Let’s face it. God won’t have the opportunity to paint a detailed picture of our destiny in our hearts if all we give Him are a few scattered moments here and there. To reveal to us the fullness of our calling, to lift us into the places He wants us to go, He needs us to give Him some quality time.

Notice, I didn’t say we must give Him great, massive quantities of time. We don’t have to spend weeks alone in a cabin somewhere reading our Bible on our knees. But we do have to give Him periods of undivided attention. Times when we focus exclusively on Him.

We must also be willing to expend energy—both natural and spiritual—on the things of God. Most Christians these days are much too laid back. They go along their merry little way enjoying life, giving God a little wave now and again. They say, “I guess if God wants me to do anything major for Him, He’ll tell me. After all, He knows where to find me.”

Yes, He knows where to find us all right: at the lake, at the movies, at the football game, in front of the television, or at the mall. But it is not His job to run after us and apprehend us in those places. On the contrary, it is our job to run after Him.

We need to have the attitude the apostle Paul had. He put tremendous effort into disciplining himself spiritually. He subdued and buffeted his body on purpose in order to keep his flesh from robbing him of God’s best. He lived his life in God like he was running an Olympic race, not like he was taking a stroll in the park.

Instead of putting up his spiritual feet and saying, “God will get me where I need to go,” he said:
I press on to lay hold of (grasp) and make my own, that for which Christ Jesus (the Messiah) has laid hold of me … one thing I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward.
(Phil. 3:12 – 14 AMP)

Paul didn’t walk; he ran full out after God.

Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 2:1 – 7

Source: Devotions for the Praying Heart by Lynne Hammond.
Excerpt permission granted by Lynne Hammond Ministries