Reasons why we doscripture study IN THE MORNING
Compiled By Nate Richardson
Updated 1-27-18
RichardsonStudies.com
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-“As a new General Authority, Elder Marion G. Romney (1897–1988) felt inadequate in fulfilling his important calling, so he sought advice from his friend Elder Harold B. Lee (1899–1973) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The counsel offered that day both surprised and motivated Elder Romney. Elder Lee said: “If you are to be successful as a General Authority, you will need to be inspired. You will need to receive revelation. I will give you one piece of advice: Go to bed early and get up early. If you do, your body and mind will become rested and then in the quiet of those early morning hours, you will receive more flashes of inspiration and insight than at any other time of the day.” Years later, reflecting back on that experience, then-President Romney said: “From that day on, I put that counsel into practice, and I know it works. Whenever I have a serious problem, or some assignment of a creative nature with which I hope to receive the influence of the Spirit, I always receive more assistance in the early morning hours than at any other time of the day.” (Filled with Life and Energy by By Randal A. Wright, Ensign Magazine July 2015, see https://www.lds.org/ensign/2015/07/young-adults/filled-with-life-and-energy?lang=eng#note7-)
-“Some time ago I heard a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy mention in a stake conference talk that he was an early riser. After the meeting, I spoke to him briefly about his early-morning ritual, then asked how many of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve kept a similar schedule. He replied, “They all do!” It was a powerful moment, and the Spirit testified to me that going to bed early and getting up early can be indeed connected to receiving revelation.” (Filled with Life and Energy by By Randal A. Wright, Ensign Magazine July 2015, see https://www.lds.org/ensign/2015/07/young-adults/filled-with-life-and-energy?lang=eng#note7-)
-“To those who feel defeated and downtrodden, look to the early hours of the day for your rescue.” (Russell M. Nelson, “Joy Cometh in the Morning,” Ensign, Nov. 1986, 70.)
-Boyd K. Packer, Teach Ye Diligently (1975), 205.
– “Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord” (Genesis 19:27; emphasis added).
-“Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone” (Exodus 34:4; emphasis added).
-“And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord” (Joshua 6:12; emphasis added)
-“Cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated” (D&C 88:124; emphasis added)
-“In the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed” (Mark 1:35).
-“The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre” (John 20:1)
– “If you go to bed at 10:00 and get up by 6:00 a.m., things will work out for you.”(Gordon B. Hinckley, in Sheri L. Dew, Go Forward with Faith: The Biography of Gordon B. Hinckley (1996), 166–67.)
-“by small means the Lord can bring about great things” (1 Nephi 16:29).
-“Some of you are not getting the rest that you need. Some are habituated to going to bed late and sleeping much longer than your system really needs, thus missing out on some of the personal inspiration you could be receiving.” Elder Joe J. Christensen, “Resolutions” (Brigham Young University fireside, Jan. 9, 1994), 5, speeches.byu.edu.
– “There must be an excellent reason for the injunction to retire and arise early [see D&C 88:124]. … The world is a more beautiful place early in the morning. Life is so much more calm. Much more can be accomplished in a shorter amount of time.” (Joe J. and Barbara K. Christensen, Making Your Home a Missionary Training Center (1985), 33.)
– “I counsel our children to do their critical studying in the early hours of the morning when they’re fresh and alert, rather than to fight physical weariness and mental exhaustion at night. I’ve learned the power of the dictum, ‘Early to bed, early to rise.’” (Boyd K. Packer, Teach Ye Diligently (1975), 205.)
-“A state of rest in which a person is inactive and unconscious. The Lord has counseled His Saints to not sleep longer than is needful (D&C 88:124). Sleep can also be a symbol for spiritual death (1 Cor. 11:30; 2 Ne. 1:13) or for physical death (Morm. 9:13).” (Sleep: Guide to the Scriptures)
– “weekday and weekend wake-up times had the largest relative effects on semester GPA. For each hour of delay in reported average weekday wake-up time, the predicted GPA decreased by 0.132 on a standard 0.00 to 4.00 grading scale. … Each hour of delay in average weekend wake-up time corresponded to a decrease in predicted GPA of 0.115.” ( Journal of American College Health, vol. 49, no. 3 (Nov. 2000), 128.)
– “One of the great reasons, I am sure, why President McKay has lived to such a good, ripe, and vigorous old age has been the fact that as a young man he developed habits of retiring to bed early, arising early, generally before sun up, when his mind was clear and his body vigorous, to do the day’s work.” (Ernest L. Wilkinson, Lifting One’s Sights, Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year (Oct. 1, 1963), 4.)

-It sets the tone for the rest of the day.

-It ensures that everyone knows the standard of what we want the day to be like.

-It gives increased power to make good choices throughout the day because it gives increased opportunity for God to speak to us in the morning and for us to work things our that are at variance in the morning.

-Prove me herewith, and try it for a month, and then try night study for a month; see which month is better.

-Whenever we do that in my family, its easier for me to get along with them.

-Every day is like being born again; there’s eternal symbology to that; the sleep and waking represent the death and resurrection of Christ and all mankind at the last day; we are to seek the Lord early in our lives; so study of the gospel early in the morning is akin to that each day recreating the life in order to stay spotless from the world; and seeing as family are whom we associate with the most, it’s good to set the laws of the community of home, and have an audible reminder for all to hear and know that eachother know, of the accountability which will be a part of that day; a reminder to eachother that eachother expect eachother to live the laws of God, and that all, by being involved in this reading of the holy law, have pledged to live so accordingly.

-We have personal study in the morning, but then to drive it home even further we have the family study. The beginning of the day is when we need the most reinforcement.

-The evening is the time to reflect upon how you did that day, and to relax and celebrate and be jovial; those are the feelings of that time of day; the morning however is when we are strong, when our MINDS ARE MOST ALERT, our sences most awake and focused; yes these are the times to do what is most important to us; and what is most important to us? The unity of the family under the law of God! Hence these actions are to be taken first thing.

-This also teachings the younglings the principal that they are to always put the Lord first in their lives.

-Again we reflect back to the symbology of the morning being a birth and the evening being a dying; and why does the Lord give us symbology in the gospel, in life, in temples, in scripture, in his communications to us virtually everywhere? Because we can ponder on these things and find level upon level of understanding. We can learn more powerfully this way than we can in plainness at times. Also symbology invites the strong to act, and excuses the weak from their idolness in part. So we heed the symbols if we are wise, knowing that the more commandments we have, the more blessings we can receive, each blessing being predicated upon obedience to the law there associated unto.

-When we wake, our minds have forgotten virtually everything about the day prior; no delicacies remain with us, the banquet of yesersday gone away into the dust of sleep. Truly this is my experience, and certainly your scholors of memory will attest to this.

-What is the mission today? Today is the time to act, to perform. The mission plan is to be reviewed at the beginning of each day. Forgetting of one’s mission is fatal; the candidate becomes lax and proned to wander; he has forgotten everything like Adam awake in Eden. He must partake of the tree of knowledge yet again and again if he is to know anything. Dying every day, forgetting all the time.

-Human memory is so clumbsy and proned to break. We hardly remember anything, and our brains make up details forgotten from the previous days in order to create a feeling of closure and wholeness; ask the scholors on this; testimony of court about details of a crime scene are to be taken with increasing suspicion as the persons will fully believe they understand all those little details, but truly they don’t. Truly truly they don’t. The missions of life are complex, and we forget the little details when we sleep. The mission plan for that day is to be reviewed early in the morning while the senses are enlivened once again, and this before they begin their decay which is soon to come that day.

-Many of the strongest families I have known have had the practice of morning family scripture study.

-Of coarse circumstances vary per each family, but these are true principals to work with in the great striving for mortal excellence and sainthood, in the following of the Christ closely by hearing what he has to say when the mind is clear.

-Say you “my mind is not clear in morning?” Well look at Jeremiah, the Lord commends him for seeking him early in the morning; Look at Boyd K Packer who taught that he when has something big will rather than staying up late for it will rise early, quite early, in the morning to do it; he says he does that so he can do his task of trial with the presence of the Lord. Or consider the Jesus himself, whom rose early in the morning to make his game plan with God for that day. With his FATHER for that day. In trying to become like Christ, don’t we seek to do even as Jesus? 3 Ne. 24 says what manner of men ought ye to be? Even as I am. So here are the connections: The son comes to learn from the father early in the morning while all is quiet, before the mind becomes cluttered with the various domestic triffles, or the romantic affairs, or the scholarly diggings, before these complexities of society come upon him, he has this special tutoring with God. Truly how could we consider any other way to live a sinless life which does not entail the early and regular instruction from the Grand Instructor, even God, whom is our family. Yes, Father in Heaven. What manner of fathers ought we to be? Even as he is. What manner of sons? Even as Christ. If it is importance to be one with God whom is our father, are we not to emulate that and seek to be one with our families and children? Yes we ought so to do. Life is not to be squabbled away; no, God forbid that this be what we think of when we read in Romans that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, or his passage about our good works being filthy rags; nay but let the glorious light of modern revelation bring these things into proper view for you: let you understand that we are to become like God, and we are to take upon us the characteristics of Christ in this life, lest we stand in jeapordy of losing our souls in the hereafter. Yes, we are to obey God; we are to grow; we cannot stay toddlers and children forever; we must, like the Apostle also witnesses, put of the childish ways and be men. So we put importance on these family counsils. We do them in the morning with our Father in Heaven, and with our father on earth, the things of the earth typifying those of heaven.

-Not a morning person? You can change. It takes faith to try, then you can change. Even if it’s hard, and hard for a long time, that’s good for you. Also you need to exersize in the mornings. We live in a society where that is needful to get us going. Oh the joy we will have as we cultivate these things!

-There is something holy about the morning hours of the day. This is repeatedly attested to in scripture and in nature itself which seems to call to the soul to carry ye out your labors unto God at this hour, and find peace amongst yourselves at this hour.

-we in the mornings we are carnal and sensual and devilish and we need to learn of the spiritual things in the mornings because when we’re sleeping or feeding are carnal bodies and by default by definition where acting and temporal things the caring of our bodies but what we must do is read the Word of God to shake ass off from that self centered time of sleeping also there’s this other important point it needs to be made that when you read the Scriptures it’s like a fight song it says fight fight fight go go go drawer or opera hurrah yes yes you can do it yeah go go go lets do this yes for the love of God for the love of humans for love of all things holy yes we can do this the whole world is at stake you must stop this success you must do this thing at home wonderful and glorious it’s going to be wonderful wonderful so close some beautiful you can’t even imagine it yes we can do this let starting up let’s fight here we go and then, you go and lay your head down our fellow and go to sleep now that does not make sense to me no I did not think that is the way it was meant to be yes of course we should read the Word of God all the time and then we can read the Scriptures at night hallelujah praise God but I think the meantime we should read it is at the beginning of the day these are the reasons its it’s just us playing as can be the whole day is where you live to face your challenges when you read the go you can do it rar are all lets go lets go when you read these inspiring messages What you want to do is act and so it would be counter intuitive to do something to repair you to act and then just stop acting by going to bed see you get ready to act and then you act you don’t get ready to act in then go to bed and then try to act the next day know you need the instruction freshener mind because believe it or not even the smartest and most intelligent and intellectual and memory friend persons are forgetting things in the night yes and you say oh but things getting built into your brain is you sleep you memorize them its good to do some studies before sleep so you memorize things there things that your mind ponders over through the night and I agree with that subconscious learning stuff but and the storage how things go into your permit long storage etcetera when you’re sleeping I know that loves transfers take place but what time getting at is yes do those but you have to do morning things you have to do it this is the time this is indeed it for Midway look at the life of Jesus again he did that to and so rumor what present Hinckley said you said have a love affair with the Scriptures pencil what does that mean a love affair of means you love that person you want to be with them even more than you maybe should you want to neglect other duties just to go and be with that person you want to forgo personal grooming or you want to hurry and get your work done so you can go see them or or you on to short change some other relationships and so forth so you can be that person it’s morning night time evening all the time that’s one you want to go forward with your love affair see have a love affair with the Scriptures that when you read these inspiring messages What you want to do is act and so it would be counter intuitive to do something to repair you to act and then just stop acting by going to bed see you get ready to act and then you act you don’t get ready to act in then go to bed and then try to act the next day know you need the instruction freshener mind because believe it or not even the smartest and most intelligent and intellectual and memory friend persons are forgetting things in the night yes and you say oh but things getting built into your brain is you sleep you memorize them its good to do some studies before sleep so you memorize things there things that your mind ponders over through the night and I agree with that subconscious learning stuff but and the storage how things go into your permit long storage etcetera when you’re sleeping I know that loves transfers take place but what time getting at is yes do those but you have to do morning things you have to do it this is the time this is indeed it for Midway look at the life of Jesus again he did that to and so rumor what present Hinckley said you said have a love affair with the Scriptures pencil what does that mean a love affair of means you love that person you want to be with them even more than you maybe should you want to neglect other duties just to go and be with that person you want to forgo personal grooming or you want to hurry and get your work done so you can go see them or or you on to short change some other relationships and so forth so you can be that person it’s morning night time evening all the time that’s one you want to go forward with your love affair see have a love affair with the Scriptures that is this is so important it’s not just that we do this when we get the time or when it’s convenient know this is so important to this is so fierce this is so radical this is so necessary is the so urgent and such a high demand in needs to happen right now it nice happen all the time if its not happening all the time then what’s going on look at the life of Daniel he prayed 3 times a day you would Neil and pray 3 times a day look at us do we do this no we don’t we should have the god of Israel on our minds so that we can be the people of Israel on our feet we need to do these things in order to become the Christians of the last days we are reserved and all the history of the periods of the eons to come forth and last days we would not mess up and this is what we have to show for it but we were leaving do like the agents did the insurance did with all things weren’t at stake they just in win the end of the earth wasn’t hand the insurance did when the judgment of Christ wasn’t upon us is that whole were going to act all we not going Raiders the bar according to the race freaking this that were seeing around us we must do this and if you think that never time comes for you to change the pines of your life leave those ideas leave Babylon and her you the word of the Lord that those changes need to happen you cannot be a pathetic I guarantee you if you start having three times a day kneeling prayer and you have those three times a day of turning to the Lord were the Lord and those times of prayer to have some communion with him you have something going on with your mind AC the humans the forget give him 5 hours and boom its all gone you can’t maintain a thought for more than 5 hours that’s why Daniel did this 3 times a day was to keep him circumstances up right before his God this is what needs to happen this is so important it’s not just that we do this when we get the time or when it’s convenient know this is so important to this is so fierce this is so radical this is so necessary is the so urgent and such a high demand in needs to happen right now it nice happen all the time if its not happening all the time then what’s going on look at the life of Daniel he prayed 3 times a day you would Neil and pray 3 times a day look at us do we do this no we don’t we should have the god of Israel on our minds so that we can be the people of Israel on our feet we need to do these things in order to become the Christians of the last days we are reserved and all the history of the periods of the eons to come forth and last days we would not mess up and this is what we have to show for it but we were leaving do like the agents did the insurance did with all things weren’t at stake they just in win the end of the earth wasn’t hand the insurance did when the judgment of Christ wasn’t upon us is that whole were going to act all we not going Raiders the bar according to the race freaking this that were seeing around us we must do this and if you think that never time comes for you to change the pines of your life leave those ideas leave Babylon and her you the word of the Lord that those changes need to happen you cannot be a pathetic I guarantee you if you start having three times a day kneeling prayer and you have those three times a day of turning to the Lord were the Lord and those times of prayer to have some communion with him you have something going on with your mind AC the humans the forget give him 5 hours and boom its all gone you can’t maintain a thought for more than 5 hours that’s why Daniel did this 3 times a day was to keep him circumstances up right before his God this is what needs to happen we need to remember that we are living in the last days and that these days are the most important day is there the most difficult days they require the most most Ernest preparation not the half half energy preparations we need to be at least as good as Daniel we need to be 10 times better than Daniel and Daniel understood that even Jesus understood that we should execute more works and he did his life was cut short he said those the follow out for me will do many more god things I did I look at me I’m kill the deer young age and he said greater works well come after me those who follow me if you don’t believe this then go and look at the Bible but that’s what he said that we have great tools we have in marvelous powers we can make worldwide broadcast we can make in sync communication everything is that our hands we need to be the scripture scholars of our day we need to feast upon the words of Christ when someone asks us a reason for the Hope that is in us do we have the answer I did not think that we always have the answer I you’re not think that we are able to open the Scriptures about any given topic when someone asks us about it and prove to them why we have this hope if you cuz you need to have the reason for the hope that is anyone any needs to be based in the Scriptures you after be a preacher all the time you need to preach preach preach and guess what your family needs to preach for HP chance so what can you do with morning scripture study you can prepare your family too preach preach preach that day we need to remember that we are living in the last days and that these days are the most important day is there the most difficult days they require the most most Ernest preparation not the half half energy preparations we need to be at least as good as Daniel we need to be 10 times better than Daniel and Daniel understood that even Jesus understood that we should execute more works and he did his life was cut short he said those the follow out for me will do many more god things I did I look at me I’m kill the deer young age and he said greater works well come after me those who follow me if you don’t believe this then go and look at the Bible but that’s what he said that we have great tools we have in marvelous powers we can make worldwide broadcast we can make in sync communication everything is that our hands we need to be the scripture scholars of our day we need to feast upon the words of Christ when someone asks us a reason for the Hope that is in us do we have the answer I did not think that we always have the answer I you’re not think that we are able to open the Scriptures about any given topic when someone asks us about it and prove to them why we have this hope if you cuz you need to have the reason for the hope that is anyone any needs to be based in the Scriptures you after be a preacher all the time you need to preach preach preach and guess what your family needs to preach for HP chance so what can you do with morning scripture study you can prepare your family too preach preach preach that day now you made flight to pieces when you hear this holy lecture but I tell you this we always tend to fly to pieces when we hear something that’s different format we been used to doing we say my ways are fine and I am adjust man and the Lord will beat me with a few stripes to cleanse mind. Days but I tell you this man you must learn to cleanse you’re in. Is now these are the stripes of God this is what beating you into shape and you need to humbly submit to the voice of God which comes through this Spirit of God you need to be willing to change your life and Shirley the beatings will be much more severe if we’re not willing to change our lives when you opportunity is given to us and how can we have the strength to execute the will of God when it is presented to us anymore plane way then it was in the past how can we act upon these farce and far out desires to be a better man we must pray so much happens in this church so much happens in this home so much happens in this reading but the most important of all things is the prayer if you can yet bring yourself to have morning scripture study with your family you done well better be doing morning prayer with your family pull was taken by a seminar a teacher recently and he saw that only about 5% I think it was 2 out of 30 students had scripture I mean had just prayer even just prayer with their family that morning so what is going on really what indeed even the profits have taught us for repeatedly on the profits a general things for us to do which are out most important they’ve been telling us we need to have morning prayer look in the church manuals on how run a family if you question me on that look for the preach my gospel manual wear one of the commitments at the Emma Sarah’s of the Lord ground telling every nation kindred and tongue and people of this earth says it says tell the people and commit them say will you Neil and have family prayer morning and night so that’s one of the specific commitments that the least of Saints is asked to do from the get go from the birth of their Christianity from the Infiniti of their Mormon ism from the beginnings of the days of their second sex life the walk in Christ after the baptism for their souls even before the baptism this is talk to them prepare them for the baptism for the commitment wearing they will obey these commandments this and it is the commandment of God and does it take much to see that we should also do some scriptures with our prayer no it does not we will conquer we will become Saints these are the last days this is our Duty Wii will become a religious people we will stand up for what’s right we will learn the love God engraving upon our hearts as the flesh you tablets of our hearts we will know the Scriptures like the back of our hand we will have a mighty family in the faith of Jesus Christ we will pray to the gospel to the analysis of the earth we will learn all languages and speak to them with the gift of tongues in the power of God for free first treasure up the word of God we will then have the gift and power of God to declare the word of God enter the nations and we are going to be the most powerful missionaries at the world has ever seen we are going to not just have any scripture study in the morning with our family we’re going to have power missionary lessons in the mornings with our family we are going to preach in the mornings we’re going to roleplay we’re going to search the Scriptures ready scripture chases we’re going to memorize key scriptures we are going to memorize preach my gospel passages we are going to become excellent teachers at the 5 lessons in what do I study and teach in preach my gospel we are going to become the angels of God we are going to become exalted we are going to become translated we are going to become the 144000 saviors on Mount Zion who are the priesthood who save the world we are going to save the world now is that worth getting a pillow earlier for is that worth putting some blood on the table for is that worth doing something for is that worth Christianity that worth living in the presence of God Jesus with said that it would be Ludacris to think that we could live with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ if we could not gone through some extremely difficult things while in this life

-if we don’t have a set time for things they often don’t get done and we don’t dare risk not getting this done if there is a set time every day it will happen and if that thing is in the morning before other things can crowd in for the beggars knock on our door before the guests compiling in before the homework assignments become pressing before any of these things then it will always be accomplished and fear God and keep His commandments accomplished them absolutely