Tips/Help For Getting Out of Bed (looking for)

The irony of this post would be that 8 months ago I was about to post a topic here sharing my tips for getting out of bed early that were really working for me. While they worked for quite a long while, now not so much.

I really want to get up early for prayer and reading the Word. Earlier this year I was able to arise at 4-4:30 almost every day. Before that I've always had a disciplined sleep schedule (usually 5-5:30. The reason I started to get up earlier was so that I could make breakfast for my wife).

Anyway, around march of this year I started slipping and being really inconsistent in my rising up. One morning it'd be 4:30, the next 6:30. Lately, at least this last week which exemplifies the average week for me, I can't even manage to get out of bed before 6:00, and I work at 7:00. I haven't even been eating breakfast lately because I can't get out of bed on time to make it.

I listen to messages from Leonard Ravenhill and Paul Washer about hitting your knees at 5 in the morning and my heart burns to live like that, to spend a good hour with my Father in heaven before setting my hand to the day's work. Or, to paraphrase the exhortation of M'Cheyne, "to seek the face of God before I see any other human face".

My old set up was this: I had two alarm clocks set up on a book shelf about 6 feet away from my bed. I would usually set one for 4, the other for 4:30. The one set for 4:30 had my Bible resting on top of it. This allowed for a half hour 'snooze' if I wanted, or I could grab my Bible and go read/pray. This worked very well for a couple of months without fail, and it might work for any others reading this who struggle in this area (though make sure your Bible isn't pressing on the snooze already, else the alarm won't even go off).

After a while, my flesh found a loophole in the system. Turns out the big downfall for this system is that putting your bible on top of your alarm clock turns it into a giant snooze button, and soon instead of grabbing my bible and praying I was hitting it and returning to bed, sometimes repeating that process every 9 minutes for two hours!

I've tryed all sorts of methods to help me get up, the latest being a sleep-cycle alarm clock (one that wakes you up in your lightest sleep cycle so you don't wake up dead tired), and it may still have some value if I tweak the system a bit, but currently it's fruitless.

I'm looking for any advice/tips/prayers that any of you might have who have victory in this area. I want this discipline back, both for the spiritual sake of my wife and coming child, and because I know that indiscipline in one area of can and will lead to indiscipline in another. It does work the other way though, hallelujah.

If you've read this far, I thank you and look forward to what the saints here have to say, and hope that there are others who'll be edified.

Hi DJSavage...

I know that this is not a specifically "spiritual" answer, but have you considered your methods of going to bed each evening?

During college, I found that I had some difficulty waking up for some early morning Inorganic Chemistry classes. I have always liked to rise early in the morning to pray. In fact, I like the last thing that I do each night and the first thing that I do each morning to be spending time in prayer with the Lord. However, I was having some difficulty doing this and feeling "energized" in the morning.

So, I made a couple of lifestyle changes.

I stopped drinking soda pop or fruit drinks after the early afternoon. In fact, some sodas are filled with both sugar AND caffeine...and that can lead to restless nights of sleep. In addition, fruit juice often has more sugar than soda. Eating earlier (before 6 PM) helps in that you digest your food earlier, which leads to a more pleasant night of rest (and weight loss).

And, of course, it helps to go to bed earlier. Most people need about eight hours of good sleep (give or take an hour). If you want to wake up alert and energized at 4:30 AM, then you will want to asleep by 8:30 PM.

Most of all, it helps to bring this before the Lord in prayer. It is definitely a sacrifice to our flesh to take it upon ourselves to deny a few extra hours of sleep in order to seek the Lord "early in the morning." The Lord surely appreciates that sacrifice. Of course, in Biblical times, "morning" wasn't until after the sun started to come up. :-)

Your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, so I would recommend taking care of that Temple. Lack of proper rest can lead to lethargy, lack of mental clarity and a tired disposition.

You will be in my prayers this week.

Dear DJS,

The reason, I believe, that many men of God got up early and spent time with the Lord in prayer and Bible reading is because of the BURDEN they carried in their heart. God gave them a vision and shared His burden and as they faithfully carried that burden in their heart, they got up early in the morning. But when the burden is lost, one loses interest in prayer and physical tiredness overcomes the body, leading to more time on the bed. I have experienced this often and one prayer I pray often is,"Lord help me not to lose the burden." I have realized that without a burden you cannot get up early in the morning to pray and read the Word. Without a burden, prayer will be only a ritual to ease our conscience.

Thank you all for taking the time to give your advice and input, and especially your prayers.

I think everyone touched on some truth, and what I can hear right away is "Don't worry, and just do it!" which really witnesses with me. I guess it's highly possible to be so concerned with rising early that the concern makes it harder TO rise early.

I'm sure there is some physicalities to the problem as well. I'm 25 now, and a shift may be coming in my metabolism. I just don't want to succumb to that as an excuse to be lazy. I will keep an eye on my diet though. It's never been a problem in the past, but with bodily changes happening that may now be an issue.

In the end, maybe the Lord is just humbling me, that I'll trust more in His grace and love and not in my ability. Indeed, I have been able to edify some young men in my church reminding them "You're not saved because you get up early to pray and read the Word. You're saved because of God's grace, because of who He is, not what you do."

Last night was a bit of a write off. My wife awoke at 2:30 to use the washroom (that happens when you're pregnant) and then couldn't get back to sleep, which kept me in a semi-conscious state until the alarm went off at 5, at which time I drove her to work (starbucks). Got a good half hour of psalm reading in this morning.

And on that note, I've heard that some husbands, when their wives are pregant, gain sympathy weight. That hasn't happened to me, so maybe I've just instead had sympathy fatigue. :)

Again, thank you all for your help. We'll see how tonight/tomorrow morning works out.

"Of course, in Biblical times, "morning" wasn't until after the sun started to come up. :-) "

Haha. This is an interesting point...:)

Another thing DJSavage...About Ravenhill, it is said that his wife said, that Leonard Ravenhill did most of his praying at night. That people would come over and wonder why Leonard was "sleeping in." "But it was because he was up into the late late hours of the night praying." is what she said.

So morning to some is not really morning to another perhaps? :p

Jesus went off to pray at any time it seems. Whenever the Spirit led...Is it in the New Testament any where that the disciples or Jesus had specific times during the day to pray?

Often I think that we who are Believers in Yeshua expect to emulate those who lived a very holy life rather than find out what YHVH wants us to do.

The difficulty in assuming a holy life by will power is that it is not in us to learn discipline easily other than in childhood, when patterns are easy to set into the mind.

We live in a very different time than many of the preachers and evangelists we admire, and discipline is not always set into us when we were young. Restructuring neural patterns by force of will really does not work readily after your life pattern is fixed.

YHVH is to do the works He wants in us, and change those things that He wants changed. We are to lean on Him, trusting fully that He will make us into what He wants, and have us do what He would have us do.

However, we Believers who want to be better at what we do can very easily lean on Yeshua to do in us all that we should do...I know that the only changes I see in my life that are for the good, and that remain in my life are done by Him. I ask Him to make a change, and pray for the change to stick, for Him to enable me.

"Just do it" works for those that are disciplined already, are highly focused on the new activity, and have plenty of energy and passion for the change. And yes, any large life change, like having a baby, and dealing with the emotional changes your wife is going through, as well as your own reactions to the coming child in your life can actually stress you enough to need more sleep, not just the bare minimum. Take that into consideration as well, that you are not attempting to do more than there is time in the day for.

Talk to God about the change you desire, asking for enablement and strength to accomplish the change, and for the wisdom to know that He also wants the changes you desire. Ask for the Ruach haKodesh to work in your life as YHVH wants it...not merely because you think it would be a great thing to do.

If God wants you to change, ask Him to change you, and you will change, and it will be easier than willing your way to it alone. Everything is easier with Yeshua.

Q