This has been on my mind for quite some time now. And after talking with Nori about it over AIM, I decided "Hey, why don't i post it up?" So anyway, the question on my mind is this: Why are there so many early morning prayer meetings, and hardly ever any late night prayer meetings? The only times that I can ever recall having a late night prayer meeting is when it is the continuation of some other Christian event... and even then, it's usually something that's spur of the moment. It's almost never planned. So why do I ask this? Well, I am a notorious night person. In other words, I don't look like much in the morning. Most people who knew me in college knew this about me. In my last year at Cal, I served as part of what's called a "Core" team for AACF the college fellowship i was with. And the "Core Coordinator" at the time, Brian Hui, knowing that I was possibly interested in becoming a church pastor once joking said, "Hideyo, if you ever pastor a church, are you going to be able to make it to your own morning services?" Oh yeah, and I did everything in my power to keep from scheduling 8 AM, 9 AM, and some semesters even 10 AM classes. How I pulled off going to school at 7:30 AM every morning for high school remains a mystery to me.
So anyway, back to the subject. Here in Japan, I've been re-learning what it takes to become a morning person. Or at least pretend to be one. So what is it that associates morning with prayer? Sure, there's a few instances in the Gospels where it's recorded that Jesus got up early in the morning to pray. However, (or as the japanese say, "shikashi!") wasn't His prayer time in the Garden of Gethsemane, right before his arrest, late at night? Unlike the early morning prayer instances, the time of day isn't specifically written but we are led to believe that it was late at night because a) it was after the last supper and b) the disciples were so tired that they fell asleep when they were supposed to be praying. Obviously not night people. Then again four of em were fishermen... a profession that requires you to get up early. But goes to show, that Jesus selected times to pray both in the morning and at night. So why does prayer always go with morning? I've always heard of, and gone to (especially in Japan!) 5 AM, 6 AM, and 7 AM prayer meetings where people gather together for the sake of prayer. But never have I heard of, or gone to 11 PM, 12 PM, or 1 AM prayer meetings. Am I just not holy enough?