Nonnegotiable! Daily Time Alone with God
Why can’t we?… Why don’t we?… …spend time alone with God each day?
Guilt-ridden, we continuously resolve, “I’ll start tomorrow” or “I’ll start next week.” We do it for a day or two and then it’s over.
We can’t understand why this is such a battle. Let’s take a look at what most of us believe is the number one obstacle…
Time! Time! Time!
We may truly believe there are not enough hours in the day. For many, time with God is three minutes. That’s how long it takes to read a page from a devotional while gulping a cup of coffee or eating lunch; prayer is on the fly.
Dedicated time alone with God to read scripture and pray is vital. It must be the one nonnegotiable time slot in our day. Without it we will not grow in the faith nor be a fruit-bearing disciple, wife, mother or employee.
Morning – The Time Solution
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. Psalm 5:3
Since our relationship with God is more important than any other person, thing or pursuit, we must not allow anyone or anything to hinder communion with Him.
Morning is the perfect time to meet with the LORD. Why morning?
Frankly, if we don’t do it before we get involved in the activities of the day, we probably won’t do it later. The goal is to make our time alone with God a natural part of our morning.
Garnering Success
Our success may be depend on getting up earlier than the rest of the family. Some of the things we normally do in the morning like making lunches or ironing may need to be done in the evening.
The temptation to hit the snooze button, cuddle into the pillow and sleepily say, “I’ll do it before I go to bed tonight” or “I’ll do it during my lunch hour” must be resisted. We know it is not likely to happen, or if it does, it will lack quality.
Let’s Ask Ourselves
Would we get up an hour earlier to catch a plane?
If the kids’ school schedule changed and required getting up an hour earlier for the entire school year, would we do it?
At the request of our employer, would we report to work an hour early for a meeting?
The answer to all of these questions is “Yes.” So, we see that is a matter of perception.
We do with time those things we believe are important.
Each of us must give an honest answer to the question, “Why, isn’t daily time alone with God important enough to make sure I don’t miss it?”
Persevere!!
Perseverance is the key to victory in this struggle. We must do whatever it takes! It may be hard at first and may take a week or so to get a workable plan.
Get up early enough tomorrow morning to read one chapter in your bible and pray. Psalms may be a good place to begin. Notice the difference in your day. Do it again the following day. If you miss a day, don’t throw in the towel. Persevere!
Dedicated time alone with God to read scripture and pray must be the one nonnegotiable time slot in the day.
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD