How busy are you? I can almost see you roll your eyes, sigh, and think about all that is on your agenda today…this week. I woke up the other morning at 3:15am thinking of several key projects I had on my list. I wasn’t sure if I would get back to sleep. Too much to think about!

So…where does “time with the Lord” show up on your To Do list? At the top? Near the bottom? Not on the list?

American Gospel singer Larnell Harris sang a song with words from God’s perspective.

I miss My time with you….

And it hurts me when you say

You’re too busy, busy trying to serve Me

But how can you serve Me When your spirit’s empty….

When I was manager of Christian radio station KCBI in Dallas, I often told the staff, “We can’t effectively send a message outside the walls of the station that isn’t happening inside the walls.

God’s love? Forgiveness? Grace? Humility? Are these evident in your ministry and in your work? I realized something as I would talk to the staff about that. It first had to begin with me. And it first had to begin with my personal time with God. Bible study. Prayer…and not just talking to God but listening to Him…to hear what the Lord wants to say to me.

I also realized I had to exhibit Jesus’ nature in my daily life. Love. Forgiveness. Grace. Humility.

The second radio station I ever worked for, while still in college, was a major market secular station. On one wall was a little sign that said:

To err is human; to forgive divine. Neither are the policies here!

It was meant as a joke, but it still sent the message: Don’t expect any grace in this place.

Martin Luther is quoted as saying,

“If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. ”

We can see that philosophy in the life of Jesus. We are often told of the Savior’s times of solitude and prayer.

Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Mark 1:35 NLT

Well, I’m not in Martin Luther’s realm in my prayer life. But I can follow the pattern Jesus set and carve out early hours for the study of God’s Word and a time of prayer…listening for His voice in my heart.

How about you? Let’s see what the Lord can do in our lives and in our ministries as we move towards more time with the Heavenly Father…before things become too busy.