“Ere the Night Has Passed into Morning”, Leona Miller

I grew up in Santa Cruz, California and went to college at the University of California Berkeley. My freshman year I came in contact with believers who met with the church in Berkeley through my dorm roommate. My sophomore year I moved in with believers from the church in Berkeley.

A number of the sisters I lived with were an impressive pattern to me of how to spend more personal, private, intimate time with the Lord. They really knew the Lord in a direct way, as I would know my friends. Following the example before me of rising early, I began to spend time early in the morning to pray and fellowship with the Lord. Through consistent and persistent times every morning, I began to know God in a more personal way. God was no longer an abstract entity attached from man floating somewhere in the outer bounds of the universe. God became so personable and lovable to me through these times. A hymn (Hymns, #554) by Witness Lee says:

I come to His presence afresh

`Ere the night has passed into morning,

And His face I see as it shines on me-

The Lord within is dawning

And He speaks to me and reveals to me

All His riches for me today;

And with sweet delight partake of Him,

My hunger has passed away.

Early in the morning, as I would contact the Lord by calling on His name, “Oh Lord Jesus,” His presence would definitely refresh me. He rewarded my diligence in early rising with a solid, definite knowing of Him (Hebrews 11:6).