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From: SF Daily Devotional
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2010 3:28 AM
Subject: SF Daily Devotional - Is Alone Time With God Realistic?
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Tuesday, March 09, 2010 Print Article
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Is Alone Time With God Realistic?
Christopher J Harris
If you're like me, you have a busy schedule, which includes
family time, meetings, calls, reading, errands, traveling, shopping, and an
ongoing To-Do List. Sometimes it's simply frustrating. And this is just Monday!
It is common for frustration to set in for many of us when we start thinking
about the reality of having regular prayer time. Many believers struggle with
having a consistent, fulfilling prayer life. I've been there before.
What's more frustrating for believers is when preachers start
talking about how Jesus got up early in the morning to seek out a relationship
with the Father. My response sometimes has been, "I'm not Jesus!" , and I'm a
preacher too!
So all of these realities push me to wonder, with our hectic
schedules, does God really expect us to seek Him out in prayer on a regular
basis? The answer is - Yes AND No.
Let me deal with the 'No' first. Many times, unfortunately,
we've been taught incorrectly about our prayer life. Many have been taught to
approach prayer as an activity versus an experience. There were times that I'd
take my wife to the movies to 'keep her off my back'. With this approach, we
both were guaranteed not to enjoy the evening.
When I changed my approach and engaged in the evening as a
fresh encounter to build relationship, personally relax, and more importantly,
simply connect, the experience turned out much more positive for the both of
us. This should be your approach to prayer. If prayer is just something to do,
it will never be exciting. When prayer is an experience, you will always look
forward to a fresh encounter.
In our highly competitive environment, we have often compared
ourselves to others and what we've assumed their prayer life is like. This
mindset can only lead to aggravation. We really aren't fully aware of what kind
of prayer life others have from a distance. Unless, we have engaged in a
personal dialogue about other's private prayer life, everything is conjecture.
We must always be realistic about our prayer life based on what season of life
we are in.
A retiree without a rigid schedule may be able to incorporate
more free time in prayer than a single parent with kids. Although both may need
prayer just as much, each individual will have to approach this very
differently. The single parent may be too exhausted to rise at 5:00am or remain
awake at midnight to engage in time with the Father. On the other hand, that
single parent may be able to do devotionals for 15 minutes in the car prior to
starting their day and then spend some lunch time in prayer and journaling as
God speaks to their heart.
The retiree may have the flexibility in their schedule to go
for multiple hours to the church and pray. This realistic approach is much more
freeing than a rigid, traditional thought process about prayer. More
importantly, it places a premium on relationship versus religious behavior. God
desires relationship.
Finally, many of us have approached prayer without any sort
of strategic plan at all. Simply put, if we are to bombard heaven with prayers
that avail much (James 5: 16), we must be strategic. We should take time and
develop a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual prayer agenda. This agenda must be
personal, and most importantly, relevant. If you don't have a heart for the
homeless, it won't make sense for you to attempt to spend an hour praying for
this group. Develop a strategic plan to pray for what you have a heart for.
You're not less spiritual because of this.
So yes, prayer with God is expected and necessary. It is
expected if you :
A) desire to really connect with God as your Father
B) maintain your spiritual growth and mental stability
and C) desire to continue to serve as an intercessor for
others.
It is not a thing to do, but an on-going journey to stay on.
You never arrive at a destination of prayer. You only engage in an on-going
experience of conversations with God, our provider. How we do it...well, that's
up to you and God. Enjoy the Encounter!
Overseer Christopher J. Harris, a native of Palatka,
Florida, currently serves as the Youth & College Pastor at Cedar Grove
Tabernacle of Praise in North Carolina. He also serves as the International
General Overseer of the Children & Youth Division for Full Gospel Baptist
Church Fellowship International. He and his wife, Carmen, are the parents of
three children. For more information about Overseer Christopher Harris, log
onto www.ChristopherJHarris.com or you can follow him at
twitter.com/cjharrisone.
© Christopher J Harris all rights reserved.
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