If you are like me, you like to have your devotional time in the morning. It’s quiet, you are alone, and you can just be in scripture and in prayer with God. Eventually, that time comes to an end and you hit the ground running. You have checklists to complete, emails to send, meetings to be at, grandkids to pick up at school, dentist appointments, grocery shopping, etc. The list goes on and on. For many of us, while we mindfully practice being in the presence of Jesus during the beginning of our days, we usually forget about God as the day goes on. While we begin our days with Jesus, the rest of the day is completely dependent upon us.

Psalm 127:1 says this, “Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.” In other words, if God is not a part of the work, then the work was done in vain. Friends, I do not want my days to be in vain. Let us all practice being in the presence of Jesus not only in the morning but also in the afternoon and in the evening. As we go about our daily tasks, may we invite Jesus to be a part of our days so that as we look back at our lives, we can say that we lived a life in the presence of Jesus.

Here are three ideas you can put into practice.

- Pause, and invite Jesus to be a part of your day. Ask Him to help you with whatever you are doing at the moment.

- Go for a ten-minute walk. While walking, spend time in prayer.

- If you are stressed, ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

—Pastor Evan Davies