This week God has been reminding me that time with Him ๐๐ฅ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ comes first. Key on the โalwaysโ because, as Heโs pointed out to me, I have a tendency to let the world distract me. Are any of the following familiar to you? They sure are to me.
- This is super important. I need to get this taken care of first.
- This wonโt take very long. Let me just knock it out of the way quickly.
- This is so heavy on my mind that I need to address it first so that I can focus properly.
I could go on and on but I really love the irony of that last one. Donโt you? As if God isnโt enough to refocus me when the siren of the distractions is calling!
I know that my morning prayer time with God makes all the difference in my world - inner & outer - and God has helped me tweak an outline that takes me through gratitude, prayer requests, listening, journaling, & summarizing. The whole process can take less than 20 minutes and still be powerful.
As integral as that time is to the peace & success of the rest of my day, sometimes I find myself โtoo busyโ or โtoo distractedโ to slow down. Laughable but not really.
(Side note to acknowledge that 20 minutes in the morning is not what God asks of us. Constant conversation throughout the day is the goal but that 20 minutes focused time is a different sort of prayer)
Iโm so grateful that God desires a relationship with me badly enough to demand my attention to Him! And I know without a doubt that Heโs preparing me for times that are too tough for me to handle without Godโs strength and comfort.
How blessed are we to have a God who loves us so!
*****
{Image is a view through a car window on a rainy, overcast day. Raindrops are visible on the window. Tree-covered mountains are fuzzy through the fog and a single tall fir tree is blurry in the foreground.
The scripture is Exodus 20:3
"๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ."}
I chose this picture today because it looks how I feel inside when I start to lose my intimacy with God.
You Shall Have No Other God Before Me.
