C.S. Lewis writes in The Screwtape Letters of Satan’s strategies to lure us away from God. From his work, other places, and our own experiences, we know that Satan uses division, fear, self-pity, pride, greed, lust, and discouragement, to name a few. If we’re truthful, we’ve all experienced these things. There’s an additional strategy of Satan’s that I just experienced recently…that is busyness. Working in the Conference Office at Franciscan University of Steubenville, it’s going to be an incredibly busy summer. This summer we are anticipating 16 youth conferences and 5 adult conferences.

Too Busy to Pray

Although gratifying, given the many blessings of the weekend experiences for the teens and adults, it is exhausting. And given how incredibly busy I (we) are, my prayer life diminishes.

Prayer is a Struggle

I don’t know anyone on this journey who doesn’t struggle with prayer. Although the same is true for me, every day I get in my rote prayers, in addition to spending some quiet time with Jesus. ( didn’t get any prayer time in, but I didn’t even think about it until on the flight back home.)
 
The most important relationship I have is with Jesus and it gets massively interrupted given the busyness of my life. Satan wins that battle some days.
 
For the longest time, my life was about the pace….when I was praying to the god of money. Now, it’s all about the peace. I’m not interested in running from one thing to another, always chasing what’s next and being exhausted. I want peace and balance in my life.

What Prayer Does for Me

I pray to show God gratitude and to adore Him, but I also pray for what it does for me. It’s been a very positive thing in my life. Although not perfect at it, I do it daily. Continuing to struggle with it, it is always a meaningful part of my day. Prayer helps me be my best.

How busy are you? What are you busy doing? What is your busyness keeping you from? As indicated above, Satan uses division, fear, self-pity, pride, greed, lust, and discouragement. He also uses busyness to distract us from the most important thing in our lives…God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

You can’t address a problem unless you know it exists. Know of the above and try to slow things down. Spend time with God and live in a place of peace, which is way better than the pace so many of us are so used to.

As always, please get to me with questions or comments at [email protected].

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph