A friend was complaining that other activities and demands from friends and family members were crowding time to study spirituality out of her day. She wanted more space to study, pray and be quiet with God, she protested.
I said to her, “Your spiritual study is a very important activity of your day. It’s not something you squeeze in when you have time. It should be a priority and maintained as a fixed event on your schedule that is not less important than everything else that competes for your attention. Be sure to keep it at the top of your to-do list and not let others set your priorities!”
She liked this perspective, and has since stayed committed to keeping study and prayer as a priority, which has also made it easier to say, “No,” to other activities wanting to rob her of this precious time.
If you ever struggle with having enough time to pray, it helps to remember that the greatest good comes from understanding God better and growing in one’s understanding of spiritual reality. Be sure to prioritize accordingly!
“The devotion of thought to an honest achievement makes the achievement possible”
(Science and Health, p. 199).
Spiritual study is the most important. I believe it’s my lifeline. God who gives us everything we have, and who daily blesses us abundantly, should be the FIRST in our “TO DO LIST” of our day.
It’s such a joy to learn more about God, who is our true relative and who is with us always. All our earthly friends and relatives may not always be with us, but our GOD never leaves us. He is with us all the time, eternally. We need to glorify Him, give Him all power and the top most priority in our life.
I have experienced how wonderfully the day unfolds and how beautifully, smoothly and harmoniously things move, when we take up our spiritual study the first thing in the morning, when we give priority to God our King over other things in life.
“First seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and everything else will be added to it. It’s your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
“Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.” Prov. 16:3.
Amen and thanks for this SpiritView message. For the past few years I have spent an hour or more, morning and evening, in prayer and study, partly because I was preparing to teach my Sunday School class. After the recent passing of my husband (and many thanks to Nergish for the comment about God as our true relative! ) I expanded my two main study times considerably, and, realizing the benefits, rarely turn on the television after supper as we once did. I really look forward to these daily prayer and study hours.
Thank you Evan and Nergish and Rod for these helpful thoughts! So grateful for SpiritView, keeping us on track!:)
Thanks to Nadine also…our comments must have crossed in the mail…:) And all who
join in, thank you too! 🙂
*Radine 🙂
Knowing and experiencing how soft time is, I now can expand time to have all the time I need to pray, study the periodicals, and Bible lesson. We all can do this. Everything then fits into place. I begin and end my day with loving God and gratitude. When I gave a testimony at church about expanding time to be on time for church, a man approached me after church and told me he expands time every day to have time to study Christian Science. That gave me the idea to expand time for all the vital and important things I need to do each day. It works. The living Christ within us controls time.
I love this perspective that time is “soft.” Of course! God is All in all, so if there is anything real to time it is what God has made. So time is not an enemy, bcs we have no enemies. Time is one of those things that can “work together for good to them that live God!”
I also love your comment that “The Christ within controls time”! Anything controlled by the Christ blesses us. Good to remember this when it comes to thinking that passing time causes aging. Mrs. Eddy saw only “ripening.”
I’m going to rethink my beliefs of how I’ve been thinking of time as my enemy and be a law unto myself that time can only cause blessings — wonderful ripening. I bought some apricots that were not ripe yesterday, although they looked ripe. A little more time will make them sweet. God’s time makes everything sweet! God’s time is the infinite now!
Good idea!!
RA RA, everyone!!!!☀️
So many GOOD ideas!!
My mum always used to say, “Your spiritual study is more important than the food you eat…because it is your TRUE FOOD”. She also would say it is more important to study CS than ANYTHING else you will ever learn at school or work” and I agree.
Turning thought to Mind, one Mind during our day is also a good thing.
Thanks to all for encouragement and support.
God’s omnipresence is our constant supply.
Much gratitude as always, Evan.
Perfect timing. Thank you so much Evan
The Bible expresses the importance of titheing. Many years ago I made the committment to titheing in my daily study of Christian Science and deep prayer. So, I as I begin my day with at least 2 hours of prayer and study I am better prepared for whatever the day may bring. When our priorities are in order, so is our life.
Thank you Nergish for your uplifting comments.
When seemingly pressed for time I always go to hymn #46.
“Lord, , my times are in thy hand.”
Very comforting.
I was actually having some trouble with that recently due to starting and adjusting to a new full-time job. So what I do now is make it set-in-stone to read at least one section of the BL, at least one Sentinel article and/or Daily Lift, at least one Mother Church by-law, and at least one section of one of MBE’s other works a day. I’m already noticing a difference, even if it seems tiny right now.
Thank you Evan for this very important reminder!
It is my most important doing for every day – it is my daily bread – thank you God for this daily bread – our lesson sermon – which really satisfies us, meeting our spiritual need!
Now that I’m suddenly on my own again after many years, time can sometimes seem like an enemy to fill the lonely spaces without anyone to talk to or companion, other than beloved pets. However, even though I often use TV shows to fill this time and empty spaces, while this is still very new, I know a better use of this time is learning more about God and His love for me and all, including those who have acted selfishly and unkindly. Knowing this natural pull to all things spiritual will win out more and more each day as I move forward on this new, sometimes quite challenging chapter. Knowing that there are others out there on this and different journeys, feels comforting. God has always been my Rock, my Parent, my Husband, my Companion, my BFF, my Love, even when no other human is there for me, even when I can’t always seem to feel it. Thanks to all of you for being part of my spiritual family along the way! So grateful to know we can join hands and hearts spiritually as a family of seekers! God bless you all for caring and sharing!