Have you stretched yourself to the point that meeting one
of your many goals becomes impossible? Are you so busy that the daily time you
need for Bible study and prayer is placed on a back burner? Take stock of
your daily activities. List and classify each one as necessary or unnecessary.
In each category prioritize every activity and determine how much time is
necessary to complete it. This includes commitments at church. Too obsessed with
your commitment, you may become frustrated when a goal is unattainable. Too
little, and your faith is not applied. Trim the excess, and prayerfully decide
what you can do and what you can’t do. You will discover more time for prayer
and Bible Study. Sacrifice those nonessential activities for the Lord who died
for you. He greatly honors your time when you seek His face. In Him and Him
alone, you realize that His joy is the strength you need, and burnout will be an
something that becomes less and less.
Evaluate your Bible Study and prayer time.
Studying a Scripture inspires, but before it can do more than inspire you
have to understand it from within its context. Everyone needs a structured Bible
study. A systematized study supplies the basis for the Holy Spirit to speak to
you and for you to understand the message in the Word. If you haven’t learned
something new from your study, look again. Expect to be surprised by the Word,
and allow the Holy Spirit to teach you. Expectation rewards with spiritual
surprise!
Prayer is your one-on-one time with the Lord. Without it,
you have no strength, no guidance, no purpose, no peace, and no victory. Stress
and burnout are inevitable. The Holy Spirit must pour Himself into you for you
to spiritually impart Him to others, and as you are emptied, you must
continually be refilled. Don’t become discouraged in prayer. Paul writes, “We do
not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us
with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the
mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance
with God's will” (Romans 8:26a-27). Just allow Him to search your heart, and He
will pray for you.
God doesn’t want you “burned out and used up” because of
His call upon your life. He wishes you fresh, alive, and able to pour His life
through you. Find time and give Him your best.
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