Is this a waste of time?

"One of the greatest attacks of the enemy is to make you busy, to make you hurried, to make you noisy, to make you distracted, to fill the people of God and the Church of God with so much noise and activity that there is no room for prayer. There is no room for being alone with God. There is no room for silence. There is no room for meditation." (Reverand Paul Washer)

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. (I Thessalonians 5:16-18 NLT)

Prayer is more than us connecting with God, sharing our hearts with him. It is the very thing that unleashes the powers of heaven on our behalf! It opens the floodgates of God's defenses, driving our enemy to his knees, and pushing back the forces of darkness that seek to bring us to ours!

Whenever we become too busy or preoccupied with the events of life to take time to be alone with Jesus, we are inviting chaos into our lives. Our spiritual enemy isn't overjoyed when we press in - he is overjoyed when we 'zone out'. The ease at which we 'zone out' is kind of frightening, most of us not even realizing we have done so.

We definitely need to 'make room' for Jesus in our day. I am a firm believer that it should be the first part of our day - giving God our best and first has always been one of the principles taught in scripture. I also believe that God isn't impressed by the 'quantity' of time we spend with him - he is more concerned about our focus while we are with him in those times.

When we focus entirely on him, what we gain in even a few minutes with him is invaluable. We might not even realize how 'empty' we have become over the hours of our day, but he knows exactly how to fill our tank once again. We don't realize how quickly and perfectly the chaotic mess of life can be sorted in just a few moments alone with him, totally focused on him, intent on finding truth in his Word and sharing our heart with him.

God isn't after our 'hours' - he is after our 'moments'. He isn't after our 'perfect prayers' - he is looking for our honest sharing. He isn't impressed with our 'bible knowledge' - he wants to share exactly what we need for our present day. We come - he meets us there. We surrender - he takes on our burden. We confess - he washes away every stain of our sin. Prayer isn't wasted time - it is worth more than gold or silver. Just sayin!