How to Prioritize Your Time with the Lord: 5 Ways to Put God First

Who takes first place in your life?

There is a song by SEU worship that is called Monday Morning Faith. Basically the writer is saying I don’t just want Jesus on Sunday mornings because it is convenient. I want what takes place on Sunday’s at church to flow into the rest of my week. Way too often we feel the tingles at church on Sunday’s and then Monday morning comes and we are so consumed with everything we have to do that week that God easily takes second place. Schedules, meetings, work, family, etc. But this song says on Monday morning I want the Jesus I experience in church on Sunday’s. We have to have Him through the week. He isn’t a switch that we just turn off because it’s easier. Like any relationship, our relationship with God takes work and intentionality. Here are some ways to prioritize your time with Him and to fall in love with Him all over again! What will feel like work in the beginning becomes a life line very quickly. Try these tips to help you deepen your time with your Father. Start by listening to this song. 🙂

Fall in Love With the Word of God: The best advice I have every received on this topic is stop trying to find YOU in the word of God and instead look for Christ! This book is the best seller for a reason! It is the greatest love story of all time. From Genesis to Revelation, the way God set up so many stories and positioned people for Jesus to step on the scene to save us from the bondage of sin is MIRACULOUS! He did this with YOU in mind, that you would come to know His Son and be SAVED! Dive into the scriptures! Get to know God through the stories in the old testament! Study the life of Christ in the new testament. The love He has for you is woven into every single part of scripture. Once you change your perspective on the way scripture should be read, you will have this holy enlightenment that will burst from the inside out. Like any other book, you won’t be able to put it down! Spend your extra time reading the Word of God!

"The book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do."
Joshua 1:8 ESV

Involve Yourself in a Local Church: We live in a world where there is a huge Christian community that you can find right online. There are big churches that you could attend right from your bedroom. While this is so cool for those who aren’t able to make it to an actual building, for those who can, you have to get involved in a local church! There is so much fruit there! You absolutely need that physical, face-to-face interactions with like minded individuals. There are people who could be your accountability partners, know to check in on you when you are sick, and to serve the Lord with TOGETHER! Physically going to church regularly allows you to involve yourself in church events like Sunday morning worship, bible study, and small groups. Community sharpens you! You can have meaningful, Godly conversations and experiences with friends who are like minded and love the Lord. Don’t just settle for online pen pals, get yourself to a loving church where you can be rooted!

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."
Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV

PRAY PRAY PRAY: You can’t have a relationship with the Lord without it! Talk to the Lord all the time. Prayer doesn’t always have to look like a dark room, faint worship music in the background, with fingers crossed. For me, prayer looks like talking to the Lord like a friend all day long. Prayer is the avenue in which we can speak to the Lord and also hear back from Him! In prayer the Lord will impress on our hearts to say something, to do something, and to be reassured in our spirit about the issues troubling us. The list goes on! You can put God first by communicating with Him before turning to someone else first. Before you talk about something, pray about it! I find that when I go to the Lord FIRST, there is almost no need to go and speak with others about it unless I need wise counsel. God before complaining, God before gossip, God before we open our mouth make a situation worse. This is what prayer does!

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV

Plan Your Time With the Lord: I don’t get this right all the time but I am working on it. Plan your life around your time with the Lord, not time with the Lord around your life. Before we set up our day, plan your time with the Lord first! Anytime I plan my day and try to fit the Lord in the random 5 minutes I have in between all the busyness, I almost never actually spend time with Him. And if I do, it seems rushed and pointless because my mind is somewhere else. I wake up at 5:30 in the morning so that I can start my day with the Lord. It started out as a sacrifice and now my day feels ruined without it! I have to have HIM! Intentional time with the Lord, no matter what you do (pray, listen, worship, read the word, etc.) fills you up! Nothing this world has to offer can do that. I could have a full day of self-care and it still doesn’t compare to what the Lord does when you sit in His presence. Plan your time with the Lord, prioritize moments spent with Him. Be careful not to fit Him in to your already busy schedule! Better is a day with HIM than anywhere else!

"For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly."
Psalm 84:10-11 ESV

Watch What You Consume: This is SO important! Social media is a great outlet and tool but if your heart isn’t guarded it could lead to comparison, stress, and discontentment. I could feel so great about what the Lord is doing in my life and look at someone who seems to be doing “so much better” and then feel behind in life. But we have to remember that social media is made up of people highlighting the best parts of their life. No matter how real or raw that you get, it isn’t your true, unedited life that is being put on display. If we scroll to fill our time, you may see some awesome inspiring videos but there will be lots of junk as well that don’t produce good fruit. We have to put up a boundary! It is the same thing with TV and music! Just last weekend my husband and I wanted to watch an action driven movie. We picked a movie quickly and began watching it. Although it was based on true events, we ended up turning it off because innocent people were being killed left and right. My husband and I looked at each other and decided that this was not feeding our souls. There was no way this was pleasing to the Lord and it felt like such a waste of our time together.

Music is the same way. My little sisters roll their eyes when they play me a new hit song and I ask them, “What are they even singing about?” They reply and say, “It isn’t that deep.” But friend it is! If you are oblivious to the message then you have no idea what you are allowing in your spirit. No matter how “strong” of a Christian you are, we have to guard our hearts in what we watch, listen to, and how much we spend on social media!

When we fill our time with the things of God, we are filled with peace, joy, and wisdom! This fruit spills over into every other part in our lives! If you are feeling stressed, burdened, discontentment, or short with the people around you, ask yourself,

 "Have I made God a Priority?"
 "What have I allowed to fill my time?" 
"Is it the Lord, or the things of this world?"

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
Romans 12:2 ESV

It is not too late to rebuild your life from shoving God into pockets in your day, to allowing Him to have preeminence over your life! Take it one day at a time! If you love the Lord, and walk in the Truth, we have to prioritize Him over everything else.