Lent Devotional – Do You Have 15 Minutes?

Monday, March 10

Do You Have 15 Minutes?

By: Rev. Rick Isbell

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Matthew 6: 6-8

All of us have the same amount of time in a day. We use the time we have by the choices we make. Time is spent sleeping, eating, working, going to school, tending to daily tasks and spending time with family and friends. Many of us have said “we don’t have enough time” or “I wish I had more time to do this and that.” In today’s hectic world with so many choices and demands, I ask you and myself, “do you have 15 minutes?”

Can you and I take 15 minutes in our day to do one of our most important tasks? Can we find 15 minutes or more to have conversation with our Creator and God? Prayer is one of the most important disciplines of the Christian faith. Most often we relegate prayer to the time we have left over instead of giving it primary time. Whether it be in the early morning hours or the late hours of the evening, we need to set time aside to have conversation with God. Prayer is not a time to bring our “wish list” to God, but rather to have quiet time to talk and listen to the One who creates, saves and sustains us.

This Lenten season I hope that we will make prayer a priority in our daily routine. Take time to thank God for all God’s blessings in your life; to ask forgiveness for your sins; and to pray for other individuals, situations as well as yourself. And a good way to end our personal prayers is with the prayer Jesus taught us.

Prayer

God, help us to find time to have conversation with you and to be open to what You have to say to us. AMEN