I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:13

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, but just because I can, doesn’t mean I should. Saying no is a healthy thing.  Saying no is also a relatively uncomfortable thing to do. So much emphasis is put on getting stuff done. Day planners promise fulfilled days if we can just get organized. Our lives will run so much better if we only learn to plan every minute, every hour of our day and check and double check to make sure we are on track. Ugh!

I don’t know about you, but I like blank pages in my day planner. I don’t get many of those, but I like them just the same. I read yesterday that a very successful CEO of some company puts two things on his day as priority. He writes them down the night before. He suggested the readers might be more successful in reaching goals if we followed suit. It might be good advice. Two things, how hard is that?

Then today, at prayer group, the discussion came up of making time in our lives for committed, regular prayer. Of course, we could all think of how difficult that might be. Then we brainstormed ways to be gentle on ourselves and move in the direction of committed prayer time. It occurred to me that, perhaps, on our list of two items to be done the next day, prayer could be one of them. It could be a couple of minutes, we could be aided by prayers written by other people, we could just sing our prayers, light a candle and whisper our heart to God without the pretense of our words being so important that we trip over them. He knows what’s going on in our hearts. Prayer could be as simple as sitting quietly and allowing a little bit of His peace to infuse my life. We got these ideas from a book on prayer by Richard Foster.

Saying no to some events, even worthwhile ones, may be awkward, but it’s ok. We don’t have to have our minutes scheduled out to be productive, worthwhile people. God accepts us as we are, even on days when the day planner has blank pages.

Father, my life is so full sometimes, there is no room for You. I am not telling You anything You don’t already know. I think that in the busyness of my day, in the productivity of my day, I will find value, but You and I both know that I won’t. I have already been given value by You. So much value that You sent Your son Jesus to take my sins, to right the wrongs of my life, to bring meaning to my life, to lead me back to You – my source of value and worth. Thank You and please forgive me for the times I am just too busy to sit at Your feet. Help me with this commitment to prayer, help me make the time. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

I would love to hear from you. Please let me know if I can be praying for you as well.