Letting God Reorder Your Priorities - Your Nightly Prayer - March 2nd

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Your Nightly Prayer

Letting God Reorder Your Priorities
Your Nightly Prayer
by Dr. James Spencer, host of the Thinking Christian Podcast

TONIGHT'S SCRIPTURE

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” - Matthew 6:33

SOMETHING TO PONDER

Lent is a season of slowing down. It is time to step back and honestly examine what directs our lives. We realign and pull back from the patterns, wants, and routines that silently take more of us than they should. In so doing, Lent enables us to see what we are really seeking first. It helps us to set aside our everyday needs and concerns to depend on the Lord.

Recently, I noticed that my long list of tasks was beginning to overwhelm me. Nothing on the list was inherently bad. Most of the things on my list were, in fact, good. Many of them were even necessary. But collectively, they crowded out my mind, filled my schedule, and quietly nudged my attention away from God. In seeking to do many good things, I had lost attentiveness to what mattered most. My priorities had not shifted overnight, but had changed subtly and almost imperceptibly.

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus calls us to, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.” Jesus isn’t denying that we have needs or concerns. Daily necessities are important. But Jesus is calling us to desire God first and to order everything else according to our loyalty to him. To seek first the kingdom, we can't squeeze God into an already overcrowded schedule. We immerse everything we do in our love for God. We loosen our grip on diversions, anxieties, and ambitions that offer the illusion of security but can never ultimately satisfy.

When we immerse our other priorities in our love for God, they don’t vanish. But they find their proper place. Fasting, prayer, and reflection help us remember that we are dependent on God, not independent of him. The less tightly we cling to the things that compete for our attention, the more attentiveness we have to God’s presence, guidance, and care.

When God’s kingdom comes first, we aren’t driven by fear of lack or the need to prove ourselves. We are free to rest in God’s provision and direction. Our lives become less frantic and more attentive.

This evening, you are invited to rest by placing your diversions, worries, and misplaced priorities in God’s hands. As you seek him first, rest in the knowledge that he is faithfully ordering your life according to his wisdom and love.

YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER

Dear Lord,
In this season of Lent, I affirm our devotion to you. I confess that I often allow fear, distraction, and daily pressures to shape my priorities. Teach me to seek your kingdom first. Teach me to long for your righteousness above all else. Help me loosen my grip on what competes for my attention and to trust you with what I need. Reorder my heart so that I point to and glorify you in all things. Give me peace, clarity, and a renewed sense of devotion. I lay my life before you in full trust that you are faithful to provide. I pray these things in Jesus’ name,
Amen.

THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON

1. What are the areas of your life where good things have quietly displaced your focus on God’s kingdom? What might it look like to seek God first in those areas?

2. How might surrendering these distractions bring freedom and peace?

3. How does remembering God’s care help you trust him with your priorities today?

Reflect on tonight’s prayer and share how God met you there. Join the Your Nightly Prayer discussion on the Crosswalk Forum.

James Spencer earned his PhD in Theological Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and an MA in Biblical Exegesis from Wheaton College. By teaching the Bible and theology, as well as evaluating modern social, cultural, and political trends, James challenges Christians to remember that we don’t set God’s agenda—He sets ours. James has published multiple works, including Serpents and Doves: Christians, Politics and the Art of Bearing Witness, Christian Resistance: Learning to Defy the World and Follow Christ, Useful to God: Eight Lessons from the Life of D. L. Moody, Thinking Christian: Essays on Testimony, Accountability, and the Christian Min, and Trajectories: A Gospel-Centered Introduction to Old Testament Theology. His work calls Christians to an unqualified devotion to the Lord. In addition to serving as president of Useful to God, James is a member of the faculty at Right On Mission and an adjunct instructor at Wheaton College Graduate School. Listen and subscribe to James’s Thinking Christian podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Life Audio.