Andrew Murray (1828-1917) was the son of a Dutch missionary sent to South Africa. He ministered for 60 years in South Africa, praying that “May not a single moment of my life be spent outside the light, love, and joy of God’s presence, and not a moment without the entire surrender of myself as a vessel for him to fill full of his Spirit and his love.”
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
Psalm 5:3
From the earliest ages God’s servants have thought of the morning as the time specially fitted for the worship of God. It is still regarded by all Christians both as a duty and a privilege to devote some portion of the beginning of the day to seeking retirement and fellowship with God. Many Christians, and specially the Student’s Christian Association, observe The Morning Watch; the Young People’s Christian Endeavour Society speak of it as the Quiet Hours; others use the name of the Still Hour or the Quiet Time.
All these, whether they think of a whole hour or half an hour, or a quarter of an hour, unite with the Psalmist in what he says, “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord.”
In speaking of the extreme importance of this daily time of quiet for prayer and meditation on God’s Word, Mr. Mott has said:
“Next to receiving Christ as Saviour, and claiming the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, we know of no act attended with larger good to ourselves or others, than the formation of an undiscourageable resolution to keep the morning watch, and spend the first half hour of the day alone with God.”
At first sight the statement appears too strong. The act of receiving Christ as Saviour is one of such infinite consequence for eternity, the act of claiming the Holy Spirit is one that works such a revolution in the Christian life, that such a simple thing as the firm determination to keep the morning watch hardly appears sufficiently important to be placed next to them.
If, however, we think how impossible it is to live out our daily life in Christ as our Saviour from sin, or to maintain a walk in the leading and power of the Holy Spirit, without daily, close fellowship with God, we soon shall see the truth of the sentiment.
Because it simply means the fixed determination that Christ shall have the whole life, that the Holy Spirit shall in everything be fully obeyed. The morning watch is the key to the position in which the surrender to Christ and the Holy Spirit can be unceasingly and fully maintained.
From The Inner Chamber and The Inner Life, by Andrew Murray.
