The Biblical Principle of First #3: God’s Love Language, Morning Prayer and First Love

The biblical principle of first says that what we give God first is the clean portion that redeems everything else in our lives. In this third message of the series, the pastor applies that principle to our time: the first part of every day belongs to God, and when He gets it, His strength meets the trouble of the day. He shows it in Jesus rising before daylight to pray, in John on Patmos, and in the church at Ephesus that left its first love.

This message continues from The Biblical Principle of First #2: The Widow’s First Cake and the Redeeming Portion. Below you will find the full video, a structured summary, the key Scriptures (NKJV on Bible Gateway), a timestamped outline and practical steps for returning to your first love.

Sermon at a Glance

This message was preached at NTC Ministries and posted on June 21, 2022. It runs about 62 minutes and ends with an invitation to receive Christ and a prayer to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The pastor explains that the series grew out of his teaching on the kingdom economy: we live in two economies, one natural and one from heaven, and Jesus said to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s (Matthew 22:21).

Everything we have is to be given to God first, and the first, as the Old Testament shows, is the redeeming portion. In this message he takes that principle from our money to our mornings.

The Biblical Principle of First and the Redemption Center

The pastor explains that our first and our best is the clean portion, and the clean portion redeems the unclean or corrupted portion. Jesus is the clearest example. God gave His only begotten Son, the first, so that whoever believes in Him will be saved (John 3:16). Saved, he notes, translates sozo, which means delivered, redeemed, healed and made to prosper. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13).

Romans 8:32 puts it in redemptive language: He who did not spare His own Son, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Because the Son was given first, the rest of our life in this corrupted, earth-cursed system can be redeemed. That is why Jesus said to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added (Matthew 6:33).

Redemption, he says, is not only knowing that Jesus died and rose so we can go to heaven. Redemption is what He took you out of, and it is also what He is giving you. To explain, he remembers his mother collecting green stamps and taking the books to a store in town called the Redemption Center, where she traded them for a fishing pole or a lantern.

That is what communion means to him. Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:24–25). At the table we come to the redemption center and say, by the stripes of Jesus I have been healed, and I am taking what You provided for me. The biblical principle of first, in other words, is a redemptive process, not a religious duty.

Redeeming the Time: God’s Love Language

Our time, not only our money, goes to God first. Ephesians 5:15–17 tells us to walk circumspectly, redeeming the time because the days are evil, and to understand what the will of the Lord is. If we give our time to God first, the corruption and problems of the day are dealt with in a supernatural way.

Many people get up feeling fresh and come home from work completely drained. That, he says, is why we must learn to redeem the time: when we do, we come into newness of life and strength beyond our own.

David knew this. Psalm 5:3 says, “My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up.” David valued God’s presence, and he received it for the whole day by giving God the morning.

The pastor says he has taught this for thirty-six years: just as we tithe our finances, we tithe our day. The first part goes to God, not to social media. He warns that Scripture lists being a busybody in other people’s matters right alongside murderers (1 Peter 4:15). Why is God so serious about it? Because first is His love language.

Everyone remembers being picked for teams at school. Being picked last felt like you had nothing to offer, and you probably did not play to your potential. Being picked first told you that you were valued, and you played better. So grab your coffee, he says, but sit down with your Bible and talk to God first.

Everything else in this corrupted world wants to be first, he notes, and Satan knows the principle of first too. But God says, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30).

He recalls the testimony of Ian McCormick, who described heaven’s colors as more brilliant than anything on earth. This world is beautiful but corrupted. When the first is given, the redeeming portion comes into play, which is why Jesus taught us to hallow the Father’s name before asking for His kingdom to come (Matthew 6:9–10).

Jesus Rose Before Daylight

The pastor reads Mark 1:35–37: “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” Jesus got up before anyone else and gave the Father the first of the day. That, the pastor says, is where His power came from.

How could Jesus feed thousands with a few loaves and fish? Because He first got with the Father, and then redemption came into the corrupted element. The lack was provided for, the sick were healed, the deaf heard and the blind saw. The biblical principle of first was at work in His ministry before a single miracle happened.

When Simon and the others found Him, they said, “Everyone is looking for You.” The pastor points out that the people were not first on Jesus’ mind; the Father was. If Jesus had said He was too busy for the Father, he suggests, He might have made it halfway through the day before people stopped being healed. He would have lost the presence and the power, because the love of God is the power of God in our lives.

If you give your time to God first, the pastor says, your strength is renewed and multiplied instead of drained. If you give to God first, He is going to bless you. That is just the way it is.

John on Patmos and the Church That Left Its First Love

Next the pastor turns to Revelation. John was exiled on Patmos, which he describes as a prison island and rock quarry where John was chained and breaking rocks. He says history records attempts to kill John, and that John was about 110 years old, yet still doing what he was supposed to do.

Then John heard a voice behind him saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” the One who was dead and is alive forevermore (Revelation 1:10–18). John turned to see, and the pastor calls that a picture of repentance: his attention was changed by the voice of Jesus.

Why John? Because John was the one who leaned on Jesus’ breast (John 13:23) while everyone else was discussing and worrying. He had one thing in mind: the presence of Jesus. Because John gave Jesus his life first, Jesus trusted him, a prisoner, to carry the revelation to all the churches.

The message to Ephesus in Revelation 2:1–5 praises their works, labor, patience and perseverance. Nevertheless, “I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand.”

The problem was not complacency. They were doing a lot for Jesus and for the kingdom, but they started doing it without giving their time to God first. They were living off a previous encounter. Even as a minister, the pastor admits, he can get so caught up in doing for God that he forgets God has to be first.

He explains the lampstand with a dark room. If the lights went out, you would walk slowly, lose confidence and lose your way. When the light comes on, you can be bold. Love casts out fear, and we have boldness in the day of judgment because as He is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17–18). Losing the lampstand means losing understanding of God.

When people reject God, Scripture says He gives them over to a debased mind (Romans 1:28). The answer, he says, is that people need to know Jesus loves them, with a supernatural love poured out by the Holy Spirit.

He contrasts Moses and Israel from Psalm 103:7: God made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel. Moses knew God’s ways because he spent time with Him, and Joshua would stay behind in God’s presence after Moses left.

Returning to First Love: A Season of Revival

None of us comes to Jesus full and strong, the pastor says. We all come empty and weak, and in His presence He makes us somebody. When we return to our first love, it always brings us to a place we have never experienced before. Everyone drifts at times, and the answer is to repent and do the first works: stop everything and get back into God’s presence.

At first it may seem like nothing is happening, he warns. No skyrockets, no bells. But God is working to break down the hardness of our hearts. In a bucket of water a tissue dissolves almost at once, paper takes hours, and cardboard longer still. The harder our hearts get, the longer the washing of the Word and the Spirit takes to soften them.

He then shares his own story. While he was general contractor on the last phase of the church building, the elders who were meant to carry the spiritual matters did not, and he burned out. So he went to the chapel to pray every day, determined not to leave until God showed up.

One day, he says, it was as if a ball of lightning came from heaven and drove him to his face. He wept for hours, and every time he tried to get up, it happened again, from four in the morning until after four in the afternoon. Afterward, services were held every morning and night, the shortest lasting seven and a half hours.

He reports that people came from around the world and had to be carried out at night. During that season the Lord gave him a dream. Jesus led him into an old general store full of “new old” products, like original factory parts for restoring a car, alongside brand-new products he had never seen.

Jesus told him He was renewing the revelation of His Word he already had and bringing him revelation he had never known. That, the pastor says, is what returning to your first love does: it renews what you knew and brings what you never knew. Lazarus returned to where he was, but brand new, and so many believed because of him that the chief priests plotted to kill him too (John 12:9–11).

Faith That Works Through Love

The pastor reads Proverbs 3:6 in a version that says to put God first in everything you do, and He will direct you and crown your efforts with success. Without the intimate presence of the Holy Spirit, he says, the church is just religious people. Some will say they did miracles in His name, and He will say, “I never knew you” (Matthew 7:22–23).

When we see our own insufficiency, we partner with the all-sufficient One, and our faith becomes a magnet for miracles. Jesus asked whether the Son of Man would find faith on the earth when He comes (Luke 18:8). The proof, the pastor says, is the presence of the Holy Spirit and the power of His love flowing through you. What matters is faith working through love (Galatians 5:6).

He compares it to his marriage: several times he and Pam had to set aside the kids and work just to be with each other, and each time a greater love came. The same happens with Jesus.

You can be the smartest, most talented person on earth, he warns, but without love you will eventually flounder. Love is like oxygen to the spirit. When we fall from love we lose discernment, which he defines as knowing the difference between right and almost right.

We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19), and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).

He closes with Psalm 91:14–16, where God Himself speaks: “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him.” Jesus invites all who labor and are heavy laden to come to Him for rest (Matthew 11:28–30). As you return to your first love, the pastor says, God reveals hidden things that move you out of an old season of drudgery into strength, joy and peace.

Living the Biblical Principle of First Each Morning

Speaking as a father in the faith, the pastor calls the church to commit. Here are the practical steps he gives:

• Get up a little earlier. Before your normal routine, read a few Scriptures and talk with the Lord. Start with fifteen minutes a day; he says you will notice a difference.
• Tithe your day. Give God the first part of the morning before your phone, your news feed or your to-do list.
• Ask to hear His love. He tells everyone to say each morning, “Jesus, tell me again how much You love me,” and let Him speak.
• Come to the redemption center. Use communion and prayer to receive what Jesus already purchased for your need.
• Repent and do the first works. If you have drifted into doing for God without being with Him, stop everything and return to His presence.

Timestamped Outline

• 0:00 From the kingdom economy to the principle of first
• 1:08 The clean portion redeems the corrupted portion
• 2:22 Seek first the kingdom of God
• 3:41 Green stamps and the redemption center
• 5:37 Redeeming the time: Ephesians 5
• 7:57 Give God the first of every day
• 9:05 My voice You shall hear in the morning: Psalm 5:3
• 10:09 First is God’s love language
• 15:01 Jesus rose before daylight: Mark 1:35–37
• 17:31 John on the island of Patmos
• 21:01 Why John was trusted with the revelation
• 22:05 You have left your first love: Revelation 2
• 26:08 Losing the lampstand
• 31:49 God’s ways to Moses: Psalm 103:7
• 33:08 Returning to first love
• 34:20 The tissue, the paper and the cardboard
• 36:37 Burnout and a visitation of God
• 40:09 The dream of the general store
• 44:59 Put God first: Proverbs 3:6
• 47:34 Faith working through love: Galatians 5:6
• 51:44 Because he has set his love upon Me: Psalm 91
• 57:27 Fifteen minutes a day

Biblical Principle of First Series

This message is part of a five-part teaching series at NTC Ministries. Start from the beginning or continue where this one leaves off:

• First message: The Biblical Principle of First #1: God’s Love Language and the Firstborn
• Previous: The Biblical Principle of First #2: The Widow’s First Cake and the Redeeming Portion
• You are here: The Biblical Principle of First #3: God’s Love Language, Morning Prayer and First Love
• Next: The Biblical Principle of First #4: Redeeming the Time and Returning to First Love

Frequently Asked Questions

Does God expect Christians to withdraw from ordinary life?

No. The pastor says none of us can simply join a convent or a monastery, and God knows we have lives. He does not want to take us away from the world; He wants to take us out of the world’s ways and into His presence. That happens by giving Him the first of the day, even fifteen minutes, before everything else begins.

Why does the pastor pray with lifted hands at the end?

At the close he invites the church to lift their hands and ask forgiveness for a cold heart and distance from God, telling Him they are returning to their first love. He also leads anyone who has never committed their life to Jesus in a prayer to receive Him as Lord and Savior and to ask the Holy Spirit to fill them with the Father’s love.

What does he mean by watching the world like a movie?

He says that for a believer, the corruption of these days can be like watching a movie: when it is over you get up and go home, and it does not affect you. Time with God first, he teaches, gives that perspective, so the world does not have the last word in your day.

Scripture References

All passages open in the New King James Version on Bible Gateway:

• Romans 8:32 — how shall He not freely give us all things
• Matthew 6:33 — seek first the kingdom of God
• Ephesians 5:15–17 — redeeming the time
• Psalm 5:3 — in the morning I will direct it to You
• Mark 1:35–37 — Jesus prays before daylight
• Revelation 2:1–5 — you have left your first love
• Proverbs 3:6 — He shall direct your paths
• Galatians 5:6 — faith working through love
• Romans 5:5 — the love of God poured out in our hearts
• Psalm 91:14–16 — because he has set his love upon Me

How this summary was made: written with AI assistance from the sermon’s own transcript and checked against the Scriptures listed above.

Watch More Messages

If this message stirred you to give God the first of your day, there are hundreds more teachings from NTC Ministries waiting for you. Browse the full sermon archive and keep growing in your first love for Him.