Why did Modeh Ani become the first words to be recited each morning?
(א) מוֹדֶה אֲנִי לְפָנֶֽיךָ מֶֽלֶךְ חַי וְקַיָּם שֶׁהֶחֱזַֽרְתָּ בִּי נִשְׁמָתִי בְּחֶמְלָה, רַבָּה אֱמוּנָתֶֽךָ:
(1) I give thanks to You living and everlasting King for You have restored my soul with mercy. Great is Your faithfulness.
According to the Talmud, bBrachot 60b, the first words to be recited each day are the Bracha of Elokei Neshama. Why did this practice come to an end?
כִּי מִתְּעַר אוֹמֵר: ״אֱלֹהַי, נְשָׁמָה שֶׁנָּתַתָּ בִּי טְהוֹרָה. אַתָּה יְצַרְתָּהּ בִּי, אַתָּה נְפַחְתָּהּ בִּי, וְאַתָּה מְשַׁמְּרָהּ בְּקִרְבִּי, וְאַתָּה עָתִיד לִיטְּלָהּ מִמֶּנִּי וּלְהַחֲזִירָהּ בִּי לְעָתִיד לָבֹא. כׇּל זְמַן שֶׁהַנְּשָׁמָה בְּקִרְבִּי מוֹדֶה אֲנִי לְפָנֶיךָ ה׳ אֱלֹהַי וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתַי, רִבּוֹן כׇּל הָעוֹלָמִים, אֲדוֹן כׇּל הַנְּשָׁמוֹת. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳, הַמַּחֲזִיר נְשָׁמוֹת לִפְגָרִים מֵתִים״.
When one awakens, he recites: My God, the soul You have placed within me is pure. You formed it within me, You breathed it into me, and You guard it while it is within me. One day You will take it from me and restore it within me in the time to come. As long as the soul is within me, I thank You, O Lord my God and God of my ancestors, Master of all worlds, Lord of all souls. Blessed are You, O Lord, who restores souls to lifeless bodies.
The answer can be found on the first page of the first Siddur, Seder Rav Amrom Gaon.
That is the way matters stood until the period of the Mekuballim of Safed, late 1500's. They recognized that words needed to be composed to replace the Bracha of Elokei Neshama so that Jews would have words to recite as soon as they awoke and would not be required to first wash their hands. They then composed Modeh Ani. An early reference to Modeh Ani is found in Seder Ha'Yom, an important Kabbalistic work centered on Tefila published in the late 1500's.
ספר סדר היום בהקיצו משנתו-ובקומו יאמר מיד מודה אני לפניך מלך חי וקים שהחזרת בי נשמתי בחמלה רבה אמונתך. ואין צריך לזה נטילת ידיים כי אפילו יהיו ידיו מטונפות אין חשש כיון שאינו מזכיר לא שם.
Translation: When he rises he should immediately say: Modeh Ani . . .Emunasecha. To say these words, it is not necessary to first wash one’s hands because even if his hands are unclean there is no concern since he is not mentioning G-d’s name.
That the Mekuballim from Safed viewed Modeh Ani as a substitute for the Bracha of Elokei Neshama can be seen by their choice of words in composing Modeh Ani:
