Making Time for Prayer

Transcription

1 Making Time for Prayer by Beth Jones As wives and moms today, we often have long to-do lists and not nearly enough time to do it all. The pace of our lives is frequently hurried and hectic, and sometimes we just feel worn out. It s important that we take time to pull away from our busy schedules, and spend time at the feet of Jesus as Mary of Bethany did, receiving that rest and refreshment from Him. There is nothing more important to do than making time for prayer each day. So how do we do it? If you are like me, the day s 24 hours seem much shorter than that, and I sometimes go to bed at night with my remaining to-do list still swimming in my head. How on earth am I going to cram just one more thing into my schedule like prayer? First, I have to realize what a delight it is to be with God and that this is the number one priority! As the Creator and King, God doesn t get left-over scraps of my time. When Jesus visited Martha, Mary and Lazarus, Martha was in the kitchen fussing over the preparations, and wanted her sister to help her As they continued their travel, Jesus entered a village. A woman by the name of Martha welcomed him and made him feel quite at home. She had a sister, Mary, who sat before the Master, hanging on every word he said. But Martha was pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen. Later, she stepped in, interrupting them.

2 "Master, don't you care that my sister has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand." The Master said, "Martha, dear Martha, you're fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it it's the main course, and won't be taken from her." (Luke 10:38-45, The Message) Spending time with Jesus is our main course, not a side dish. Everything else pales in comparison to being with Him. Song of Solomon 5:10 (KJV) says, My beloved is chiefest among ten thousand. The Message version says, His words are kisses, his kisses words. Everything about him delights me, thrills me through and through! God s presence will delight us. But Jesus told his disciples that the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. (Matthew 26:41) We have to realize it has to be top on the list each day.or sometimes it will never happen! Second, we need to remove any obstacles that are keeping us from spending time with God. No, this doesn t mean your husband, children, or the new puppy. It does mean cutting down on things like spending too much time on the internet (especially social media like Facebook, Twitter, and reading mommy bloggers posts), watching too much t.v., an inordinate amount of shopping (especially for shoes!), or other good things like chatting on the phone with our sister or working too many long hours on our writing, speaking, and website. Sometimes we need to say no to be able to carve out time for prayer. For example, I stopped writing the paragraph above and said aloud, I need to practice what I preach, because I hadn t prayed yet or spent time yet in God s word this morning. Normally I try to spend a few minutes in prayer each morning, and then spend longer periods of prayer and Bible study throughout the day as time and my schedule permit. Just taking a few moments right now to dedicate the day to God, to

3 pray over my family, friends, and today s work, and to read and reflect on several Psalms lifted my spirits and gave me peace. We need to realize that our enemy satan will bring whatever distractions and obstacles he can to keep us from praying and from seeking that deep intimacy with Jesus. William Cowper said, Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint on his knees. All you have to do is go into your bedroom and start praying, and see what happens! The phone or doorbell will ring, the kids will fight, the dog will suddenly start barking loudly, or you won t be able to concentrate because of your laundry list of things you need to get done around the house! Pray anyway. Press through. Discipline yourself to pray each day, just as we discipline ourselves to drink water, to eat healthy, and to exercise. (I better get moving now! ) Third, this sounds contradictory to what I just said about pressing through, but keep a clean and clutter-free house. I don t know about you, but when my house is not clean or disorganized, I can t focus on ANYTHING ELSE. If you keep your house maintained, it won t get out of hand! For example, yesterday as I set the table for our Christmas dinner, I went to open the curtains in our dining room and saw that our window seals were REALLY dirty. Just being honest here! I was in the middle of cooking, but after our dinner I took down the curtains to wash them and cleaned all around the edges of the windows. My husband Ray was both amused and a little annoyed, and said, Why do you have to clean them right now? It s CHRISTMAS DAY! Well, because they were disgusting, that s why! I wouldn t have been able to sit down on the couch a little later to relax and to watch the cartoon movie Cats That Dance with him and our daughter Leah, knowing the windows were dirty like that!

4 Having a clean and organized house will help you to be able to focus on the important work of prayer. A clutter-free home will keep your mind and soul from clutter as well. Draft your children. Yesterday as I washed dishes, I assigned sweeping the kitchen to our daughter Leah. Yes, teens ARE capable of manual labor! A WONDERFUL website to help you with cleaning and organizing your home is the Fly Lady at What often happens is that things snowball, and the chaos gets out of control. Picking up a little each day, having a set schedule for cleaning certain days of the week, and multi-tasking - folding laundry as you re listening to an Ultimate Women s Expo audio ( - will help you to balance prayer, spending time with family, cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, writing, speaking, working on your blog, etc. Writing down your goals each day, including to pray and to tackle areas of your home that need cleaning and organization, will help you achieve them. WRITE IT DOWN! It is amazing how this works! Don t take on so much that you are overwhelmed and just give up. Set small goals with a time limit. Pray with your children in the morning as you begin your homeschool day or before going out the door to work. Organize that kitchen cabinet with all the Tupperware bowls and lids. Go through your closet to donate some clothes to Good Will. Clean the stove or the fridge. Set a timer for getting these chores done, then spend a few minutes alone with Jesus. Don t allow your laundry to become Mount Never-rest, but throw in a load each morning as you re getting ready for your day. Your clean and organized home will help you to relax when you set aside that time to be with God. Fourth, you don t have to be on your knees to pray. You can walk, go to the gym, stand, lay down, be in the car or in the shower. It is the position of your heart that

5 truly matters. Your altar to worship and pray to God is wherever you go. His eye is always on you! He will never leave you or forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5) Take advantage of small snatches of time throughout the day, as the kids are taking a nap or playing or you re waiting for a dentist appointment, to pray. As you re going for your walk in the morning or evening, talk to God. Listen to Him. Let Him speak to you through beautiful nature. God s sunrises and sunsets are incredible art, and just shout of His greatness! While you re waiting at the red light, instead of feeling frustrated, use that time to just silently pray about whatever s on your heart. As you lay down at night, thank God for your husband and children, your warm home, the food you eat, all of God s goodness to you and His presence with you throughout the day. Ask forgiveness of your sins, and give the next day to Him along with its to-do list! We have a dishwasher, but sometimes when I have to wash dishes by hand, I can look out our kitchen window and see the birds in our yard. The male, bright red cardinal is my favorite bird, and it fills my heart with joy to see one. I always feel like seeing a cardinal is God s special little present to me, telling me that He loves me. As I wash the dishes, I can just thank God for the gift of His creation and just pour out the things on my heart during that time. Fifth, you do NOT have to pray for a LONG time! This is one of the BIGGEST misconceptions about prayer. Many people believe their prayers will not be effective if they aren t long-winded prayers. Actually, Jesus said that we shouldn t pray long prayers! When you pray, don't talk on and on as people do who don't know God. They think God likes to hear long prayers. Don't be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask." (Matthew 6:7-8, CEV)

6 God is good with short and sweet prayers! In fact, those are the ones that please Him the most the simple, faith-filled prayers of a trusting child. My friend Kelly is the mother of eight children (yes, all her own biological ones!) and she says that sometimes at the end of the day, all she can do to pray is say, God, just help me because she is so exhausted. And then He refills her with His refreshing presence! You don t have to pray long prayers for God to hear you. Just take five. Pray for five minutes. Spend time sharing your heart with God. Read a passage of scripture and meditate on it. Just whisper in your heart to God you love Him or that you need an extra portion of His grace right now with your spouse, child, or neighbor. He will hear you when you call. You heard my voice [then]: [Oh] hide not Your ear [now] at my prayer for relief. You drew near on the day I called to You; You said, Fear not. O Lord, You have pleaded the causes of my soul [You have managed my affairs and You have protected my person and my rights]; You have rescued and redeemed my life! ~Lamentations 3:56-58 (Amplified Bible) Sixth, you don t have to get cleaned up to come to God. God is the one who cleans us up from our sins, and He is VERY good at it! It is by grace alone that we are saved. (Ephesians 2:8) Jesus became the substitute for our sins on the cross. (1 John 2:1-2) The blood He poured out washes us white as snow. (Isaiah 1:18) As we pray, God s love, forgiveness and mercy transforms us from glory to glory. (2 Corinthians 3:18) As we spend time with Him in the secret place, and He reveals His great love for us, we will change into His image. We will then take that love and mercy to a lost and dying world. We will comfort others with the same comfort with which God has given us. (2 Corinthians 1:4) We ll begin to use the gifts He has given us and fulfill the great destiny and calling that is on our lives, for His glory.

7 In God s presence there is fullness of joy. (Psalm 16:11) It isn t easy finding time to pray in today s busy, hectic world. But we can make time. And when we do, it will be so worth it all! Copyright 2009 Beth Jones Tablet Of My Heart To purchase my book or ebook on prayer: walking-with-god/ Here is your BONUS freebie welcome audio! Hold control and click: It is also available at my website: Any questions, comments, or prayer concerns? I d LOVE to hear from you! me personally at elizabethdjones@gmail.com Follow me on Twitter! Add me as a friend on Facebook! Beth-Jones/ Network with me on LinkedIn! Are you subscribed to my blogs and weekly podcast for encouragement from God s word? Subscribe with RSS or by subscription at my website, Want to hear the latest on everything and receive bonus mini-articles and audios? Sign up for my personal mailing list, at the TOP of the page on the right-hand side at

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