He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them ... and prayed. Luke 22:41

For the hard-running athletes, for tired parents, for exhausted executives, for all of us the wise word is: "Time out!" We take "time out" from work for relaxation and from routine for recreation. We take "time out" for a coffee break in the morning and a nap in the afternoon. Above all, we need to take "time out" from everything else in life to pray.

How often our life is taken up with big plans that turn into small accomplishments because we did not take "time out" to pray for guidance! How easy it is for us to become so dazed by success in our efforts that we forget to take "time out" to pray in thanksgiving! How heavy our life all too often becomes when we are weighed down by the burden of guilt and do not take "time out" to pray for forgiveness.

As we hurry from home in the morning, as we rush through a busy schedule at work, as we fill up the hours with all sorts of activities, as we return to our home where things must be done, we need to take "time out" for personal communication with Him whose will is: "Call upon Me!" (Psalm 50:15). Every day we need to catch our spiritual breath and take "time out" to pray.

PRAYER: Lord, remind us that when we are too busy to pray, we are too busy; in Jesus' name. Amen.

(Devotions from "The Abundant Life" copyright 1998, CPH. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be printed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of Concordia Publishing House. Permission is granted for one-time e-mailing of this link to a friend. For information on other devotional material, please contact CPH at 800-325-3040 or visit CPH at www.cph.org.)

Today's Bible Readings: Psalms 137    Ezekiel 1-2    1 Timothy 2

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