A Pop-Up Prayer
Ephesians 3:20
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.
Here in Charlotte, school buses started their daily trek to and from schools to scoop up and drop off children this week. Teachers were up early, ready to teach their students, and for me, I had a rude awakening when my alarm went off at 5:30, rather than the, well, let's just say, much later than that, time to which I've become accustomed this summer. As I saw my son off to school, I knew we were back into the swing of things with a new early morning routine.
As busy as summer was for me, and surely for you, the new school year ushers in a new season of activities, obligations, practices, carpools, homework, projects and meetings. It is busyness with a defined school-bell rhythm. Frankly, it's easy to let Scripture slide from the forefront of your mind to the back corners, and we find ourselves forging forward with a little bit more resistance than we experience when we're meditating on the Word.
My dear friend, Anne Ferrell Tata is a faithful and diligent pray-er. She recently told me about something she does to focused on the Lord, that I implemented immediately: at 3:20 (make sure it's p.m. not a.m. so it stays a welcome reminder!) every day, she sets an alarm on her phone with Ephesians 3:20 on it. Like clockwork, every day, she receives that automatic reminder, and even if it's just for a brief moment, her mind resets while it focuses on Ephesians 3:20.
It may seem almost too simple, but that is exactly the type of reminder I need. A forced interruption in the forward march of my day to shift my concentration heavenward. With Anne Ferrell's encouragement, I set my own alarm for 3:20, and pray those powerful words over my business, my employees, and my family. I also have an alarm now set at 11:20 a.m. to pray Ezekiel 11:19-20 over my children. I pray specifically that God will give my children, Blakely, Catherine, Taylor and Ford, an undivided heart and that God would put a new spirit in them. I also pray that He will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh, and that they will follow God's decrees and be careful to keep His laws. They will be His people, and He will be their God.
The sad fact is, our phones have become an extra limb for most of us anyway (in some cases, it's become an extra brain!). I'm tired of submitting to the demands of my phone first - social media alerts, incoming text messages, constant emails... I'm ready to put it to work for me and make it a tool for the Spirit rather than a distraction of the world.
Most of us have several go-to verses. What are yours? I encourage you to implement this simple system as a new part of your daily habit by setting an alarm based on the reference of those verses. Here are a few you might consider:
Psalm 139 - set your alarm for 1:39
Philippians 4:8 - set your alarm for 4:08
Philippians 3:14 - set your alarm for 3:14
Hebrews 10:23 - set your alarm for 10:23