24 hours just isn't enough

...or is it? As we transition into this next week of Draw Near focused on prayer, you will most likely find yourself feeling the tension between your to-do list and your prayer time. In our fast-paced campus culture that burgeons under the pressure of getting from ECL to the Quad within 15 minutes before that next class, meeting with your GCOM presentation group before the Thursday night grilled-cheese rush at D-Hall, signing up for that hour-long yoga session at UREC, all happening in between your efforts to stay on top of your papers, projects, studying, and homework... phew! How the heck are you supposed to find time in the midst of all the things you could be doing to get alone with God and find time to pray?!

 If you're sweating under the pressure of your planner, a resource we suggest you could pick up is the book Too Busy Not to Pray by Bill Hybels. This book is a practical guide to prayer that turns our to-do list logic upside down. The premise of its theme claims that the more you gotta do, the more you gotta pray.

In the midst of our busyness, prayer shouldn't be something that is put at the bottom of our to-do lists. In fact, the longer and crazier your to-do list, the more reason you should talk to God about what’s going on. We need to learn how to “slow down to pray, listen to God, respond to what we hear, practice our acknowledgement of the presence of God, and overcome prayer barriers”. Reading Too Busy Not to Pray can help you understand why it is vital to stop and pray in the midst of your busyness, and even inspire you to pray with more passion and discipline.

Find a place and a time in your 24 hours today where you can meet with God and pray. Write it down in your agenda, set an alarm on your phone, and don't reschedule if your suitemate asks you to grab Market One for lunch instead. Stick with your commitment - after all, your prayer meeting with God will be the most important meeting of your busy day!

"Most of us are far too busy for our own spiritual good."- Bill Hybels, Too Busy Not To Pray 

1 Hybels, Bill. Too Busy Not to Pray.1989. Print.