30/20/10
A Simple Tactic for Morning Communion with God
To begin your day with the Lord is to set yourself up well for living with Him the rest of the day. There is ancient wisdom in rising early to be with the Lord. Psalm 119:147–148 says, “I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words. My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise.”
There is an overabundance of ideas and tactics for morning routines with God, so I come to you not with the perfect answer but with yet another tactic that has worked well for me.
Simply put, spend the first hour of your day reading His Word for 30 minutes, memorizing His Word for 20 minutes, and journaling your thoughts and prayers for 10 minutes.*
Below are some quick ideas on how to do all three.
30 Minutes (Bible Reading)
- Read the Bible in one year (https://www.ligonier.org/posts/bible-reading-plans)
- Study the Bible with the BibleProject and their new app (https://bibleproject.com/app/)
20 Minutes (Bible Memorization)
- Memorize an entire book of the Bible (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/11-steps-to-memorizing-an-entire-book-of-the-bible/)
- Memorize by topic (https://www.navigators.org/resource/how-to-memorize-scripture/)
10 Minutes (Journaling & Prayer)
- Journal your thoughts. What did you learn in your Bible reading? What did you learn in your memorization of Scripture? How can you apply what you’ve learned to your life for today?
- Journal your prayers using the “ACTS” method (https://teachthemdiligently.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/ACTS-PRAYER-GUIDE-1.pdf)
Martin Luther once said, “I have so many things to do today. I dare not ignore my time with God.” Let’s follow in the footsteps of the spiritual giants that have come before us and not neglect to spend time in deep communion with God.
*You can modify this tactic down, so if you are new to spending time with the Lord, my recommendation would be to start with 10 minutes, 5 minutes, and 1 minute (reading, memorization, prayer, respectively).