to be with Him.

My hope is God understands me and is willing to meet with me no matter what time I open up His word.  And perhaps He is a little thankful I am not pursuing the early morning meetings with Him.

* The Holy Bible, New International Version Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

**https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/worship