I had good intentions. I really did. I was going to do just one more chore and then sit down to read my Bible and pray. Then the phone rang, the laundry finished, and I remembered I needed to make a grocery list. The next thing I knew, it was time to cook supper and I had never made time to be alone with God. Well, I can always sit down after supper, I thought. But then the evening was over and I fell, exhausted, into bed.
It is so easy for this scenario to become a daily occurrence. Life just gets in the way of spending time in communion with God. Even with the best of intentions, sometimes it is just really hard to follow our carefully laid plans. Beating myself up over not taking the time I need with God – that’s easy.
Sometimes I need to remind myself that, while spending time in Scripture and prayer is beneficial, I should be in communion with God all day long. It’s not just another thing that needs to get ticked off my daily to-do list.
First Thessalonians 5:17 says, “pray without ceasing.” Am I praying continually through the day or am I just relying on that planned study and prayer time? If I want to nurture a relationship with my Father, my Savior, I need to speak to Him and listen for Him throughout the day. Imagine if we scheduled a half hour, or even an hour per day, to speak to our spouses but then we ignored them the rest of the day. So many important things would go unsaid and unheard. Soon we’d see some pretty big cracks in our relationship.
The same thing is true of my relationship with God. Even when I am unable to spend that planned time with Him, I can still be praying throughout the day. I can still be listening for His voice in the midst of my noisy day.
Striving to spend quiet time alone with God is so valuable but so too is realizing that I can be in communion with Him as I navigate those busy, unplanned days that we all experience. Rather than berating myself over things I cannot control, I need to remind myself that I can pray continuously wherever I am and whatever I am doing.
