Routine
Often times when we are crunched for time or running late the first thing that gets forgotten or ignored is the time we set aside for God. I know I'm guilty of this all the time, whether it is first thing in the morning if I'm late, or if it is late at night and I am really tired, I often sacrifice my spiritual well-being, for the demands of this world. How many times have we played a sport, or been at work, or been at school, and messed up because we weren't in "rhythm"? When we miss a step in our daily routine, it often has the potential to throw off our entire day, and I don't think that our spiritual life is any different.
When we get into a groove and intentionally spend time with God, we feel at peace, we feel fulfilled, because we are doing what he has commanded us to do. And this is important to realize, because when we are called to go to God in prayer, it's never for His benefit, I believe it is for ours. God doesn't gain anything from our prayers, God doesn't need us to go to Him in prayer, He WANTS us too. He knows that when we decide to spend time with him, we show Him love, and it shows a desire for a relationship, because that is what he has given us.
How many times have we gone to a friend who will just LISTEN, and felt so relieved after venting because that's all we needed to do; just speak it out loud. Praying to God on a regular basis is no different then talking to a good friend, in fact it's better. We bring our joys, our worries, our fears, and anything else, and he listens. The God of the universe WANTS us to spend that time with him, WANTS that relationship with us, so why don't we use it? I believe we are most vulnerable when we aren't being intentional about our time with God. Like an athlete or a performer, who doesn't warmup properly, and they feel out of whack, when we aren't being intentional about our time with God, we leave ourselves vulnerable for poor decisions, poor judgement, and temptation.
Praying on a regular basis, and making that commitment refuels us, it releases anxiety and stress, and frankly it allows us to maintain some sanity. Verbally speaking out loud the problems that I have often clears up a lot of the anxiety and worries. We tend to answer our own questions when we just talk about them out loud. God wants to listen and we should let him!
Like a player taking the baseball field who messed up his pregame warmup, or a singer, who didn't go through their vocal exercises, when we break these routines we often find ourselves in a funk. Prayer is important, not just when we are asking God for something, but when we are choosing to share our lives with Him. So i challenge you, to spend sometime in prayer every day...a minute, five, or ten, just get into a routine of doing so, and watch how it affects the rest of your day.
-Nick Kratz