Even on the Busiest of Days
Even when Jesus had a very busy day, He didn't skimp on His relationship with God the Father.
I had a really busy day yesterday. A medical appointment that took up most of the morning. An afternoon meeting that was quite lengthy. Visited and helped a neighbor in need. Picked up my son from daycare. Worked out. Grocery run in the early evening. Late evening meeting that went much longer than I thought it would. It was a jam-packed day that lasted until about 10:30 PM. Despite the very busy day, I'm surprised that I somehow managed to find 2 hours to spend with the Lord in prayer, Scripture, and contemplation. I've discovered that spending adequate amounts of time with the Lord is possible, even with a busy schedule. You just have to be intentional about it.
Did Jesus have busy days? He sure did. One of those busy days is recorded in the gospel of Mark. In the first chapter of Mark, it describes for us a jam-packed day in the life of Jesus that included teaching at the local synagogue, ministering to a man who was affected by a demon, visiting Simon Peter's family and healing his mother-in-law, and serving so many people who were sick and affected by evil spirits from sundown onwards (see Mark 1:21-34). Jesus was serving all day!
But even when Jesus had a very busy day, He didn't skimp on His relationship with God the Father. As God the Son, His priority was to stay closely connected to the Father in heaven. This was very important to Him and His ministry. The gospel of Mark tells us that the very next day, Jesus got up really early in the morning to spend time in prayer (see Mark 1:35). If there was somebody who had the right to "sleep in" the next morning after a very busy day, that would be Jesus. But instead of sleeping in, we find that Jesus woke up very early just to be able to spend time in prayer.
Jesus serves as an inspiration for us. No matter how busy our days get, with a little bit of intentionality, we'll also be able to find adequate time to spend with God in prayer and contemplation.
Here are a few things that helped me find time for prayer even on this busy day:
I prepared in advance. I knew I was going to have a busy day so I prepared myself and planned when and where I could spend some time with the Lord.
I knew that I wouldn't be able to spend the usual 3-4 hours in prayer and contemplation. That's OK. I accepted that this was going to be the case and I didn't get disappointed by that. I took what I could get (which was a decent 2 hours).
I tried to not waste time. With the day being so busy already, any 30 minutes wasted could have been 30 minutes of prayer. I tried my best to minimize wasting time.
I had to be creative. Finding time during the day took a little bit of creativity. For example, I found time to pray in the car in between errands and in between meetings. Although the car isn't the ideal place to meet with the Lord in prayer, it was a creative temporary solution for an unusually busy day.
If you're intentional and creative, I'm sure you can find adequate time to spend with the Lord in prayer, Scripture, worship, and contemplation, even on the busiest of days.
Barnabas the Monastic
Servant of Christ. Husband. Dad. Modern Monastic. I have a wild ambition in life: get as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as I can while on earth. I explore and integrate ancient Christian monk wisdom in modern everyday life. Lives in Canada.
