Too busy to pray?

The work of intercession and the time it takes can be a barrier to prayer. However, yesterday’s newspaper had a column where experts answer questions about exercise. One person wrote that he wanted to train for a marathon but wondered how he would find the time. The answer said that for every hour of exercise, an hour is gained in other pursuits because the body has more energy and the mind works with greater clarity.

My resident Expert says the same thing is true for prayer. When I take my burdens to Him, He lifts the weight of them and gives renewed energy and clarity of thought. Things go better because prayer also has a calming effect. It is as Isaiah said, “The effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.” (Isaiah 32:17)

The psalmist and the writer of Proverbs also knew this. One challenges God’s people to “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10) and the other offers God’s promise, “Whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.” (Proverbs 1:33)

This is one reason God urges me to pray. When I come to Him, He gives assurance about everything that would otherwise distress or burden me. I don’t need to worry for He will take care of me. “I can calm and quiet my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.” (Psalm 131:2)

Yet intercessory prayer is about far more that what it does for me. God “urges that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people” (1 Timothy 2:1) because all people need prayer. We are sinners, helpless and truly ignorant of what is going on in our own lives, never mind the lives of others. We need God to teach us to pray. We need Him to listen to our concerns. Otherwise, we often flounder in the stew of life with uncertainty playing havoc with our plans and schedules.

As I pray for others, God seldom gives me insight into what He is going to do, but He does give assurance: “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’” (Isaiah 46:9–10). In that confidence, my days amazingly seem longer . . .

But if I am not giving prayer the time I should, not taking all things to the Lord, then I am like the marathon hopeful. I look at prayer being more than I have time for and wind up frustrated because I have no divine help with a to-do list that somehow stretches much longer than the hours of each day.

Punctuality, busyness, and pride

Is it possible to make idols of our virtues? Today’s devotional reading says it is. The writer tells of a woman who had a series of appointments with a counselor. She was always on time, but one day arrived a few minutes late. She was frenzied and apologized so many times that the counselor said to her, “Do you think that there might be a ‘god’ for you in this?”

She knew that being on time showed respect for others, but after some discussion, she came to see that she was proud of her punctuality. Since pride is about relying on self rather than God, the object of her pride had become an idol.

Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God) . . .  (Exodus 34:11–14)

The gods of the Amorites and other nations living in Canaan were carved images and associated with demonic forces. The gods of the land in which I live are things like human achievement, the admiration and respect of others, anything that makes me look good in their eyes, anything associated with self. In this story, it was punctuality, but it could be anything from being a good cook, having a well-decorated house, raising well-behaved children, driving a nice car, having a well-paying job . . .  the list is endless.

A few passages in the devotional suggested how another ‘virtue’ can be idol-potential, at least for me. This virtue starts out as refusing to be a lazy person, but often winds up as the familiar, “I’m so busy” tag that marks me as someone trying to impress others with my lack of laziness and my multitude of activities. The Bible commands are there, admonishing laziness and lack of planning ahead . . .  

Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. (Proverbs 6:6–11)

Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys. (Proverbs 18:9)

I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. (Proverbs 24:30–34)

Raised in a home where the work ethic was high, I’ve rarely been guilty of inactivity, yet the use of the word ‘guilty’ shows that I associate lack of work and idleness with sin, forgetting that idleness can also be simply taking a rest, something else that God commands.

Yes, Solomon said, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going” (Ecclesiastes 9:10) but God also says to worship Him and rest, taking one entire day a week to cease labor and do just that.

While being busy is not wrong, letting it become a point of pride and an obsession indicates it has become an idol. Today is that day of rest and a good opportunity to seek the will of God about what I will do this day, rather than be driven by the idol of busyness.

Overcoming daily distractions

Today’s devotional reading outlines how the daily stuff of life has “separating power” meaning that today’s events and duties can blind me to the greater realities that God has revealed to me. This is evident in how quickly morning devotional truths are swallowed up by my to-do list, callers, email, interruptions and responsibilities. Even before lunch, I may strain to remember words of the Lord pondered only a few hours earlier, words like these:

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38–39)

Notice the mention here of “things present” which ties to the idea of the separating power of daily life. First, the events of today are immediate, keeping my mind, eyes and energy busy with their demands. The devotional says to take a moment to say or sing “Jesus loves me…” but that needs to be a habit. A missionary from North Africa, who discipled my sister years ago, said that learning to meditate on the Word of God would take a lifetime. 

Secondly, things present are often difficult to understand. Distance helps me with the events of yesterday, last week, last month, and past years. As the author of today’s devotional says, understanding our past, its trials, its disappointments, and its illnesses are difficult in their actual moment. This difficulty of seeing the love of God in the darkness of present trials gives them separating power. How important to know that God loves me when life takes a leap into darkness!

Third, and for me the biggest challenge, is the distraction of things present. “Life isn’t a little bundle of big things: it’s a big bundle of little things.” I want to pray but walk past something that needs to be put in another place. Instead of focusing on prayer, I’m distracted and do that little chore. In the process, other distractions consume minutes, even hours. Instead of peace, joy, self-control and serenity marking my day, the sense of God’s love begins to slip through my grasp.

Jesus did it right. He never doubted the love of God, not in Gethsemane, nor those days when demands were so great that there was no leisure to even eat. He mastered that separating power of things present, and He did it for us, for me.

Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:32–33)

In Him, I also have the assurance of God’s eternal presence and the promise of peace in a troubled world. As that missionary said, it does take a lifetime to appropriate the victories of Christ and learn to live with that assurance firmly fixed in my heart. 

Yet God is faithful with His reminders, sometimes even surprising me. My bathroom has tiles that look like sand on a beach. After reading the devotional and its verses, I went there and noticed one of the tiles has a tiny shape nestled in its “tide line” — the shape of a heart. Did He put it there? Maybe. Nonetheless, every time I see it, it will remind me that “Jesus loves me” rather than letting that important reality be bumped out of mind by daily life. 

Priorities

The past two days have left me feeling overtired and subnormal. While prayer has been good, I’ve not been able to complete other things started, or accomplish normal chores. I’ve been busy, but feel like I’ve been spinning my wheels and getting nowhere. 

Today’s devotional reading at first seemed pointless, but as I look at it and various comments about it, God has something to say to my situation. The scene is a conversation between two lovers. The man, likely Solomon, is asking his beloved to go with him, perhaps a walk in the garden. He praises her virtues and speaks loving words to her. Then one of them, it is not clear who, says this strange line,

Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom. (Song of Solomon 2:15)

Foxes or jackals often came into the vineyards and ate the grapes. In this case, the vines were in bloom only, but the inference is to make sure the foxes are gone before the grapes appear. Either she is asking him to do it for them both, or he is asking her to do it since this may have been her responsibility prior to their relationship.

This verse has many interpretations. Is this literal, perhaps a suggestion that since she had failed somehow before (1:6), she needed to be more zealous to take care of their vineyards? Or is it less literal and more about tending to any subtle sins that might spoil their blossoming relationship?

From the latter idea, several commentaries suggest that readers apply this to their own spiritual lives. That is, take care of the small things that destroy the work of God in our lives. This could be the first thoughts of actual sin, or any hindrances that keep us from doing what is right. It could refer to any little thing that ruins our judgment, muddies our conscience, perplexes our thinking or discourages our inclination to virtue.

Some theologians suggest these little foxes could also be whispers of false teaching that obstruct the progress of the gospel. These also must be tamed, restrained, or destroyed before they ruin our witness.

I can think of all sorts of examples in both these interpretations. In personal relationships, any problems can become wedges if not addressed. A small doubt leads to mistrust and that can separate two people. A small disagreement can grow into a large feud. Lack of forgiveness can become bitterness and turn our focus from God to self-pity. Attraction to worldly pleasures can start small and eventually turn Christian workers from their primary purpose to share Christ and glorify God.

One writer thinks that despite the endless variety of interpretations, this verse does not represent anything. Instead, this man is inviting the woman to join in some sort of childlike play that young lovers often do. Yet even that has application for those who work all the time and never take a rest from their labors. As another writer says, this could even be her excuse for not going with her young lover —she has work to do in the vineyard. 

This “non-interpretation” suggests to me that I’ve made my to-do list more important than it should be. At my age, and with this heart problem, I’ve been somewhat driven to finish things and get my half-done projects off the table. They have lined up and backed up, and are getting too heavy on my mind. I sense from these verses that my ambitions have become more than little foxes and that the Lord is inviting me to do something different. It could be spending more time with Him or chilling out with family and friends. In either case, I need to deal with those foxes.

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Lord, I’m from a family that values accomplishment. I know that there is nothing wrong with being busy or getting things done — unless it interferes with the ripening of the spiritual fruit You desire in my life. Work, work, work can keep me from listening to You, from deepening relationships with others, and from getting the rest that my body needs. I need to find a picture of some little foxes and attach it to my chore list as a reminder to not let those things happen. I need to remember that putting a check in all those little boxes is not nearly as important as going for a walk in the garden with You.

To Live is Christ — forsake uselessness, but keep busy

After the basics of food, shelter and so on, most people want to have a meaningful life. For me that means being useful. As a Christian, one thing I dread is God putting me on a shelf and not giving me anything to do. It does not matter that the world offers more options than anyone can count. What matters to me is that God includes me in His work.

One reason that I feel that way is that He has shown me that most of life’s activities have little influence on anything important, and no eternal value. The older I get, the less I want to spin my wheels with things that do not matter. However, deciding what things do matter can be a challenge. Peter offers this:

Behave like obedient children. Don’t let your lives be controlled by your desires, as they used to be. Always live as God’s holy people should, because God is the one who chose you, and he is holy. That’s why the Scriptures say, “I am the holy God, and you must be holy too.” You say that God is your Father, but God doesn’t have favorites! He judges all people by what they do. So you must honor God while you live as strangers here on earth. You were rescued from the useless way of life that you learned from your ancestors. But you know that you were not rescued by such things as silver or gold that don’t last forever. You were rescued by the precious blood of Christ, that spotless and innocent lamb. (1 Peter 1:14–19, CEV)

The first clue in deciding what is useful is that uselessness and sinful desires are partners. Christ died for the sinful things that I do. If I continue in them, I am adding to the list of what crucified Him. I’m also chalking up a lot of nothing for eternity. Because His blood takes away sin, sin will not enter eternity with me. It is useless. That means obedience is useful.

Peter also says that the life I learned from my human ancestors is also useless, at least all that I was taught that is not biblical has no eternal value. My parents gave me a good work ethic, yet hard work on the wrong projects for the wrong reasons does not have any lasting value. God encourages me to be diligent and steadfast in obedience, yet those traits are to be applied to the things He asks me to do, not just anything. Otherwise, what I do will be useless.

Third, Peter says that silver and gold do not last forever. Everyone knows that, even the people who die with their money stuffed in their casket. I cannot take money and stuff with me. My observation is that most people live as if they can. For so many, money and the desire for material gain is a huge motivation for countless useless activities, although money in itself is not evil. Paul wrote to Timothy:

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:6–10)

If I put my focus on personal and financial gain, I am falling into that useless way of life from which Christ died to save me. Such motivations and actions are useless for eternity. It isn’t that poverty is useful but that I have an eternal perspective on material things. They will not last.

What then is useful? Peter says holiness and honoring God. Paul says godliness with contentment. Contentment seems passive, yet striving to live a holy life is far from it. Jesus was the holiest person to ever walk this earth, and although He became tired and slept, there is not much in the Bible about Him being idle.

Honoring God is also hard work. I’m continually battling my sinful desire to get honor for myself. Many don’t like it when God is honored so I also battle a desire to please people instead of giving God the glory that is due Him. Honoring God also means abandoning anything that dishonors Him.

In other words, even without any special assignments such as teaching a Bible class or taking care of a needy person or praying, or any other Holy Spirit-motivated task, if I erase the “useless” from my ledger and replace it with “godly living” there is no end of things to keep me busy.

. . . for idle hands

I’ve wondered about the origin of the saying, “The devil finds work for idle hands.” Today I noticed from Matthew 4, that his tactics to tempt Jesus all happened when Jesus was alone, not ministering to people or busy with His life’s usual activities.

While the devil didn’t have any success with the Son of God, he does much better with me. If I’ve nothing to do (which is rare) and feel empty and without purpose, I find it easier to fall for a ‘grand suggestion’ rather than wait on the Lord to give me orders.

For instance, I’m idle when the day is nearly over. It’s too early to go to bed, and yet I’m tempted to start some new project, which I really don’t need, or this comes to mind, “Grab a munchie and find something on the television. Just one nibble, just one show won’t hurt.” One leads to two, and I eat too much, stay up too late, or watch something that injures my spirit.

Certainly adding empty calories to my plate (literally and figuratively) or watching television does nothing for the empty feeling of having no direction. The answer to my evening idleness is not filling it with “stones made into bread.” Actually, I’m becoming much better at resisting. Our TV set remains off for days at a time and I am now including ‘no’ more often in my vocabulary.

I’m also more aware of how Jesus responded to His physical hunger pangs. He said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

Greek has two words for ‘word.’ One is the familiar “logos” and the other is “rhema” which means ‘a word given for the moment, for a particular situation.’

This is the word that Jesus is talking about. God has a rhema for me, and when I’m idle and feeling hungry I need to look to Him, not in the frig, or on the boob tube.

In the second temptation, the devil took Jesus to a high spot on the temple. Josephus, a Jewish historian, says this was 450 feet up, a drop that would kill any jumper. Of course, Jesus could jump trusting God to prevent His death, but He knew this was not the time for dying, nor the method in His Father’s plan.

He also knew the difference between trusting God and testing God. Trust hears rhema and obeys, even if it seems dangerous. Test hears reckless suggestion and follow through hoping God will make the best of it. These temptations to test God might be as subtle as “I can watch this garbage on TV (or eat this junk food) and God will protect me from being affected by it.”

In the third temptation, Jesus was taken to a high place and offered everything if He would give the worship due His Father to the devil. Worship is a simple word. It means to give honor and worth to something or someone.

People worship all sorts of things, not necessarily in a formal setting or a recognized form. One explanation I’ve heard is that what I worship can be identified by what I think about the most. I’m giving that thing honor and worth by allowing it first place in my mind.

The devil is power-hungry and has lots of it, for now. The Bible calls him “the ruler of this world” and the “god of this age.” He must have known Jesus wanted that power back, so he offered Him a slice.

But Jesus didn’t want power as much as He wanted to be obedient. He knew who was in charge of His life and who was worthy of His worship. He told the devil to take a hike.

While the devil’s appeals to me are not nearly so dramatic as what he offered Jesus, he still tries to lure me from worshiping God into doing things that are a downright test of God’s patience and love for me. Even though I know that the Lord has something better for me in those idle evening hours, and even though I can resist filling that idle spot with television and food, how can I fill it with something that honors Him?

Instead of thinking I must keep busy to avoid the dangers of idleness, I need to watch that my work does not become the sole occupation of my mind and I end up worshiping my own busyness. Refusing to let the tempter use my idle hands is one thing, but I also need to hear the Word of the Lord, filling that down time with rhema from Him, then giving back my worship and trust.