Spiritual People TAKE TIME!

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, 

he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

                                                                                                                               Mk.1:35   

It is a fact of the Bible, that spiritual people take time to personally meet with God, in quiet one on one sessions. Jesus himself, chose early morning times as indicated by Mark's reference.  Many godly men and women rose early to meet with God. Among these are

• Abraham (Genesis 19:27)
• Jacob (Genesis 28:18)
• Moses (Exodus 34:4)
• Job (Job 1:5)
• Hannah and Elkanah (1 Samuel 1:19)
• David (Psalm 5:3; 57:7,8)
• Isaiah (Isaiah 26:9)
• Ezekiel (Ezekiel 12:8)

Now, you might be saying, "I can't do things like that early in the morning - I'm not a morning person."  I can relate to that. Often I can't begin to function or even think until I have the first cup of coffee down.  The best time is when you are at your best! Give God the best part of your day, when you are the freshest and most alert. Do NOT try to serve God with your "leftover" time, as that can become an excuse not to do it. Remember, too, that your best time may be different from someone else’s. For the time you choose to be effective, you must select a specific time to meet with the Lord each day and decide how long it should be - then commit to it!  Whatever time you set, be consistent in it. Schedule it on your calendar and make an appointment with God as you would with anyone else.  You make time for them, so make time for God outside of worship times and meal times. Then look forward to it, and don’t stand him up. We don't like it when someone stands us up when they have scheduled our time to meet with them. A stood-up date is not a pleasant experience for us, and Jesus does not like to be stood up either. So make a date with him, and keep it at all costs.

How much time should you spend with the Lord?  If you’ve never had a consistent appointment with God before, you may want to start with a minimum of seven minutes (Robert D. Foster, Seven Minutes with God, NavPress, 1997) and let it grow naturally. Aim to eventually spend not less than 15 minutes a day with the Lord and you may even find that 15 minutes is not enough.  Eventually, it will depend on you and your own schedule. 

 Whether you agree with the doctrines of these men or not, it seems significant to me that John Wesley,  spent two hours daily in prayer and commonly stated that ‘God does nothing but in answer to prayer.’ Martin Luther said, ‘If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.’

So, what say you? Jesus did it. Major biblical figures did it. Noted religious men of the past did it. What about you? What are the things that you regularly put before or in place of time that you should be spending with God? What steps will you take today to re-prioritize your day so that God has the first and last word?

Jim