4 Reasons Married Women Should Start the Day with God

Last Updated on November 27, 2024 by Andrea

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We’re all so very busy. I know you can relate. There is hardly enough time in the day for our own work, building a great marriage, taking care of kids, household maintenance tasks like cleaning and organizing. I know I fall into bed exhausted every day, and I’m fairly certain you do, too. And that’s all before I consider how to start the day with God in study and prayer.

The thought of waking up early to study the Bible and connect with God first thing is a tough ask for many women. But it’s essential for marriage.

What Does Starting the Day with God Look Like?

The good news is that time alone with God is all about being led by the Holy Spirit. We want to spend time with God, Christ Jesus, before we begin getting busy with everything else. This time is dedicated to learning biblical truth, learning to trust God, giving glory to God, and learning God’s purposes for your life.

Starting the day with God may include worship. Don’t like to sing? That’s okay. You can turn on some Christian music or find a good YouTube channel of worship songs and listen to the words for a bit.

Then spend time in Bible study and Bible reading. Both are important. When we read the Bible we are familiarizing ourselves with God’s Word. The goal is to learn Scripture so that we can draw from it when needed. Bible study is when we learn what the Bible means. We learn how to interpret Scripture so we can gain the most from it.

Not sure where to start reading? In the Old Testament my favorite books are Ruth and Esther, though you will probably recognize lots of stories in Genesis. In the New Testament my favorite book is Philippians. My favorite Gospel is Luke. If you aren’t sure where to start, choose one of those. Ask God to show you what He wants you to learn before you start reading.

There are lots of Bible studies available. I tend to prefer ones that don’t rely on other people, so I use BibleHub and verse mapping. Keep checking back here as I’ll be posting Bible studies in the coming year.

Finally, spend time in prayer. Prayer doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Just talk to God. This acrostic helped me pray in the beginning: PRAY – Praise God, Repent of sins, Ask for your needs, say Yes to Him. These four simple steps are an easy way to remember to put God first, but still address your needs.

What if I Don’t Have Time?

Taking the time to worship, study/read, and pray can take time. But the good news is that it takes as long as you devote to it. I’ve done this in as little as 15 minutes when the kids were young and I needed more sleep. When the kids were a bit older I could devote an hour to study and prayer. It all depends on the time you set aside for it.

Let’s address the obvious question. Will you have to get up earlier? Well, I choose to. I love to see the sunrise through my kitchen window while I spend time with God. You don’t have to get up that early, though! I do find that being up before my husband and kids makes a huge difference.

Some women choose to get up at their regular time and study after they get kids to school. That works, too.

The most important part is to plan to get up and spend time with God, then make it happen. You need to set your own heart on this plan for it to work. I know it’s tough to interrupt your deep sleep, but you’ll be glad you started incorporating this into your life. I’ve been getting up early to spend time with God for years now and I can tell you that if I miss a day, I feel it all day long. There’s nothing like giving your day to the Lord right from the very beginning. The first question you should ask yourself is, “why not?” I have a strong feeling you’ll find that once you start it’s tough to stop!

What Do I Do With the Kids?

Yes, sometimes you will have to do your Bible study when the kids are awake. There are lots of options here. You can get a kids Bible study and have then study alongside you. You can so a simpler study that can include them. You can have a dance party when you worship. Ask them to lead prayer time.

You can turn on a show (not my favorite option) or give them a game/puzzle/book to keep them occupied. My sister told her daughter to play in her room until Mommy came to get her. She got her study done then. You can arrange a playdate some days with another mom who does Bible study, then swap for the other days.

No matter what you do, it’s important not to hide your study. Let your kids see you worshipping, studying, reading Scripture, and praying. They need to know that these behaviors are a normal part of everyday life.

Here are four reasons you should study the Bible if you are married:

• When we start our day with God, we put our focus on Him. We give Him our day and allow Him to take care of everything that happens. When we do that, we are more likely to focus on God than our spouse (Proverbs 3:5-6).
• When we start our day with God we take our marital concerns to God and let HIM tell us what we need to take to our husband. More often than not lately, God has been telling me to attend to MY issues before approaching my husband about the issues have with him.
• When we start our day with God, we have a peace that goes beyond human understanding (Philippians 4:7). Then, when inevitable chaos reigns, we are prepared with supernatural peace.
• When we start our day with God, we give ourselves something to ponder throughout the day. When we ponder Scripture, we are taking our eyes off of our circumstances and putting them onto what God tells us is most important (Philippians 4:8-9).

Those are just a few reasons and I hope you agree they are good ones!

How Does This Help My Marriage?

Starting our day with God really directs our entire lives. It strengthens our marriage because we remember that God is what’s important. And God wants us to have a great marriage! But He must come first. When we worship, study/read, and pray every day we begin to exude a peace that fuels a great marriage. When inevitable conflicts arise, we are able to rely on God so much easier and trust Him for the outcome.

Genesis

Marriage came from God. Read this from Genesis 1:26 – 2:24:

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Why Genesis Matters for Marriage

God made us to be together. Women are made from man. We are to leave our family of origin and stay together. While divorce was given as an option by Moses, it was not the plan. The plan is we stay married. A successful marriage has many ups and downs, but the couple stays together.

One way we can stay together is to approach God together. Worship, read, study, and pray as a couple. Are you going through a difficult time? Pray through it. Need to have a difficult conversation? Pray ahead of time.

Reading the Bible together can be an important part of spending time together with God. The Song of Solomon is a great marital book to read together. You can also do a couples Bible study. Do whatever you can to spend time with God with your life partner, as well. The perfect marriage doesn’t exist but learning to keep God in the center of your marriage will take you a long way. And a godly marriage tends to be a healthy marriage. I know we all want that!

How Do I Start?

It’s easy! Decide what time you want to get up. I’d say to plan 30 minutes. Set your alarm!

Get up, brush your teeth, and put on some coffee. I usually have a big glass of water while the coffee brews. While I drink my water I start worshipping God. I have a go-to list of songs I like but find some that work for you. This is my favorite radio station and they have super music. If you listen online you’ll know what songs they are playing so you can also look up lyrics. Bonus!

After worship I work through my current reading/study. My study tends to include Bible reading so I cover both at once. Some people study a book and read their Bible separately. That works too. Just do both.

Wrap up with prayer. Start with planning 5 minutes. I know that seems like a L-O-N-G time but it’s really not! Pray for every member of your family. If you’re done, then pray for your friends, neighborhood, and the country. Pray for service members and police. Seek God’s help for your life. Be creative and pray for anyone and everyone! Share the desires of your heart with God and He will give you the desires of your heart when they align with His. We only know if our desires align with His by knowing the Word of God. See how it all works together?

The first time you start the day with God it may feel awkward and that’s okay. You’ll get used to it. You’ll find a rhythm that works for you. The human heart is fickle, so don’t let your heart convince you to stop. Stay with it! This is your own gift to yourself.

How Do I Continue My Study?

Once you get started, you will finish a study and be unsure where to go next. If you’re doing a verse mapping study, work through one book of the Bible at a time, in any order. This will take a very long time! If you’re reading a book to guide your study, then do a search and find another one. My favorite authors for Bible study are Priscilla Shirer, Jennie Allen, and Max Lucado. Any of those are fantastic and they’ll keep you busy for a while. My local library has TONS of studies, including by these authors, in print and e-book format. So you don’t have to spend money to find a Bible study.

When it comes to reading, start with the ones mentioned above (Ruth, Esther, Genesis, Philippians, & Luke). Then move to other books in the Bible. Proverbs has 31 chapters – perfect to read one chapter for every day of the month. I have a friend who did this for an entire year and said that Proverbs really came alive for her family when they did this.

Wrapping Up

God wants you to have an amazing marriage. Christian marriage suffer the same divorce rate as non-Christian marriages and that should be scary. We don’t plan to get a divorce when we get married. So do what you can to build your intimate relationship on the One who invented marriage. Build your relationship with God by spending time with HIm every morning. Start the day with God – you’ll be glad you did.

With love,

🌸 Andrea

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