Finding Time for Him

LAMINATED TO THE LORD
Once we experience the divine power that comes to us as we abide in Jesus, it is easy to see that if we want to live victoriously, we must first and foremost maintain our daily union and communion with Him. That is our most important responsibility.

If we will maintain that union, God will take care of everything else.

Unfortunately, however, many Christians do just the opposite. They become so busy maintaining the other things in their lives that they don’t take any time to spend with God. They spend their lives maintaining their houses, their lawns, their cars and their jobs. They even find time to maintain their hair and their fingernails. Yet they neglect the one thing that is vital to their lives and well-being: They neglect their union with God.

To be in union means to be joined together with something or someone. When two things are united with each other, they are joined so tightly together that they become like one substance. You might say they are laminated to each other!

“But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit” (1 Cor. 6:17). According to Strong’s Concordance, the Greek word translated joined comes from the word meaning “to glue.”

When we don’t take time to fellowship regularly with the Lord, we don’t live as though we’re united with Him. Despite our best efforts, we end up doing things He wouldn’t do. When we say things He would never say, our actions reveal that we definitely aren’t laminated to Him.

That’s why spending time with God each day is so vital. It’s during this time that we become unified with Him–not just in our spirits but in our souls. As we read and meditate on His Word or fellowship with Him in prayer, we begin to think as He thinks. We begin to act as He acts and talk as He talks.

As we spend more time with God, we become more familiar with His direction and instruction. We’re better able to distinguish His guidance moment by moment so that we can walk out His perfect will for our lives every day.

By spending time in fellowship with the Lord, we become so in tune with Him that when He tells us to do something, we hear Him and obey. We become so closely joined to Him that our desires, thoughts, words and actions become a reflection of the One with whom we are united.

A TITHE OF YOUR TIME
How much time should we set apart to spend with the Lord each day to cultivate the kind of union I’ve described?

The Bible gives us no hard and fast rule. We must each be led by the Holy Spirit. There may be seasons in our lives when He draws us into extended hours of fellowship with Him. There may be seasons when our daily times with Him, while consistent, are not as long.

In a meeting I attended more than 20 years ago, a prophecy given by a minister I highly respect echoed that thought. He said by the Holy Spirit that if we would just take a tithe of our time–an hour or two out of every day–and spend it with God, our lives would be changed and empowered, all would be well, and we would be a mighty force for God.

When I heard that, I took God at His word. I decided to get up an hour earlier every morning so I could spend time with Him before I began my day.

That decision has proved to be one of the most important decisions of my life. It changed my life and me. Now, spending the first part of my day in prayer and the Word is such a habit for me that even when Ken and I are traveling and I have to get up at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning, I do it because I am addicted. I must have my time with God!

Just as the Lord promised through the word of prophecy I heard more than 20 years ago, the hour or two a day I’ve spent with God has continually changed and empowered me. Instead of burning out due to the demands of ministry, my fire for the Lord gets even stronger as the years go by.

Everything is good in my life and the lives of my family. My children and grandchildren are healthy, blessed and serving the Lord. All is well, as He said it would be.

I’ve discovered for myself that what Jesus said to Martha is eternally true. The best part of the Christian life, the one thing that is truly needful, is time spent with Him. We can be assured of victory in every area of our lives if, through the Word and prayer, we’ll draw near every day and sit at the Master’s feet.

Read a companion devotional.

Gloria Copeland is the author of To Know Him (Harrison House), from which this article is adapted. Gloria is also co-founder and vice president of Kenneth Copeland Ministries in Fort Worth, Texas. She and her husband, Kenneth, are known for their teachings on faith, healing and victorious Christian living. Their daily TV broadcast, Believer’s Voice of Victory, airs globally on more than 300 stations.