Finding Time

27 Nov Finding Time

“Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 MSG 

This is an age-old problem isn’t it! And it just gets worse as our lives get busier and busier. Balancing our jobs and busy work life, hectic home and personal lives, the struggle to take time out to relax for ourselves, or meet up with people important to us, AND find time for God, delving into the Word and prayer, the concept of adding daily praise to our schedule seems like an impossible task!

Well I’m not going to try and convince you that it’s important – see my previous post! Instead, I want to give you a few extra reasons to try, and a few tips on how it can very easily be done.

1. Worshipping and exalting God is literally the reason for our existance. God made us firstloy and foremostly to have a relationship with Him – i.e. more important than say, TV, or social media, or the Internet, games, or even dare I say, money or your work. At the end of the day, everything we occupy ourselves with during the day amounts to nothing without God at the centre.
2. Praise makes you more efficient! Personally I have found that worship time with God is a valuable investment in all areas of my life. Praising God brings joy, and peace, and clarity of mind that I think makes us better at our work, and is a great opportunity to ask God to guide our steps that day.
3. Praise brings meaning to life. Through praise, we discover who we are, and who God is to us. He reveals His plans to us, and equips us to fulfil them. Doors are opened. Strongholds are broken. We can claim our victories through the act of praise!

So how can we do it better?

1. Build yourself a lifestyle of praise. This should be our ultimate goal, where we’re so God-centred that every spare thought turns back to praise. No preparation needed of our hearts or bodies. No music required. Try to practice a culture of praise in your life, and you’ll find it so much easier.
2. Seize every opportunity. Those boring journeys to or from work. Your coffee breaks. Waiting for dinner to cook. You’ll be suprised how much time of the day we’re just waiting or existing – and wasting! Try to give God the glory while waiting for the kettle to boil, or when you’re on the train. Try putting some Jesus music on in the car. Try building some devotional time into mealtimes. Be imaginitive; make God part of your routine.
3. Quality is better than quantity. Try not to get hung up on time and schedules. If you can stick to a certain time every day where you can actively seek God, then that’s great – keep it up! I know from personal experience, that it sometimes became for me more about the religious performance of having God-time, rather than actually making it meaningful. Empty time with God, where your heart is not in it, is frankly a waste of time, if you havent met with God or have something to take away from it. This is not right. Learn to wait on God. Make every time with Him special.