Of course I know He means it in the most loving, nurturing way.
Seven months ago I had a nice regimented order in my daily life consisting of private prayer, work, ministry in the House of Prayer, family time, my time working on my art & music, and teaching art and music. Sounds like a lot, but I had it down to a science, almost.
Since we moved here, I have slowly gotten out of the routine. Since I have so much more time, I don't have to be so tightly structured. It seems like I relaxed a little bit at a time, and now I find myself going, going, going again. My time sitting completely got away from me!
(this photo is my little corner in the prayer room where i like to walk, i often feel the Lord there)
Though I schedule 4-5 hours per day to sit and read and pray, I haven't hit those hours in a while. I started to worry, "am I falling back into a "ministry of doing" type routine? Part of what I have personally been going through is the demands of Ministry verses Ministry to the One.
For me, I have some specifics that the Lord has highlighted to me that have caused my decline, how about you? Are you taking time to sit before the Lord? That's all, just sit there, and be still?
"Be still and know that I am God..." Psalm 46:10
Honestly, I love spending time with the Lord, but I have a really hard time sitting still! I never realized what a hard time I had until I had the time to sit!Maybe you can identify? I desire to "do" for God, but what i really need is to "draw" from God!
What did I decide to do about this predicament you ask? (Glad you did!) I renewed my Sacred Trust Commitment to the Lord this week! What is a "Sacred Trust" you ask? (Glad you did!) It is a schedule I am committed to in private and corporate prayer.
For myself, this looks like scheduled times on my google calendar, which I share with others. This helps keep me accountable to be "unavailable" when I am scheduled to be with the Lord.
I heard Kirk Bennett say on a teaching once, "You say you have a prayer life? Show me your schedule, and I'll tell you if you have a prayer life." OUCH! But it is so true!
I want to encourage anyone reading this to make a schedule with the Lord, time(s) you are meeting with Him privately, and time(s) you are setting aside to your local Prayer House.
Feel free to email me through my contact page for questions about Sacred Trust schedules or calendars. I'd be happy to email you a sample!
Here's to sitting!
- gina
I am right there with you. I fell like I am on a non-stop roller coaster these days. My corporate "sitting" time is sporadic, and my personal prayer time is inconsistent. I am thankful we share our "sacred trust calendars" so that we can keep one another accountable. I plan to complete mine early next week. Well it's 1:20a and I'm finally off to bed. So not good! Night Night!
ReplyDeleteI like what Kirk said but I want to make sure that when I embrace the schedule, I don't treat it like another "to do" on the list. I want the schedule to provide a committed time devoted to the Lord...and not a means of condemnation if I don't exactly achieve it. Just wanted to point that out. ;-)
ReplyDelete@Greg, yes I agree, in no way did I mean to be religious, but assertive. Make it happen. If I dont put it on my schedule, One day turns into two days, two days turns into a week, and before you know it, I barely met with the Lord for a whole month.
ReplyDeletegood encouragement to schedule. we have our entire staff listen to mike bickle's power of a focused life teaching every six months. we are continually tweaking with our personal schedules. i love how mike says that if he accomplishes his schedule consistently for 70% of the time, that is success. 90% is amazing! i find the urgent in life compel me more than the important, so these types of reminders help me make sure i am making time for what i do value and that i don't give in to all the pressures to just take care of the urgent which clamor loudest. i have a way to go with this as i find it hard to schedule as detailed as my husband does because of having so many little ones and a baby. i do more general blocks of time where his is much more detailed and broken down.
ReplyDeletemy recent post: david wilkerson and a call to anguish