By Theresa Moore
We live in a very busy world. I’m sure we can all relate to that feeling of a constant “go, go, go!” and not being able to catch our breath. These feelings are valid, and the majority of the time, we are busy with good and important things. But when it gets to the point where our daily prayer life is no longer one of those important things, we need to actively make the choice to change that.
We all serve the Lord in different ways through our everyday lives. For some, that may be through your occupation, by the way you love others, by being a parent and sacrificing for your family, etc. These are all ways of serving the Lord daily and making him a priority. But we need to remember to have that personal relationship with him as well. No matter where we are at in our lives, we can’t wait until we’re “less busy” to have a personal relationship with our Lord.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.” These words stuck with me when I was struggling to make personal prayer a priority in my daily life. I wasn’t actively making it a choice, and therefore, kept “putting it off until tomorrow”. I fell into the trap of making the same excuses repeatedly. When I was in college, I always thought “next semester I’ll be less busy, THEN I’ll focus on daily prayer.” “After I get this project done” or “once I catch up on this ” or “once I get into this new routine”. The list could go on and on!!
My volleyball coach used to always tell us that life was about “amping up”. Life continues to get busier, more challenging, and full of new obstacles. These are signs of growth as the Lord continues to challenge us in new ways. My coach’s words echo in my head as I fight against these excuses as to why I am too busy, stressed, or tired for daily prayer. What I realized is that no matter what I may be going through right now, the Lord will meet me where I’m at. Whether my current struggle is something big, or something as small as being tired that day, I can’t wait for it to pass to make time for him. He loves me and he knows my struggles and what is going on in my life better than anyone. Rather than making things in my daily life an excuse, I decided to take those things to prayer. That way, I can meet the Lord where I’m at.
Something that helps me to make prayer a priority is to choose it daily. When I wake up in the morning, I decide when and where I will pray that day. When I don’t do that, prayer ends up happening “when I feel like it” (which I think we all know, actually means never.) Deciding the time and place, and sometimes even setting a timer are ways that help me to fight against the temptation to push prayer off for tomorrow. Maybe this strategy isn’t for you, but I encourage you to find the things that help you to make your relationship with God an active, daily choice.
So my message to you is this: Don’t wait to have a relationship with the Lord. Meet the Lord where you are at, wherever that may be. No matter how busy you are, even if you are busy with good things, it is important to actively put our Lord at the top of that priority list. Choose him everyday rather than “putting it off until tomorrow” just as I did. Don’t wait to have a personal relationship with the Lord. The time is now.
Born Dignified 