Hey Brother,
Do you ever feel like you don’t have time to fellowship with God? I get it. I feel the same way sometimes. There are those days when you come home from work, play with your kids, make dinner, clean up dinner, finally get your kids to bed, and all you want to do is zone out. You don’t want to read your Bible even though you know you should be a godly leader and example to your family. We all have those days.
Other times, you know you need to pray, but life is so busy that you don’t feel like you have the time to set aside to pray. You can’t even get to your quiet place because your toddler is currently using it as a makeshift bat cave. Even your normal throne of solitude (the bathroom) is now a never-ending circus of family members seeking your attention.
The same goes for worship. You were so looking forward to the worship service at church, but you were running late so you missed the entire thing. Even your favorite Christian music station is running commercials instead of music (should have been listening to ad-free Family Radio).
I get it. There are those days when there just never seems to be time to set aside time for fellowship with the Lord. But do you want to know something… something that might help? You don’t have to set aside time for the Lord. In fact, setting aside time shouldn’t be your focus at all.
Now before you angrily jump into the comment section, hear me out. We aren’t called to merely set aside time for God. We are called to live life with God. It’s His time, after all; we’re just borrowing it. Look at the beginning of creation. Before sin entered the world, God walked in the garden with Adam and Eve. He had a personal direct relationship with them. Revelations 21:3 tells us that the final result will be that “The tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” Most of what God did through the Bible was done solely to restore the relationship He had with us before sin entered the picture.
So why is it that we put God in this box of formality and routine? Why do we think worshiping and praying to God must be a big drawn out experience? Sometimes, I think it’s because we compartmentalize God. Worship is for church. Studying the Scripture is for my quiet time. Prayer is for before meals and before bed. We men are great at compartmentalizing, but God does not want to be put in a compartment! He’s not in a box that we take off the shelf at the appropriate time. He wants to be active in our lives!
First Thessalonians 5:16-18 tells us to “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” We aren’t supposed to regulate prayer to only one specific time of day or a specific location. We are to be living life prayerfully, bringing everything and anything to the Lord.
Does He hear us more because we pray more? No. Jesus even warns us about that in Matthew 6:7, “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” No, we should be praying with God throughout the day because we want to have fellowship with Him.
God often uses marriage as a metaphor for His relationship with the body of believers (take a look at Ephesians 5:22-33). Christ is often pictured as the groom, and we, the Church, are His bride. I think marriage, and even dating, are a great example for how we should spend time with God. If you’re dating a woman and you only communicate with her on a specifically scheduled date once a week, you’ll never really get to know that woman. If you’re married, you don’t limit your time with your wife to preordained blocks of time. No, you talk with her while getting ready for work, you text her throughout the day, you do chores together, you get groceries together. You live life together! That’s a real relationship, and that’s what God wants.
The tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. – Revelation 21:3
Now, Brother, I’m not saying we shouldn’t set aside time specifically for the Lord. To continue with the marriage example, no matter how long you are married, you still need to make sure to have date night! Just like date night, those times when we have dedicated worship and prayer with the Lord are wonderful and should be sought after; however, those small moments with God throughout the day can be even more intimate and more meaningful in building a real relationship with Him.
Give it a shot! Talk to God throughout the day, hum a song of praise, read one verse that gives you joy. Before you know it, your life will be filled with moments with God.
Kristopher Galuska
Family Radio Staff