Get application context returns null

The following schema has been touted as the way to get application context from anywhere within my android app. But sometimes doing MyApp.getContext() returns null. I tried changing the schema by removing static from getContext() so that I would do MyApp.getInstance().getContext(). It still returns null. How do I fix this? How do I get my application's context from anywhere within my app?

public class MyApp extends Application {
    private static MyApp instance;

    public static MyApp getInstance() {
        return instance;
    }

    public static Context getContext() {
        return instance.getApplicationContext();
    }

    @Override
    public void onCreate() {
        super.onCreate();
        instance = this;
    }
}

Create in onCreate() an instance of getApplicationContext() (mContext) then call MyApp.getContext() from everywhere in your app and you will get your application context statically.

public class MyApp extends Application {
    private static Context mContext;

    public static Context getContext() {
        return mContext;
    }

    @Override
    public void onCreate() {
        super.onCreate();
        mContext = getApplicationContext();    
    }
}

Remember to declare into your AndroidManifest.xml

<application android:name="com.mypackage.mypackage.MyApp">
...
...
...
</application>