Reframing Productivity through Grace - Your Nightly Prayer - September 9th

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Reframing Productivity through Grace
Your Nightly Prayer
by Amanda Idleman

TONIGHT’S SCRIPTURE

“Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain.” - Psalm 127:1

SOMETHING TO PONDER 

This reflection invites peace from the need to hustle, centering productivity in God’s presence.

I have a special notebook where I log everything that is planned for the days, weeks, and months. If I don’t write it down, it doesn’t happen. This book can become a bit overwhelming, as I have six kids in my care. Many days are filled with conflicting appointments, and I have more tasks to complete than can be realistically squeezed into one day. 

In my quest to balance the schedule, plan everyone’s activities, and get organized for the new school year, I can lose sight of the end goal that I am striving for. The point is not and should not be doing more for the sake of doing. The ultimate goal we are chasing is to build a family that grows to love the Lord with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love others as Jesus does, too! 

When I am striving to build the “perfect home” but forget about our family mission, I am laboring in vain. With this in mind, I must be willing to pray over that special notebook, asking God to guide which events, activities, goals, retreats, vacations, and jobs we should be incorporating into our lives. I must begin to consider how each of these commitments draws us closer to God and each other. I must surrender it all to God, prioritizing peace and presence over productivity. That’s how we apply grace to our need to produce as individuals, families, and communities. 

YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER 

Father,
I thank you that your grace is sufficient to meet my needs! I ask your grace to cover this next season of life. Remind me daily that the goal is to partner with you to build our homes. We don’t want to be laboring in vain. Give us the wisdom we need to say yes to the right things and to say no when we need to. Help us prioritize presence and peace over productivity. We invite you into our schedules, our goals, and trust that you will provide all we need. It’s not by our strength by yours alone, that we live!
Amen. 

THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON

1. Take time to pray over your goals, commitments, calendar, and more. Ask God to reveal to you things you may need to let go of and things that may add eternal value to your routine. 

2. Consider how you can best prioritize presence and peace as you produce.

3. How is hustling negatively impacting you or your family? Take time to repent for this self-focused striving and ask God to show you how to better care for yourself and others.

Photo Credit: ©Unsplash/Glenn Carstens-Peters

Amanda Idleman is a writer whose passion is encouraging others to live joyfully. She writes devotions for Your Nightly Prayer, Crosswalk Couples Devotional, Your Daily Prayer, and more. She has work published with Her View from Home, on the MOPS Blog, and is a regular contributor for Crosswalk.com, Biblestudytools.com, and Christianity.com. She has most recently published a devotional, Comfort: A 30 Day Devotional Exploring God's Heart of Love for Mommas, alongside her husband’s companion devotional, Shepherd. You can find out more about Amanda on her Facebook Page or follow her on Instagram.

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