A Word from Tozer This Morning: Overcome Distractions

peace

I’ve been receiving daily emails from Literature Ministries International that deliver Tozer’s daily devotionals for years.

This morning’s devotional was perfect for me (and perhaps you).

I’m just going to do a copy and paste here:


April 8

Prayer: Overcome Distractions

But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. –Matthew 6:6

Among the enemies to devotion none is so harmful as distractions. Whatever excites the curiosity, scatters the thoughts, disquiets the heart, absorbs the interests or shifts our life focus from the kingdom of God within us to the world around us–that is a distraction; and the world is full of them. Our science-based civilization has given us many benefits but it has multiplied our distractions and so taken away far more than it has given….

The remedy for distractions is the same now as it was in earlier and simpler times, viz., prayer, meditation and the cultivation of the inner life. The psalmist said “Be still, and know,” and Christ told us to enter into our closet, shut the door and pray unto the Father. It still works….

Distractions must be conquered or they will conquer us. So let us cultivate simplicity; let us want fewer things; let us walk in the Spirit; let us fill our minds with the Word of God and our hearts with praise. In that way we can live in peace even in such a distraught world as this. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.” The Set of the Sail, 129-132.

“Lord, it’s certainly harder and harder to shut out the distractions of an increasingly science-based civilization. Help me to cultivate simplicity, to be satisfied with fewer things, and to find the inner peace that You can give in a life of prayer and meditation. Amen.”

[Image from Jup3Nep]

Filed under: Theology | Tagged: Theology

7 Responses to “A Word from Tozer This Morning: Overcome Distractions”

  1. Jim April 8, 2009 at 2:16 PM #

    10 am daily is coffee-break and prayer out in the yard. there are more things this week to distract.

  2. JakeSchwein April 8, 2009 at 2:48 PM #

    Thanks for the good reminder today!

    • human3rror April 8, 2009 at 2:55 PM #

      sure thing it was awesome this morning.

  3. CLowe April 8, 2009 at 4:42 PM #

    Wow! That just hit me right between the eyes…thanks.

  4. Michele Cushatt April 9, 2009 at 1:28 AM #

    "Help me to cultivate simplicity…" Implies both effort and harvest. Love it.

  5. Phillip Gibb April 9, 2009 at 6:45 AM #

    oh that is so true, sometimes I need to walk away to be able to focus.

  6. wilco74 April 9, 2009 at 1:20 PM #

    closing Google Reader now to open my devotional that i've pushed aside this morning…thanks for the reminder, Tozer via H3.

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