Teach Me to Number My Days

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens" (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

God gives us all 24 hours in each day: 1,440 minutes. With that amount, even if we gave the Lord 20 minutes a day, we would have 1,420 left for everything else! By “numbering our days,” the Lord intends for us to think prudently about a seventy-year life span, even though we cannot be sure how many of these allotted years each of us will have.

A Christian should certainly make long-range plans, for we need to be good stewards of our precious fleeting moments. But this must all be done with the ever-present realization that God has plans for us. Our times are in His hands. James reminds us that we “do not even know what will happen tomorrow,” so we “ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that” (Jas. 4:14-15). As we develop and cultivate a moment-by-moment dependence on God and a submissive attitude to His will, Satan’s bait of pleasure or presumption is less and less appealing, and we can avoid his time trap. 

So how does all this work on a practical level? How do I avoid falling into traps, such as the temptation to get so busy I can neither be blessed or be a blessing? How do I avoid ending up at the close of the day with a whole lot of regrets about how I spent my God-given time? How do I make my minutes with the Master worthwhile for Him and for me? Let me suggest some essentials.

1.  Decide on the logistics.

Choose an appropriate time and place for your daily time with God.

2.  Be quiet and “wait on the Lord.”

Somehow we need to listen to the Lord without requiring answers to our prayer requests—to just be happy and to “be still and know that [he is] God (Ps. 46:10).

3.  Read a few verses of Scripture.

Doing this will give you something to focus on. Read the verses right before your time with God in prayer. 

4.  Practice praise.

As Billy Graham said, “Prayer and praise are not occasional notes played on the organ of life; they are pipes in the organ, and their absence means serious loss to the music of life. It means discord instead of harmony.” 

5.  Journey around the world.

You can visit the continents of the world during ten minutes of prayers on your knees. 

PRAYER

Lord, You’ve given me enough hours in the day even though it doesn’t always feel like it. Help me to develop a moment-by-moment dependence on You so that I am always in step with You in regards to what You want me to accomplish in a day. I want to avoid the busy trap, so help me build the spiritual disciplines into my life and make them a priority every day. It’s only as I meet with You that I will know what this day needs to look like. Keep me from retiring at the end of the day with only regrets. I want to be about Your business today. Amen.