Power In Priorities

There is power when we begin to prioritize our prayer life.

For something that allows us a moment of communication with the one who shaped the universe, we often find ourselves abandoning the blessing that we've been given to share our hearts with our Creator. When we pass on opportunities to pray or to dive into the Word, we are also passing on opportunities to hear God's voice. He wants to meet with us and He wants to speak to us! He wants to fill us up when we are running on empty. We must be intentional with the time that we spend with Jesus.

The enemy wants to keep us too busy for Jesus so we miss out on the authority and power that we receive when we schedule intentional moments with our Maker.

Somewhere along the line we have bought into the lie that we don't have enough time to pencil in a moment with the Lord. We find time for our kid's  schedules, we make time for our to-do lists, we have time to catch up on our favorite TV shows, and we somehow manage to create time to complete the handful of other obligations and commitments that we've made. We know how to make time to do what we want to do. However, we struggle to figure out a way to consistently delegate a moment of our day to spend with God.

Hear me when I say this: there is nothing wrong with any of those tasks I listed above that can consume our day. We only have a problem when those tasks begin to take a higher place on our list of priorities and start to become idols in our lives. The enemy wants us to put any and every thing above Jesus, but the Lord says that He wants to be FIRST. Satan wants us to remain in the mindset of believing that it's okay to put prayer and time in the Word on the back burner of our agenda. He wants us to reason away intentional time with God by using the excuse of our jam packed schedule or our lack of energy. I will not be taken out that easily by the enemy's tactics! He knows how prayer will change us! He knows how the Word will strengthen our faith and foundation as we soak it all in. The enemy knows that we will gain the wisdom and skill set to battle back and call him out once we are fully equipped with the armor of God! Why else do you think he tries so hard to distract us from the very thing that he knows he cannot stand against?!

Here's the deal: 

We have to spend time with Jesus first and foremost. We have to move from the mindset of giving Jesus what's left of our day, to giving Him the best of our day. We need to move from our to-do list revolving around us and our timeline, to our to-do list revolving around God and His timeline.

When we shift this priority, our whole day shifts with it. We will go from not having enough time, to having more than enough time. We will go from chaos and anxiety to a state of peace. From no energy to more than enough strength. From not recognizing Him at work, to experiencing His protection and provision even in the smallest parts of our day. We will grow from operating in a place of fear to walking boldly in our promised victory because we know that our God has already won the war.

You guys! The power that we receive and the confidence we will be able to walk in because we have met with God, gives us the extra pep in our step that we need to be on guard and to be on the look out for the enemy as he prowls around. We will not be devoured because we are caught off guard. We will not be held captive by the misuse of our time. We will not be robbed of the intimacy that we are called to operate in with the Holy Spirit because we have been fooled to believe that He is too far out of reach or that we lack the proper qualifications to experience the presence of God. 

I will not be fooled.
I will not be overcome.
I will not be too busy for Jesus.

Blessings,
-B

Are you someone who can relate to this struggle? Here are some practical ways to dive in:

1. Purchase a study bible.
2. Find a devotional to guide your reading and to help you study.
3. Buy a prayer journal to write in!
4. Make a goal and stick to it. Text a friend for accountability.
5. Grab a planner! Make a weekly schedule of all your obligations. Pray over it. What should stay? What can go? How can you better prioritize your tasks?
6. For the reader who needs to hear this: It's okay to say, "No." or "Sorry, I can't!" when asked to do something that you truly just don't have time to do and are already being stretched too thin. Just throwing that out there!
 

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