How to Create a Productive Christian Morning Routine

Does the following describe you?

• You struggle to consistently read the Bible and pray
• You want to walk closer with God,
• You want to feel a little more peace in the midst of life's chaos,
• You feel like you're always rushing to get out the door each morning
• You want to feel on top of your responsibilities.

You're not alone.

I've been writing about Christianity and productivity for five years now, and I've found that most believers struggle with these very things. We want to do the right things, but life in the modern world is busy and distracted. Sometimes it's hard to just slow down and catch our breath.

But thankfully, there is a fairly simple solution to this common problem: A daily morning routine.

Morning routines are like a super power. The few who take advantage of them will rise in their professional, personal, and spiritual lives.

So why do you need a morning routine?

Because Your Focused Time Is a Limited Resource

We all have 24 hours in a day, but most of that time is pre-spent for us. 8 go to sleeping, 8 (and often more) go to work, and what’s leftover is spent on family and the million other responsibilities we have. And the leftovers are often anything but focussed.

For most of us from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to sleep we are blindly pawing through a sea of distractions. Many people describe the feeling of modern working life as akin to drowning. But what if you had a couple hours every single morning in which you could breathe freely, focus deeply, and act consciously. What if you had a little time each morning that was truly yours. What would you do with it?

“The Deep Work Hypothesis: The ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy. As a consequence, the few who cultivate this skill, and then make it the core of their working life, will thrive.” ― Cal Newport, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

By rising early, and having a plan for what you’ll accomplish, you beat distraction by getting to work while it’s still sleeping. You therefore have more control over this time, and there is a specialness to these “first fruits” of the day. Whether or not we spend time exercising, working on a side hustle, writing, or filling the time with prayer and Bible study, what you do in the morning sets the tone for the rest of the day.

Because You Need Quiet Time with God

Growing up, my Mother always called the time she spent reading the Bible and in prayer her “quiet time.” In a world like ours, the prospect of quiet time sounds more and more appealing. When fellowship with the King of Kings becomes just one more task on the to-do list, we do violence to the sanctity of that time. We can spend time in prayer and Bible study any part of the day, of course, but rising early gives us the best chance at a quiet, undistracted time of fellowship. And it’s also the example we see in the Scriptures.

During His earthly ministry Jesus rose to pray to the Father.

“In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.” Mark 1:35

We see the example in the Psalms as well. “I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Your words.” Psalm 119:147. Or Psalm 5:3, “In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.”

Because Mornings Allow You to Focus on Your Goals

I believe in the power of morning routines because I’ve lived with them for the past ten years. I built Redeeming Productivity mostly from 4:30am to 7am Monday–Friday. I’m not saying this to boast, but I want to give you an example of the kinds of things I am able to do most mornings because I rise early and have a plan:

• Write, record, and edit a weekly podcast
• Write blog posts
• Daily devotions and prayer
• Manage a YouTube channel
• Journal
• Exercise for 30 minutes
• Plan out my work for the day

I’m able to do all of that in the mornings, because I rise early and I have a plan. Morning routines are like a super power. The few who take advantage of them will rise in their professional, personal, and spiritual lives. Because focus is a precious commodity, and mornings are one of the few occasions in our day where most of us actually have control over how we spend our time.

If you're ready to get started with a Christian morning routine of your own, let me send you a copy of my free morning routine planner. It has all the tools you need to map out a Christ-honoring morning routine.