Priorities. How do you set them and how’s a Christian woman to know if she’s chosen the right priorities?
In a world where so much clamors for our attention and time, priority setting is tough.
As a woman of God there are two key priorities that have to rise to the top of your list. Why?
Because they determine what your remaining priorities should be.
We’re going to explore how priorities have been overtaken and how to place the most important ones back on top.
These priorities, time with God and prayer, are critical if you want to get anything in life done well and right.
With the holiday season in full swing and a 6-mile list of things needing done, it’s critical for women of God to use these two priorities to navigate this season.
Your spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical health will all benefit when time with God and prayer are your top two priorities.
Download your Bible study PDF here.
Distracted
I started my morning having resolved to study God’s Word and spend time in prayer because I know God should be my first priority.
But what did I do after opening my computer and Bible (I use my computer to study Scripture)…start searching for Apple Black Friday deals. Ummm – horribly misplaced priority.
If God wants me to have a MacBook Pro He’ll provide it and tell me when to buy it.
It’s easy to get distracted.
Electronics, in all forms, have stolen our focus and misplaced our priorities. Text messages, social stories and feeds, emails, YouTube videos, and marketers all tempt you with visions of this, that, or the other.
And during the holiday season these things are ramped up to the nth degree, each attempting to be your top priority.
While these things aren’t necessarily bad, when left unchecked, they can lead to misplaced priorities.
They quietly convince you that what they’re communicating should be your top priority.
Social media, emails, marketers, and the internet all clamor for your attention and quietly convince you that what they're communicating should be your top priority.
Because of this you don’t start your day handling what’s most important to God, you start it by handling what’s most important to others and you (like I did).
These things don’t just steal your time, they determine your priorities and leave you with a huge to-do list that has nothing to do with the priorities God has for you.
Your Lists
Take a second, look at your to-do list, and mentally cross off everything that has to do with checking email, text messages, or some form of social. Now cross off everything you haven’t talked to God about yet.
- How much is left on your list?
When I did it to my list, my list disappeared (as a matter of fact…hold tight for a bit ‘cuz I forgot priority #2, prayer, before starting to write. Be right back, maybe???).
Had to take a minute and pray about whether or not God even wanted me writing to you right now. If I just start writing I’m doing it in my own power and strength and that’s worthless and will fall to the floor like trash.
When I start my day with priority #1, God and priority #2, prayer, I can be certain that what I’m doing is fueled by God.
The words I write are now powered by the Holy Spirit and will be used however God wants to use them.
I’m plugged into the best power source ever, the Spirit of God who dwells in me, the temple of God. (if you had any idea just how excited this makes me…)
Back to the subject at hand, your to-do lists.
Priorities usually revolve around what we, and others, want. Priorities should instead revolve around God.
When your priorities aren’t God’s, the things you’ve placed on your to-do list will consume you. They permeate every square inch of your brain, heart, and life and leave you stressed out, anxious, and worried.
We’ve talked about this before because these things make you sick and make it near impossible for women to maintain a healthy weight.
Click here, here, or here or on the links below to read more about stress.
But worse than that, these things become gods to us. Joyce Meyers said “Anything can become a god to us—anything we worship or put an excessive amount of time into. Even your feelings can become a god if you allow them to control you. We need to ask ourselves, Am I bowing down to God and His Word or to my feelings?”
But what should a Christian woman’s priorities be and how are you supposed to put a different priority set in place when you barely have time to brush your teeth?
You’ve gotta trust God. Period.
And it might take a lot of trust, depending on your current priorities and lifestyle. You have to remember God’s promises and everything He’s already done for you.
- Have you spent time recounting all He’s done?
- Ask Him to bring to mind the many things He’s done for you throughout your life – the little and big things.
(did you remember to download your Bible study guide? It’s here.)
Then remember that He’ll supply your every need, won’t let you go hungry, and won’t leave you without clothes to wear or a roof over your head.
These things may not look the way you think they should but…if you’re priorities are in line, they’ll look the way God wants them to.
Realign Your Priorities
It’s hard to figure priorities out, especially when so many things want your attention.
I’d be foolish to say “just realign your priorities, you know what you should do”. That would leave you feeling inadequate or worse, like a failure.
You, woman of God, are more than adequate and far far from a failure. You are perfect for every last thing God created you to do and with the Holy Spirit’s strength, you’ll successfully do all God wants you to.
Your adequacy and success align perfectly when God’s priorities become yours.
Hit Reset
Hitting reset on your priorities and to-do list is one of the most difficult simple things to do. Difficult and simple because it requires the same thing.
That you do nothing.
If your priorities are out of line then you’ve got to hit pause and go to the One who should be priority number One, your Abba Father.
He knows what He created you for and knows every single talent, gift, and purpose He gave you. After all, He knows every plot twist, tearful moment, and joyful surprise that fills the pages of your life story.
So do the difficult thing and hit pause.
Then go and spend time asking your Father for wisdom and direction regarding the priorities He wants you to have.
Matthew 7:7-8 says “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Hit pause on your current priorities and go ask God what He wants your priorities to be. There’s one thing you can be certain of, God wants to be your first priority.
Your Top Priority
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33
This verse comes right after Jesus teaches about worry. He’s telling you not to worry about things but to instead make God your first priority.
When you keep the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness on the top of your to-do list, everything else should flow from it.
- Can God be inserted into every priority you currently have?
- If so, how should/will it change the way you handle each of your priorities?
Because guess what ladies…No matter if it’s today’s to-do list or your life goals, everything changes when you put God first.
When God comes first, He’s the One you go to for every single thing.
If this isn’t something you’re used to, it might take a little practice. Start your day by spending time with God.
- How can you make time in God’s Word the first thing you do?
Do this first, before you’ve done anything but make the coffee, because this is the foundation your day is built on. (I think it’s okay if you make coffee first. God’s not legalistic)
As a Christian you grow by discerning what God wants you to do, and then putting it into practice.
This is how you’re able to set the right priorities.
Christian growth, growing in Christlikeness happens when your priorities are in line with God’s.
- How would time with God change your priorities and help you grow to be more like Christ?
Determining Your Priorities
Now that you know what your first priority should be it’s time for the second priority I mentioned, prayer.
Just as Matthew 7:7-8 says to pray by asking, seeking, and knocking, Matthew 6:5-15 also teaches about prayer.
This is where Jesus teaches about how to pray. We’ll unpack “how to pray” in a coming post.
You put time with God first and then follow that up with prayer.
Time with God should involve time in Scripture and prayer.
Time in God’s Word reveals
- who God is,
- how He wants us to live, and
- what He wants us to do.
Prayer is where you
- spend time talking with your Abba Father,
- praising Him for who He is,
- praying for others, and
- asking Him what He wants you to do.
Prayer + time with God should determine your priorities and to-do list.
- How do you currently determine what your priorities are and what goes on your to-do list?
- What would change if your priorities became what God revealed through time in prayer and with Him?
- What would change about the things on your to-do list?
God knows about all life requires of you. He wants you to
- do it all with Him,
- in His timing, and
- with the Holy Spirit’s strength.
Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
- Will you go to the Lord each day and trade your burdens for His?
In Closing...
Your top two priorities should be time with God and prayer.
We’ve covered both of these subjects in more depth in the below posts.
When you start your day with God and don’t do anything before praying about it, you can rest secure knowing you’re doing what God wants, how He wants, and when He wants.
Even if God gives you a mile long list of priorities for each day, there’s comfort knowing He’s going to provide you the strength, ability, and resources to do whatever it is He’s asked you to do.
- Will you go through this Christmas season making these two things your top priorities? Allowing Christmas to be about nothing but Christ and what God wants?
What an amazing example you’ll set as the watching world wonders how you made it through the holidays full of peace, joy, confidence, strength, and so much more.
Allow God to direct your steps today and every day and leave those around you wondering what’s different about you. Let your time in prayer, and with God, be reflected in all you choose to do and not do.
Until next time...
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:15-16
