Week 1/Day 2 ~ Wednesday
"Commit Yourself to Time Alone with God"
Read: Proverbs 31: 10-11, Mark 1: 35-39
Guided Prayer ~ Excerpts from Donna's Prayer
"Dear Jesus, thank you for coming to earth to show me how to live....You still took time to pray to Your Father in heaven. Sometimes I like yourselfe feel like the whole world wants a piece of me, (or atleast those in my home, "Tina"). Lord! I notice too Jesus, how You refocused on Your life mission and set Your agenda for the day after Your time alone, I invite you, Holy Spirit, as my counselor, to show me a solitary place where I can get my priorities straight,...morning by morning."
Donna Partow
Personal ~
The Proverbs 31 woman got up while it was still dark outside. the bible tells us that Jesus left to fina a solitary place to meet with the Father.
Find an area in your home that you can transform into a beautful place to mee with God each day. Donna even went as far as saling all her formal dining room furniture to make a family prayer chapel, furnished with a confortable couch, two rocking chairs, bibles, prayer and devotional books, small tables with plants, a tabletop fountain and momentoes from various mission trips they had taken. Her walls were also covered with sacred items. Scripture plaques, crosses, and inspirational artwork.
"Discipline is the human effort to create the space in which God can be generous and give us what we need."
Henri Nouwen
By setting up a specific place to pray, you are creating space in your life for God to bless you. Create the space and make time to meet with God.
In Proverbs 31, the reason her husband had full confidence in her is because she had full confidence in God. If we want to be a blessed to others we must first have something to give them. Spiritual food, not material. Only things of the spirit will last. Let us invest our time in seeking heavenly treasures, like spiritual insight, knowledge of Scripture, the power to demonstrate the fruit of the spirit, and the ability to carry the presence of God with us wherever we go.
"I have yet to find a respected spiritual leader throughout history who had devotions at night."
Bruce Wilkinson ~ The Prayer of Jabez
This is quite a true statement, if you look at many of the great ministers of the word, they sought God in the early hours and gave God the first fruits of their day. Not that night devotions are wrong, they are great too, but only if we are faithful to give Him the first of our day.
So before you meet with your family, children or husband, before you face the world, get before the face of God. Just think how different you life will be in 90 days after this study. It will be dramatic.
I know with my children getting up for school and husband waking up here is my morning schedule:
4:00am Time Alone with God
4:30am Husband wakes up I fix his lunch and coffee.
5:30am He leaves and I iron the childrens school clothes.
6:00am I wake up my K, 2nd and 4th grader get them on the bus by 6:30am (breakfast at school)
6:30am wake up 6th grader and we leave the house no later than 7:20am. I take her to school and I come back and spend 1hr to 1 1/2 hours with God.
Practical ~ Create a specific place for TAG ~ Time Alone with God. This needs to be a place where you do nothing else, but spend time with Him. Furnish it with all the tools you will need.
Your Bible, this book, your Personal Notebook, pens, index cards, tissue, prayer cloth, lip balm, post it notes. etc.
Establish a lifetime habit of TAG. Give God atleast the first 30 minutes of your day. you will find that you will crave this time to be longer and you will make more time for God.
Affirmation: I commit myself to time alone with God
Commitment Statement
(Copy or Print this in your TAG section of your notebook)
Note where you will meet with God?
What time?
Write out your commitment to TAG, then sign and date.
Dear Lord, I hereby commit myself to giving you the first____minutes of my day for the next 90 days. I believe you are a rewarder of those who diligently seek you, so I have set my heart on seeking you first. I believe, by faith, that one of the rewards you will give me is supernatural wisdom and the ability to conduct the affairs of my day with greater efficiency so that my TAG will in no way diminish my effectiveness but will in fact increase it. I sign this on _____________________(date)
With Love, Your Bride,
__________________________________________(name)
Notebook: Label the first tab divider in your notebook TAG. We will be adding more tabs and contents in this book later in days to come.
