The First Five Minutes Awake
How a day gets its direction.
A short study on beginnings.
The big idea
The tone of a day is usually set before you are fully awake.
What does “The First Five Minutes Awake” walk through?
New Every Morning
Lamentations 3:23 · KJV
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
In plain English
They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.
Mercy Arrives Before You Do
Jeremiah writes this in the middle of a book of grief. The mercies are not new because things are going well. They are new because God is faithful, and they are waiting before you open your eyes.
This Day, Not Another
Psalms 118:24 · KJV
This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
In plain English
This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.
“You will not think your way into a good morning. You will choose a first thing and let it set the tone.”
Direct It Early
Psalms 5:3 · KJV
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
In plain English
In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice. In the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.
Small Hinge, Big Door
Five minutes is not much time. It is enough to decide whether the day happens to you or is received from someone.
Pray
Father, thank you that your mercy got here before I did. Meet me at the start tomorrow. Amen.
Write it down
What would change if your first five minutes belonged to God?
Set one anchor
Pick tomorrow's first act tonight, while you still have a choice.
Which passages does this journey use?
3 passages, drawn from Lamentations 3:23, Psalms 118:24, Psalms 5:3. Every verse appears here in the King James text with a plain-English line beside it, so you can read it without a commentary open. Allow about 6 minutes for the whole thing, or 7 short sittings.
- Lamentations 3:23
- Psalms 118:24
- Psalms 5:3
Read any of these in full on the complete KJV, or look the wording up independently at Blue Letter Bible.
More in Your Phone and Your Soul
All Your Phone and Your Soul →The Attention Diet
What you feed your mind becomes your life.
What Scrolling Costs You
Counting the price of an ordinary hour.
Digital Sabbath
Practising a day that does not need you.
Your Phone And Your Prayer Life
The first thing you reach for.
Curating What You Consume
You are allowed to close things.
Being Present With People
Half-attention is its own kind of absence.