This morning I woke up early and what did I do?  I reached for my phone to check on the tense situation in Europe or the events unfolding north of the border.  Within minutes my mind was filled with the things of this world.

Then I went and did some work and came back to prepare for weekly prayer time with a friend.  But before I did I was on YouTube and fell into the YT abyss.  You know that one where you plan on 2 minutes and spend a whole hour (or more).

In the midst of it all I didn’t spend much more than token time in the Word.  During prayer my mind was distracted with the events of the world and I just had trouble settling in.  It’s such a highlight of my week but I was just too distracted today.  Mind fog.

It seems like that’s the world we live in.  Just a fun video or even important video on the internet and the next thing our prayer life is cut into.  If anything, the hours we spend a day watching videos or reading good things is proof that we have time for prayer, and don’t take it.

It’s the same thing in the evening.  I’ve been distracted.  Instead of praying, I’ve been obsessing about world and national events.  And my prayer life is taking a hit.  When I do pray, I’m distracted.

It makes me think of the parable of the seed where the “worries” of this life choke out the seed making it unfruitful.  It’s not that it kills it, it just becomes unfruitful.  While I don’t feel really worried, I do have real concerns about the world on fire right now.  But the distractions of those concerns is, while I hate to admit it, making me less and less fruitful.   Too much it can cause dire spiritual illnesses.

I have to do better.  To discipline myself much more than I have been.  Because now is not the time to be distracted.  It is the time to be engaged.  Via prayer.  Via the word.  Via His work.