Prayer Priorities

John Osborne

Have you ever looked ahead and thought, “Wow, this is going to be a busy week?” or, “How am I going to get all of this done?” There are projects that need completed. There are appointments that were made weeks ago that need attention. There are people that must be contacted. There is the family issue that popped up late last week. Some of these and many more you may be able relate to.

How does one juggle it all? How does one make sure to give energy to everything? Is that even possible or profitable?

All of us have struggled with scenarios like these, where there seems to be more to do than time to do it. We then prioritize what needs done in our minds, or we wrestle with the urgent instead of the important.

The last thing we should ever cut or minimize is our quiet time with God. Martin Luther is attributed with saying, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” Three hours? How?

I am reminded of Jesus’ priority of spending time with His Father in prayer. Whether it was in the morning or at night we see Jesus pull away from the crowds, the expectations of others, from all of His public ministry, and even from leading his own followers.

In Mark 1:35 we read, “In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.”

Then in Luke 6:12, “It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.”

Whether you are an early riser or like to stay up late, there is no better way to stay focused on what is most important than to spend time in prayer. Since this was a common practice of the Son of God and Savior of the world, who are we to think any differently for ourselves? We read in Luke 5:16, “But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.”

It does appear with all the modern conveniences of our day and with all the great technology at our fingertips that our lives tend to be overwhelmingly busy. If left unchecked, busyness can lead to barrenness. May we not minimize our time in prayer. May we in fact prioritize our time with God because we are so busy.