10 Steps Ahead: A Growth Devotional with Adia PetersonSample

Private Time > Public!

Today, we're going to talk about how important it is to have a private life that truly reflects Christ. 

One day, when Jesus was teaching on prayer and devotion to God, He instructed His disciples saying that when you pray, do so privately and not for show. Of course, we understand that there are times when we need to pray publicly—in church, school, at a conference, or an event—but in this case, Jesus is talking more about our motivation for connecting with Him. In the Bible, Daniel was a man of great prayer and contemplation. He is most known for His encounter with the lions in the lion's den, but I am always more intrigued by his lifestyle—the very reason he was thrown into the den in the first place. 

Daniel never let anything override his time with God. His private life of devotion made him a public force to be reckoned with. He was one of the most potent prophets of his time because his personal life with the Lord was so on point.

When you interact with the Lord, what is your motivation? I believe that we are to challenge ourselves in this so that we can GROW! For God, He wants an authentic, real, and true relationship with us. He asks us to thirst after Him, to desire Him more than anything or anyone else. When we pray, worship, or express our love for Him it needs to be from a real place that we established with Him while no one was looking. The building of our relationship with God is done in private; it's a work within our soul and spirit that is not directed by what others think. Prayerfully, if we get the unseen things right, what people witness coming out of us will be a powerful testimony of the God that we serve.  

Spend time and energy perfecting your private time with the Lord. He is invisible but present! The moments you spend alone with Him are the most valuable and give God a chance to perfect you for everything that you will do for Him publicly.

Read Daniel, chapter 6 today. Reflect on Daniel's lifestyle of private devotion that made him powerful when he needed to be.