Shaving Time

Shaving Time - Strategies

“What is the grand secret of Christian success for living a holy life and the fullness of joy as God intended? It is to obtain and retain the perpetual presence and fullness of illumination of the Holy Ghost.” (Keswick Convention 1885).

Let’s face it and deal with it head on. It takes an enormous amount of time each day to walk in the Spirit and the spirit filled life must be maintained with diligence, sincere prayer and obedience.  We must give God time daily to refresh and revive the flow of the Holy Spirit.

To be constantly dependent on God and to continually grant unhindered control to the Holy Spirit takes focus, routine and time - daily. Why? Because we need to be renewed by Jesus in His presence and that without continued newness our Christian walk will become old again!

“Neglecting time with God is the most dangerous thing a Christian can do”. (Benny Hinn)

Recently, a friend of mine called me to give a remarkable update on his career and fruitfulness in Kingdom work. He was just given the drive-time two hour slot on Moody Radio, reaching millions per week. On the call he mentioned the enormous amount of daily time he was spending in the Word, prayer and personal devotion. He said he knew his successful radio broadcast was a direct result of the enormous time he was spending with the Lord. Most self-help books say results are generated by the time invested. We need to sow time with God to reach our highest potential.

So how much time do we need each day to achieve this ‘perpetual presence’, to remain Abiding in the vine in undisturbed union so as to shake the world? If we truly knew the answer to this question, would we respond to meet the requirement or continue to seek the minimum? Jesus said without Him we can accomplish nothing; He said “nothing”. So how much is THE RIGHT AMOUNT of time daily to sow with The Lord?

From my personal experience and polling of others it is 3- 3.5 hours a day.

What does our flesh say to that? Maybe that it is simply impossible and spending that much time per day would require pushing out and shutting out much of what is in the world. In doing so, I would have limited activity beyond my time with God. THAT IS THE POINT!

As God held back the water when He parted the Red Sea, we also need walls to hold the world back from drowning us so we can walk forward in progress and peace. The early church writer Fenclan wrote, “Give every spare second to Jesus.” God so wants us to crowd out and empty the world from our routine and lives making room for Him so he can transform us and fill us.

Let’s admit it, we know we would be much happier, successful and dynamic if we gave the Lord 3.5 hours a day. In fact, the supernatural would kick in!  Now if we choose to do less than 3.5 hours per day that’s our choice but we must recognize that we will be operating in less effectiveness. One hour a day with the Lord instead of 3.5 equals only 28.5% of our potential effectiveness. If we go two days at one hour we will be spiritual out of gas after three days and operating in our own strength and effort.

Some thoughts & strategies on shaving time to get 3.5 hours a day.

I would suggest splitting our days into manageable time blocks - blocking out hours where we can and then redeeming precious minutes throughout the day. Below are some suggestions but we must be careful not to become legalistic in the execution of them. Any block of time below can be replaced with whatever shuts the world out and results in our being alone with God. Change it out and around; go for a walk in the woods, sit on a park bench smelling the grass and looking at clouds or watch a sunset with God. Whatever gives life qualifies for that day’s total.

My Suggestions:

 Devotion time, first hour of the day:

·         Give God the first hour of your day for devotions. If you have an alarm clock you can do this! This is my advice to anyone whose life is a mess and comes to me for council: “Give God your first hour.” If they are unwilling to this this then I do not waste my time on them.

·         Read your Bible via an organized reading plan for 35 minutes. My favorite is The Four Streams. It can be found on the You Version Bible App.

·         Make sure you are in the Epistles (Romans- Jude) each day or you will feel malnourished very soon as they were written for us, the Church.

·         If you use an electronic device for your Bible reading like a smart phone or iPad, use the device for the reading assignment only; you must read out of your printed Bible or else you will never learn where to find verses. This is important.

·         Have a system of marking and underlining as you read. God says, ‘Mark my Word”.

·         Get a small 5x3 travel Bible so you can have it with you all the time. Keep it with you all the time.

·         When you get to work, take that Bible out and lay it open so you can move your eyes over it taking in a verse throughout your day.

·         Find a good devotional.  Read it for 10 minutes after your Bible reading. I like the classic My Upmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers or my favorite, Morning & Evening by Charles Spurgen.

·         End your devotions time in personal prayer. 15 minutes. Pray for yourself and your day.

One Hour completed

Second, hearing the Word hour:

·         Find a time each day when you can listen to challenging Bible teaching that is not from your church. Times like your morning commute in your car (turn off that radio!) or my favorite time is what I call shaving time (The Title of this Message) –use the time it takes to get ready each morning. Commuting or other significant time in your car is the easiest way to shave time for the Lord.

Some suggestions for other Bible teaching:

o   Times Square Church Sunday Service recording - this may be the most important prophetic church for America.

o   Believers Voice of Victory, Kenneth Copeland - daily broadcast online that challenges me.

o   Tim Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church NYC - maybe the best Bible teacher in the world today. His 10 sermon teaching on the Book of Mark called Kings Cross will rock you.

o   Sermon Classics found on YouTube.  I have a separate list of sermons that will be sent out next week that have changed the lives of our readers (please post your suggestions to below).

Two Hours Completed

Third, organize your day’s prayer time.
        I have mine organized like this:

1.    15 Minutes, Early Morning - I pray for myself and my day. I am not at my best in the a.m. so I have a written prayer I pray through that covers everything that I should be praying (my prayer available on request). I pray this inside my FIRST HOUR OF DEVOTION TIME.

2.    60 minutes, late afternoon - I pray intersession prayers for friends, family, ministries and Nations in a roll-call format.  I also have a prayer request journal I use. I often fall asleep for a few minutes during this time of prayer. I think the Lord wants me to rest. This prayer time is where I meet the Lord and is by far the most important hour in my day. It is also the most difficult hour to set aside.

3.    Before bedtime - I talk through the day with God and ask him about tomorrow. There is no time expectation here, sometimes just a few minutes and at other times it is a catch-up from missing late afternoon prayer time.

Three Hours Completed

o   Reading. I keep a book (Kindle) on my night stand and read for 15-30 minutes each night on a Christian subject. If I could only recommend one it would be They Found the Secret by V. Raymond Edman.

o   By reading something about God at the end of the day we prepare our hearts to rest during the night in Jesus and to invite God to give us peaceful dreams and revelation.

Thirty Minutes completed

Total: 3.5 Hours Completed

We need to put in the effort to become a giant for God. Paul used the example of a soldier that is not involved in civilian affairs, a serious athlete and a hard working famer to describe the effort needed to be successful in his advice to Timothy.

Remember, God does not give us a stored-up reserve of power so we will need to restart this routine NEW every day. I pray we would never get so complacent or satisfied with God as to think we have enough of Him. I think if the devil can’t get us to give up on God, he will be just as happy if we become satisfied where we are. Paul said it this way, “not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus”.

Choose to give the Lord 3.5 hours a day and you WILL WALK IN SUPERNATUAL AND EXTERORDINARY VICTORY. You will be a world shaker and a giant for God.
“Progress in sanctification will be intermitted and halting unless such a decision is made and maintained”. (Keswick Convention 1885).

Scripture is clear, when a man chooses to live his own life, the consequences are ruinous not only to himself but to others. God is challenging us to decide.