When I became a Christian one of the important things I was told to do was to spend time with the Lord daily. The more I spend time with God, the more that I will get to know who He is to me. The more I spend time with Him, the more I will be able to see His hand in my life. Spending time in the presence of the Lord helps us to be made into the person He is calling us to be, it helps us to be more like Jesus.

Somewhere down the line someone got it in their head that the best time to pray was at the beginning of the day. Wake up, start your day with Jesus, and the rest of your day will be lived out in Him. That’s the way to do it.

Boom. There was the weight of pressure on this not-so-morning-kinda-gal. I just do NOT do mornings, ya’ll. I wait until I can’t possibly wait to get up any longer. Every ounce of sleep I can get is precious, especially now that I am a mom. In college I did what I could do to get up and pray first thing. I could get to bed at a decent hour and get up and spend as much time as I wanted in the presence of the Lord with no interruptions.

Insert a few years, a husband, and two kids later and my life has changed a lot, and so has my quiet time.

That weight of pressure came back and when I didn’t get up to pray first thing I felt like I was failing. How is the rest of my day going to be lived out in the Lord if I can’t even start my day with Him? The best time to spend time in prayer is in the morning and I am failing at taking advantage of that “best time.” I would feel so defeated for not praying at the best time that sometimes I wouldn’t even pray at all. I felt trapped into that thinking and completely defeated.

But let me tell ya sister, the best time is the time you made. God isn’t sitting there watching making sure you spend time with Him first thing in the morning. He doesn’t see you sleep in and then see you squeezing in that quiet time while the kids are napping and think to Himself, “This would have been so much better if you spent time with me first thing this morning.”

Let’s stop telling people when to pray, and just encourage them to get in the presence of the Lord.

Get into the presence of the Lord while you’re doing dishes.

Get into the presence of the Lord while you’re folding laundry.

Get into the presence of the Lord while you’re cuddled on the couch in a blanket drinking your coffee.

Get into the presence of the Lord while you’re taking a shower.

Sister, it doesn’t matter when you pray, just find time to be in the presence of the Lord. Being in His presence is life changing and most importantly refreshing. This life is crazy, fast paced, and there is always something demanding our attention. But there is nothing that uplifts and strengthens like getting in the presence of the Lord. Whether it’s in the morning, before bed, or sometime in between you do what works for you.

Time spent in the presence of God is always time well spent.

What about you? When do you find time to sit in God’s presence?