A friend once mentioned that he found it to be very helpful to study the scriptures first thing in the morning for a half hour. I thought to myself, "Self, I can do that." But, of course, I would have to get up half an hour earlier. I already had an early morning schedule that worked for me. So the only way I could add a half an hour of scripture study would be to just get up earlier.
So I did and do. My alarm goes off at 4:55 a.m. each morning. I roll out of bed onto my knees. Thank Heavenly Father for a good night's sleep and ask Him to help me with my study. Go potty and take my daily pills. Then I grab "Preach My Gospel"** a pen and my scriptures (contained on my smart phone). I then spend the next half hour in both "Preach My Gospel" and corresponding scriptures.
I use "Preach My Gospel"** as a guide for two reasons. First, I feel more comfortable with a structured approach to reading the scriptures. I began with Chapter 4. I also use it because I am writing to a missionary and it just seemed like I should be doing the same thing as he is doing.
At the conclusion of my study time I go back to my knees and have a longer conversation with my Heavenly Father.
I first started out getting up at 5:00 only on weekdays. But I soon discovered that I needed to be consistent and try to do it the same time on weekends. I say try because I have actually hit the snooze alarm on a weekend. But I still try to do my study first. However, there have been a couple of times when I had to postpone that study time till later in the day.
I am grateful to that friend for suggesting the study time. I am still "reporting back" to him my progress.*** I report back because I also need accountability to keep me doing what I know I should be doing.
**Having completed my study with "Preach my Gospel," I no longer begin my study there. Now I just go directly to the Book of Mormon.
*** At first I reported daily, then weekly, then monthly. Now that reading my scriptures first thing in the morning is a real habit, I no longer report back to him. But I am still grateful to him for making the suggestion.
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