Jesus Every Minute of Every Day

By Marilyn McGrath

How I want to live in Jesus every minute of every day. I pray and talk to God; I even listen for answers. Yet, hours will pass when I do not think about Jesus and find myself making decisions without Him. I know He is always with me and in me, and life is full and lovely when I am in Him. Why wouldn’t I just stay there? After all, Dallas Willard writes that “people are meant to live in an ongoing conversation with God, speaking and being spoken to. . . Given who we are by basic nature, we live – really live – only through God’s regular speaking in our souls and thus by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Ruth Haley Barton writes “The capacity to discern and do the will of God arises out of friendship with God, cultivated through prayer, times of quiet listening and alert awareness.” I am inconsistent with prayer and times of quiet listening, but it is the alert awareness that really slips through my fingers as I am distracted by any number of people or events, especially now during these times of uncertainty.

Scripture urges us to “keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all you do be done in love.” (1 Corinthians 16:13-14) I love these verses. The first verse draws me back to spiritual awareness, and the next pulls me right back into Jesus’ presence. Then, there is Isaiah (30:21) whispering “When you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” It gives me goose bumps and I feel the presence of the Lord all around me, filling me up with every breath.

There are many more verses of scripture that remind me that Christ lives in me, and I find comfort and closeness with Jesus through them. I am also in need of Jesus’ urging to stay with him. In Matthew, Jesus was chiding the disciples for not remaining awake during the hour preceding His arrest. But what Jesus said next to Peter had a deeper, spiritual meaning: “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing [i.e., intentions are good], but the flesh [mere human willpower] is weak.” (Matthew 26:41). To remain in Christ every minute of every day calls for me to practice and practice again. Beth Moore writes that she keeps her eyes on Jesus, a choice she makes a thousand times a day until this thought pattern is etched into her brain. Dearest Lord, may it be so for all your beloved children.

Prayer adapted from Day by Day, by Peter Scazzero

Father, you know how easily I forget about you for hours at a time. Help me to hear your voice in my joys and hardships, in scripture, and in the voices of others. I ask you for grace and power to pay attention and listen to you during all my waking hours. In Jesus’ name, Amen.