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The Real Work is in Secret

Matthew 6:6 "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you"

I feel like a broken record using this verse, but as we embark on a new year with new ambitions and new goals, I just feel that this is one of the most important verses to focus on.  Multi-tasking is definitely not one of my strengths, and research has show that though many will say they are more productive multi-tasking, or more productive when faced against a deadline, these activities definitely hurt your productivity.  How do you pray?  Do you pray while you are driving into work?  Do you pray when you need something to go right in your life?  Do you pray at the table before a meal?  Any prayer is good prayer, but there is one main importance to praying alone in your room with your door closed:  It is just you and God.  This is the relationship that God has always intended for us...nothing between us and our communication.

Fitness has always been important to me because of golf.  Playing in college I was always very skinny and coaches and trainers would always get me to lift weights and eat a lot of food to try and put on muscle so that I could hit the golf ball longer.  Learning all about how muscle grows, I know that you have to test the muscles, put strain on them, but then give them rest so that they can rebuild.  Rest after training is one of the most important things to creating muscle.  Though you might not see it, inside your body while you sleep, the muscle is growing.  Just like in a relationship with Christ, though you might not see it on the outside, inside you are growing and changing to be more Christ-like!  It takes training though and it takes repetition.  God wants to bless you with joy that can ONLY be found in Him.  Don't let the world of quick fixes and the world of Instagram filters make you think that joy is found in anything other than God.  Last year I remember I really got into a fitness kick, however I was neglecting my 20 minute Bible reading in the morning because I was focusing on my physical health over my spiritual health.  All of us can agree that we can all eat a little better, work out a little more, but more importantly we all can agree that we can work on our spiritual health more too.  It takes INTENTION and ACTION.  I can intend to get healthy, but if my action doesn't show that then I will not achieve my goal.  I can have action, but without the proper intention, I could still be far off my goal.

What can you do to intentionally draw nearer to Christ with action?  For me it is consistently going into prayer when I get my day started.  I intentionally want God to be first in the day, and I follow that up with the action of talking with God and thanking Him.

What are your intentions this 2019 and what are the actions that align with the intentions?  If you want to get closer to God, then there is nothing more meaningful, powerful, and relational, then opening the Bible and reading.  Be intentional with the God that intentionally wanted to save His people, and saved His people with the action of giving up His one and only Son for us.

Have a wonderful week!

Song of the week:  Mover of Mountains


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