Devotions

Doing the Impossible

“Have a quiet time? Spend time in prayer? Read my Bible more? Oh I know I should but you don’t know my schedule. What with shopping, little league, committee meeting, church activities, travel time to work, over time, hobbies, helping the kids with home work, running here and there, I just don’t have time. Lord, you understand don’t you? You know I want to spend time with you don’t you? I know you understand.”

Many, many years ago a man by the name of A. W. Tozer wrote, “Modern civilization is so complex as to make the devotional life all but impossible.” He wrote those words long before there was multi-channel TV, youth sports leagues, super churches with all their activities, job demands, committees, clubs, and all those so-called “time-saving” things that in reality rob us of so much of our time.

But it’s not just the demands of our world that crowd in and hinder our time with our private time with our Lord. More often than not, the biggest hindrance to establishing an intimate time with God is not something outside of us, but our own reluctance to choose to spend time in prayer and Bible reading.

So, how do we go about attempting to do what seems to be impossible to do? Let’s start my setting out 3 basic facts:

Fact #1: Let’s be honest and confess our own failure to make time for God. We always do what we really want to do.

Fact #2 We need to recognize that spending time with God is essential for our spiritual lives. It should be as vital to us as making sure we get through food every day. Martin Luther said, “I have too much to do today not to spend time with God.”

Face #3 We must develop a plan. In Psalm 5:3 for example, we see that David scheduled special time with God in the mornings. There we read, Ps 5:3 “In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.” You need to have a plan. You have a plan to eat. You need a plan for when you will meet with God as well.

With those facts in mind, shut out the complex world around you and start opening your heart to the incredible joy that comes from devoting yourself to the Lord. You will find that you can do what seems to be impossible.