Starting Your Day in a Better Way

What’s the first thing you do in the morning?

Pray?

Read Scripture?

Scroll through your phone?

How we begin our mornings significantly impacts how we move through the rest of the day. That’s an important consideration given that so many of us reach for our phones first thing.Instead of positively orienting ourselves with prayer and biblical encouragement, our hearts and minds are flooded with conflict and discouraging news. Which means our hearts are being shaped by fear and distraction instead of peace and clarity.

Author Kevin A. Thompson refers to that as “doomscrolling.”

The alternative, Kevin says, is “hope scrolling” — before turning to your phone, spend a few minutes in prayer and read at least one chapter from your Bible. As you read, ask yourself three questions:

1. What hope in God is Scripture revealing? How does what I’m reading in Scripture hold personal meaning for me?

2. How is that hope for me? How can I allow God’s character and nature to influence my attitude, lifestyle, and choices?

3. How can I share that hope with others today? How can I offer everything I do, say, or share with the intention of spreading hope, not fear, to others?

Biblical hope anchors us when circumstances feel overwhelming by shaping our values, beliefs, and everyday decisions. It saturates our hearts so deeply that the blessings overflow toward our families, our churches, and our communities.

Breaking unhealthy habits at the start of our day is so important that I’ve invited Kevin Thompson to join me on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly to discuss how to make Scripture our source of hope and strength for daily life.

Hear our full conversation on your local radio station, online, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or on our free phone app.Kevin is the married life pastor at Bayside Church in Roseville, CA. His book Hope Scrolling: 31 Days to a Better Way by is available for a gift of any amount. For more information, click here or call 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459).