“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” —Mark 11:24 (ESV)
I ran breathlessly into the meeting room, quickly scanning for an empty chair. I was late…again. “Sorry, sorry,” I said…again.
I don’t try to be late for meetings. Really! I check my calendar first thing every morning, so I know what is on the day’s agenda. I lay out folders and other necessary papers in advance, so they’re easy to find. I even have a reminder that pops up on my computer and on my phone fifteen minutes before an appointment.
So what’s the problem? I also have this little habit of trying to squeeze in one more e-mail response or one more phone call or a few more paragraphs of that report in those last fifteen minutes. But then “one more” becomes “two more” or what I’m doing takes more time than I thought it would, and I’m scrambling.
Thank goodness I have a colleague who’s given me a way to finally beat my late-to-meeting habit. “Do exactly what you’re doing now, but when that fifteen-minute alarm goes off, stop what you’re doing and close your laptop.”
“But what a waste of fifteen minutes,” I said. “That’s when I do an e-mail or three!”
“Waste of time?” he responded. “Unless you use those minutes instead to pray for the work you are about to do, the people doing it, and those it will affect.”
What an idea! Now I not only get to meetings on time, I get there with less stress and better prepared both mentally and spiritually. I hope this work devotional and prayer will inspire you in your workday.
Grant me the wisdom, God, to steward Your gift of time in faithful and fruitful ways.
Digging Deeper: 2 Chronicles 6:12–42, Psalm 28
Excerpted from Daily Guideposts 2017.
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