An Hour a Day: The Necessity of Spending Daily Time with God

Photo by Tim Parkinson

An hour a day.

That is what I felt like God wanted from me last year. One hour per day of time with Him.

Have you ever felt like you should spend more time with God, but you just never get around to it?

Me too.

I spent an hour a day, for about a day, and then promptly disregarded it.

I've lived many days without that hour in the past year. Because, let's face it—other things just seem more important sometimes.

The Distraction of Busyness

I moved to Nashville last year because I felt the calling to write a book. And in order to do that, I had to create space in my life to write a book. Once I got here, I was blown away by what I didn't know. I realized:

1. I had no idea how to write a book.
2. I had no idea what to do with a book once I had written it.
3. I had no idea how to get other people to take a second glance at my future book.

That huge knowledge gap scared me. I wasn't sure what to do. So I did the only thing I could think of. I started reading, blogging, and practicing... as much as I could.

There didn't end up being much room for "an hour a day" in my strict new schedule. It was more of "an hour here, 10 minutes there, 30 minutes three days later..."

But the funny thing is, right when I moved here—while I was frantically learning as much as I could—I had this feeling that God was trying to tell me something:

"You think you're here to carry my message, to write a really awesome book, to do all this work—but my main goal for you...is just to spend time with me."

Which obviously sounded counterintuitive to me. So I didn't pay much attention. I've got other things on my plate, God.

Fast forward about six months. I've been trying to learn everything I can about blogging and writing. I feel the huge burden to write this book, so I can fulfill my purpose. I'm always behind in my work. It always seems like there's so much to do. 

Only One Thing Is Needed

A friend of mine sent me an email a while back. I had told her about my struggles, and she sent back a couple verses.

She sent me the story of Mary and Martha from Luke 10:41.

The verses were Jesus' words to Martha, when she was running around frantically, trying to get all her work done. Mary was just sitting at his feet. And when Martha asked Jesus to tell Mary to help out—because there was SO much work to do—this is what he said:

"Martha, Martha—you are worried about so many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Wow.

I've been scurrying around, doing all my stuff. I've been worried that if I don't get it all done, I'll mess up my purpose or something.

I have to learn how to grow my blog. I have to learn how to get my message out to millions of people. I have to learn how to write, market, and sell books so that God's purpose for my life can be fulfilled. I don't have time to just sit around for an hour a day...

But God's been saying all along, "the most important thing you can do... is to spend that hour with me."


And I've been too busy living my life like Martha.

Give the Seed Room to Flourish

I've picked up the "hour a day" routine again. I'm not perfect at it. I suck at schedules. But that's part of the growth process. And the time I spend with Him doesn't always feel groundbreaking... but I think God likes to make magic happen in the ordinary.

Here's why I told you that story. I believe God wants consistent, ordinary relationship time with you, too. Every day. It might not seem important. But that time is the water that grows the seed inside you.

Jesus says the kingdom of God is like a seed that grows, whether you know it or not (Mark 4:26). And that means... you and I don't have control over the actual growth of that seed. All we can do is give it the environment to flourish by showing up.

Give the seed inside you space to grow. Because at the end of the day—God's growth inside you is far more valuable than anything else.

You're worried about many things, but only one thing is needed.