Jesus lived just thirty-three years on earth, and spent only three years in ministry.

In this short time, Jesus had to provide God's only way of salvation for all of humanity; He had to establish His training program (through scriptural teaching and personal example) to explain God's kingdom to the whole world; and He had to equip His ground-level leaders (in deep theology and practical life skills) for future global impact.

Yet even with such a limited time allotment and such an eternally important job, Jesus was never rushed or stressed-out. In spite of all He needed to do, Jesus took time to pray.

God's perspective is so much different than ours.

Jesus took thirty years to live as a simple carpenter, and to simply "be" with His Heavenly Father. Jesus was totally perfect and totally God-in-the-Flesh, yet throughout His life He took time to seek God's direction and guidance. Even when everyone else was busy and multitudes had pressing needs, Jesus took time to be quiet and to get away, and to pray.

The Bible displays the time priorities of Jesus in Mark 1:35-38:

"Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He [Jesus] went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him. When they found Him, they said to Him, "Everyone is looking for you." But He said to them, "Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth."

Instead of being directed by the overwhelming needs of the moment, Jesus took time to pray in a solitary place (and He didn't even tell His disciples where He was going). After this personal prayer time, Jesus knew the Heavenly Father's perfect direction for that day, and He did exactly what needed to be done. If prayer was that important to Jesus, it should be important to us!

Our life already belongs to God, and a lifestyle of prayer is simply a demonstration of this commitment. A phrase from a common worship song says,

Lord I give You my heart, I give You my soul.

I live for You alone.

Every breath that I take, every moment I'm awake,

Lord have your way in me.

As Christians, and as God-loving families, every moment of our lives should already be committed to Jesus Christ. So, if our lives already belong to God, why do we think it is such a noble effort, or such a commendable achievement, to set aside a special portion of "our" time (which should already be "God's" time) to spend with Him?

• When a bride and groom are on their honeymoon, do they have to be encouraged (or pressured) to spend time together?
• When a group of kids are in the midst of a fun game with friends, and simply enjoying each other's company, doesn't time go fast?
• At the beginning of a new discipline in your prayer life, it might be awkward to simply feel "at ease" and relaxed in God's presence, but He desires for us to enjoy our time with Him and to be honored by the time together and for us to grow deeper in our relationship with Him.

Don't attempt to "fit" prayer into your busy schedule; fit your schedule around prayer!

We all have 24 hours in every day. No matter how much we try to give the excuse that our schedule is beyond our control, we need to acknowledge (with all honesty) that we ultimately take time for whatever we want to take time for; and in most of our lives and personal schedules, there is a lot of wasted time. Rather than attempting to "fit" a new devotional time or quiet time into an already stressful and packed schedule, switch your mindset.

If the whole point of life is to fulfill the purposes that God has for us, then it is simply common sense and prudence to take some time to check-in with Him, and to spend time with Him, so God can show us His direction and daily agenda.

Do you realize what an incredible honor it is to take time to fellowship with God? He's the Almighty All-powerful God of the entire universe. He's more important than the biggest "big-wig" or political power on our planet! Our time with God should be more precious than anything else in our life - more valuable than making money, more refreshing than our favorite hobbies, even more precious than our time with our closest loved ones.

Keep your ears open in prayer

When taking time with the Lord, it's helpful to remember that communication with God is a two-way conversation; it's not just a monologue, but a dialogue. Isn't that incredible?! The Lord not only wants to hear our prayers, but He also desires to fellowship and communicate with us. God desires to speak to us and to direct our lives for His eternal purposes, through the Bible, through circumstances He sets up for His purposes, and through His Holy Spirit (often as a strong impression or thought in line with God's Word).

As parents, when we want to communicate with our kids, it's not enough to have merely a one-way conversation and for them to merely tell us everything they're thinking. We also desire for our children to be willing to listen.

Prayer, just like any close relationship, takes time . . .

It takes time to develop a relationship with anyone: our spouse, our kids, or a close friend. and it takes time to grow in prayer. All throughout the day, we can "pray without ceasing" by being constantly aware of His presence and acknowledging Him as we're going about our everyday routine; however, it's also good to have special time set aside just for Him.

• There's a difference between grabbing a quick snack-on-the-run and enjoying a special sit-down family dinner.
• There's a difference between being in the same vicinity with your spouse and having a little chat here and there, and going out on a romantic date or sitting down together for a good heart-to-heart talk.
• There's a difference between being in the same house with one of your kids, and participating in something together, that you both enjoy.
• And in the same way, there's a difference between simply acknowledging that God is with you all throughout the day, and taking special focused and undistracted time for prayer, personal worship, reading and studying God's word, and to listen for His direction.

Even though it often seems like we don't have any discretionary time (because we have so much we "have" to do), our responsibilities are nothing compared to what Christ needed to do in such a short time. If we really want to fulfill God's plans and purposes, and receive His daily direction for our life and our family, our time with God is abslutely vital. No activity or ministry on earth is more important than prayer. Ultimately, we all need to take responsibility, and seek the Lord's help and grace, for how we use "our" time.

Let's take time for God's eternal purposes.

Let's take time to pray.