Originally published Monday, 01 April 2019.
Oh, my goodness! Have you ever encountered constant interruptions when you’re trying to spend time alone with God? I don’t know about you, but I know this happens to me sometimes. I mean everything starts coming to mind about what I need to do for that day and beyond. And before you know it, my day is gone!
Honestly, I think this is becoming more prevalent in today’s day and culture, because just about everyone is so busy and has so much to do! Yet, no matter how much we have to do, I truly believe that we need to conquer unnecessary interruptions, so that we can get everything that we need to get out of our time spent alone with our precious Heavenly Father.
We have to remember that God is jealous for us and He longs to spend time alone with us. Jesus was our great example of this, because He went away to be alone with the Father, often. Actually, He spent hours away with Him. Matthew 14:23 says, “With the crowd dispersed, he climbed the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night.”
Personally, I LOVE spending time alone with the Lord (seriously, sis!). One of my favorite ways to get away to be with Him is in my backyard on a crisp, cool morning in prayer and with my Bible, journal, pen, highlighter, and a few books that will help me grow as a Christian woman. I literally can spend hours alone with Him.
But even though I can spend hours alone with Him, guess what, sis? Interruptions are constantly vying for my attention. There’s the phone alerts, the ideas of what I’d like to get done that day, the reminders of errands that I need to run or meetings that I need to get ready for, or emails that I need to read and respond to (like some of yours). ;-) And let’s not even talk about the strong desire to see who liked, shared, or commented on the last social media post! It’s crazy! Can you relate to any of these?
If you can, then you feel my pain. Yet, there are so many women out there like us. Nevertheless, we have to conquer the interruptions and counteract the plans of the enemy (because I totally believe the he’s scheming on us with this extreme busyness).
So here are a few intentional ways on how you can conquer interruptions…
- Find a place that you know would be good for you to be alone with the Lord and make it there
- Pray and ask the Lord to settle you down and give you His supernatural peace to fill your mind and heart (so that you don’t feel rushed or hurried to move onto the next thing to do)
- Turn off the phone, silence it, or flip it over so that you can’t even see the new alerts pop up on your screen (I know this can be hard, but you can do it, sis)
- Fight the temptation to turn it over to take a quick peek at it, too! (I’m telling you, I’ve been there too many times – that’s an interruption)
- In regards to your emails, set a time to respond later (I need to get better at this)
- Be intentional, and be still before the Lord (Psalm 46:10). Rest in His presence
I hate to say it this way, but in today’s day and age, you and I will have to fight against the enemy for this time. He is seriously stepping up his game on us in this specific way, and we have got to be aware of his tactics. The truth is, he does not want us to spend time alone with the Lord, because he knows that’s where we draw our strength, get provision and wisdom, comfort, healing, deliverance, encouragement, and get to know Him greater. I would add that he also interrupts us from trying to get things accomplished in the work the needs to get done, as well.
So, let’s fight back and be determined to take the time to spend alone time with the Lord and do what we’re called to do at home, work, ministry, and beyond. Let’s fight against the interruptions and conquer them as soon as they come. Most importantly, let’s do whatever it takes, because God longs to spend time with His daughters (and sons). Believe it or not, we need it more than we could ever know, especially today.
Remember, Jesus is coming back soon! And those who endure unto the end shall be saved. So let’s be ready from the Inside Out!
~Courtnaye
QUESTION: Do you find it hard to fight off the interruptions in your life, sis - especially as it relates to spending quality time with God? What's the main interruption? Also, do you need prayer today? If you need prayer on this topic or something else, you can email me directly @ insideoutwithcourtnaye@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you and praying for you.
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