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The Awesome Power of Putting Prayer First

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Have you ever heard the little song, “Take time out for Jesus and He’ll take time for you”? Well, this has been something that has stuck with me since my college years. As I studied missions as a minor, one of our required reading was “George Muller’s” biography. While I read, I came across a chapter where he spoke about taking time to pray. He mentioned that he got more work done when he took time to pray rather than when he did not. Say for example, he had four free hours to get some work done. If he jumped on board right away to try to get it done without first stopping to pray, the entire four hours seemed to fly by without him getting much done. But when he took some time out of that four hours to first stop and pray he found himself to be more productive.

The awesome power of putting prayer first

I love that! Isn’t it so true, though? Prayer has the Power to help us get through our many tasks and responsibilities. This has been my testimony on multiple occasions, too. Yet, more often, I find myself jumping to the task at hand before me rather than stopping to pray first.

You see, I am the type of person that would like to pray and spend time in God’s word early in the morning. You know when the kids are all asleep and it is just so peaceful and a little sunlight is shinning through the windows. However, as it is these days with three little ones this does not always happen. Usually, our little four month old baby is the one who wakes me up with a tiny cry or when our four year old daughter gets up and comes into my room. “Oh no, not again!” I say to myself. “I was up an hour ago with all good intentions to read and pray but I must have drifted back to sleep!”

And then we all know what happens next. The day has began and now I must wait until the kids go for a nap to spend some time alone with God. That is if they go for a nap. There are days when they do and others when they don’t, depending on the events of the day. Two of them are at the point where they could totally stay away all day. And even if they do nap, I find myself occupied with other things such as blogging. Although, lately I have intentionally made myself spend time in prayer and bible reading before opening that computer. But truthfully, there are times when the entire day goes by without me getting to spend personal time with God. And then I fall right asleep during prayer time at nights if I am just way to tired.

Can I pray while I am working on stuff around the home. Sure! But I tend to get distracted and cannot really focus on prayer as I would like, too.ย The point is that there is no hard rule in the bible that says we have to pray in the morning. But there are examples where believers and even Jesus himself rose up and prayed early in the morning (Mark 1:35). There is just something about early morning prayer that sets my heart for the day ahead. I find that the day goes better. Well, not always. But I do find that I have some sense of direction in knowing what I am about.ย This is why I prefer that alone morning time before the kids get up because once they are up, it is just one thing after the other. It is not always easy to find that alone time (or so it seems) to stop and pray when you have to care for little ones amidst all the other responsibilities of home. I am not beating myself up over it, though. Because I do believe that God gives grace. But I don’t want to be careless at the same time and use God’s grace as an excuse for my own lack of time management.

I have written about Sitting At Jesus’ Feet before. Taking time to spend with Jesus each day is so refreshing for the soul. When we seem to be overwhelmed with the daunting tasks of home we need to remember that taking time for Jesus is a must! The little saying, “we cannot out-give God” is usually quoted when referring to giving money for ministerial purposes. But I think it is so applicable for every area of our lives, too. When we make time for Him, he makes more for us. If you find yourself wandering because you have so much to do, just stop and pray, if you can. You will find that you have more peace and direction as to where to begin and you will have more time to complete the tasks before you. Even if you don’t complete everything in one setting you will still find joyย and you will not be stressed out! Believe me, I have seen it work over and over and over again in my own life. I am always amazed of how just putting prayer and time with God works so well.ย 

I have never heard of anyone who has regretted spending time with God despite how busy they were.ย Remember though, don’t just pray to check off a list that you have prayed. It is more about your personal relationship with God and keeping your fellowship with Him. Even more so, we want to be intentional about carrying out His will for us. Reading our Bibles and praying are the two best ways I know off that will help us keep in line with God’s desires. So Put Prayer First!!

How are you doing with your time for Jesus? Do you find it hard to focus when you skip prayer time? I would love to know your thoughts in the comments!

She looketh well to the ways of her household and eateth not the bread of idleness (Proverbs 31:27; KJV).

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12 thoughts on “The Awesome Power of Putting Prayer First

  1. I think the morning is a great time. For me, the kids are older and the best time is for quiet is after they have all gone to school.

    1. I can just imagine how quiet it is at your place once the kids go to school. I love morning quiet but so not a happening these days – but it is a season. I take whatever quiet I can get throughout the day:)

  2. Thank you so much for this encouraging post. It makes me so thankful, that God encourages us to pray all the time. To ask for help. I am not good in those well formulated prayers, I mostly pray while I go, drive, work … . The good thing is, God is with us everywhere.

  3. I always told my kids, “Put God first and he’ll put you first!” I remember being in the season of small kids and finding it hard to make time to pray. As I grew older I realized that we do go through seasons in life and there will come a time when you will have more time to devote to prayer. The heartfelt prayer of a righteous man (or woman) makes tremendous power available, dynamic in it’s working. (James 5:26 Amplified) ๐Ÿ™‚

  4. I read this through tears, with such a check because to be completely honest, I find myself so out of touch with God lately, and I couldnt pin down why until reading this. I used to have such powerful prayer time before having my third baby, but since she came along my life has been tipped upside down (mostly for the good… she is such a blessing to us) but holy cow has a third baby changed our lives. I am so tired and worn out that I take any sleep I can get, but I know, in my heart I need to take those early mornings back and really really pray. Thank you for this. You sound like such an amazing woman, and you definitely have a new reader!!

    1. Nicole, thank you so much for your kind comment. I too needed this encouragement. I write posts like these to encourage myself and others. It is so hard with little kids to remain focus in areas like these, you know. But God knows the different seasons of our lives. We just have to trust Him to help us do the best we can. So glad you found encouragement through this. Did not mean to make you cry:)

  5. I’m more of a I Thes. 5:17 kind of prayer…”Pray without ceasing”. I may be praying all throughout the day from time to time. I don’t feel like prayer has to be a long, oratory communication, it can be a few brief sentences all throughout the day. I’m so glad that God understands that sometimes our attention spans won’t allow us to have a formal prayer time but he accepts our prayers all the time.
    Great food for thought Zan!

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