Move Over to the Right Lane

My emphasis this month in discipleship is prayer. You know, talking with God. Sometimes we try to turn it into something else by speaking in a language that is foreign to ourselves. We talk to God in a language that is different than the one we speak everyday. It doesn't sound like us. It may sound manufactured with a vocabulary out of another point in time. God just wants us to talk with Him.

You say, "I would love to meet with the Lord every day and just talk with Him. I'd like to just share what is on my mind, what I am struggling with, and what my concerns are, but I never seem to have enough time. What can I do about the time factor?"

I think we have to slow down by moving into the "slow lane", you know, the lane on the right for the slower moving traffic. I guess you could either slow down, or change your lifestyle altogether.

Many people today are up by 6:00 A.M. and don't go to bed until midnight. That is an 18-hour day! Medical authorities tell us that we are "sleep deprived". We were once told that if we got at least 6 hours of sleep each night that we would be okay. Not true anymore. Now some leading researchers are saying that most people need 8 hours of good sleep each night for maximum efficiency.

If a person needs to get up at 6:00 A.M. in order to be at work on time, then it may mean going to bed by 10:00 P.M. What an adjustment!

Even with that kind of change, we would still need to use our time wisely in order to have time to pray. First, analyze how well you spend your time after getting up in the morning and before you actually walk out the door to leave for work. Maybe some of that time could be transferred to prayer time. Could one use half their lunch hour to eat and half of it to pray? Could one use their time more productively from the time they get home in the evening until they retire for the night? Could we readjust our self-imposed schedule to find 15-20 minutes to meet with God before we go to bed?

Taking my own advice, allow me to show you what I'm going to do with tomorrow's schedule. I will get up at about 6:10 and leave for the gym around 6:30 when Patti leaves for school. I'll have a workout from 7:00-8:00 and then head home. About 8:30 the house will be quiet and I'm going back to my office to spend some time alone with the Lord. Then I will shave and shower and I've got an Eye Doctor appointment. I may go straight to work depending on how long I have to wait at the doctor's office. Whatever the case, I'll get the important matters taken care of as top priorities.

You say, "That's great for someone who goes into work later in the day, but what about those who arrive at work at 8:00, or even before?" That happens to me on Tuesday and Wednesday. Here's what I am going to do. I really enjoy watching the news in the morning before I leave for work. I'm going to cut that time in half and spend the other half with the Lord.

You just have to find a way to be creative with your own personal schedule sometime between sunrise and the time you turn in at night. Will it be difficult to add something to an already crowded personal schedule. You bet it will! But, we seem to find time somewhere to do the things we really want to do. Good luck in the slow lane.