© Ayo Omolayo
I rolled from one end of the bed to the other as the sound of my ringing phone couldn’t be ignored. I had put off my quiet time alarm when it was too noisy. I needed my precious sleep so badly. I can’t allow anything disturb my beauty sleep.
I picked up the phone to put it off when my sleepy eyes noticed the caller’s ID. It was my mentor. My sleepy eyes in a jiffy, lost its wireless connection with the spirit of slumber.
I sat up immediately and looked at the clock to be sure I wasn’t dreaming. It was 4:30am. She had never called me this early before. What was going on? Was there something really important to tell me? Had she seen a revelation or a dream about me? Why was she call at this early hours of the morning.
I quickly swiped the green bar and placed the phone close to my ear.
“Hello ma!” I greeted.
“Hello! How’s it going?” She asked.
I was lost. What was she referring to?
“I’m sorry ma! How’s what going?”
“Your quiet time! How’s it going?”
I had not been observing it for days now. It was the topic our previous discussion last week. She called and asked how I was doing spiritually. I had to at least give her some of the little happenings that had the element of truth. Yes! Informations that had the element of truth, because Cris was now a full time liar.
I told her I wasn’t observing my quiet time anymore.
“Why?” She asked.
“I don’t know! I’ve been so busy lately. I return home completely tired and exhausted. I don’t have time to pray and read my Bible anymore. Infact, reading my Bible is a difficult thing to do. Even prayers are becoming too difficult. I don’t know why”, I answered.
“Cris! You need to understand that building your relationship with God or a spiritual life is war. And whenever a battle is going on, you don’t accept the losing position. You don’t accept to be the loser. Your spiritual life is under attack and you’re not doing anything about it”.
“Mummy! It’s my work. I go to bed by 11pm and wake up by 6am for work. I don’t have enough time to sleep. My work is consuming all the time”, I replied.
“Really? Is that what you would tell the devil when he comes to attack you. You’re getting cold Spiritually and you’re giving excuses. You have time for everything except God. Cris! Whatever is important to you, you always create time for it. Whatever you love so much you would always have time to do it.
If your spiritual life is important to you, you would have time to take care of it. So those excuses are only proofs that every other thing is important except your prayer life”.
Why was this woman accusing me? Doesn’t she understands what it means to be tired? Haba! I can’t kill myself na. I stand up to pray sleep is making me stagger like an acholic. Is it until I fall and break my head she would understand? What’s her problem. Body no be firewood.
“Cris!” Came my mentor’s voice.
“Do you remember Apostle Peter was with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane for an alnight? Truth be told, Peter was tired. The day has been long and hectic for him. He preached that morning. Escorted Jesus to the temple. Went shopping for Passover, carried heavy bags of grain all the way from the market to the upper room where the Last supper held.That’s truly exhausting.
Then instead of a nap, Jesus had them walk for hours into a garden and told them to start praying that temptation was coming.
Didn’t Jesus know he was very tired?”
Peter slept off and Jesus who saw the danger in what he was doing, interupted his own personal prayers to go and wake him. Peter please pray.
Even Jesus confirmed he wanted to pray. Your Spirit is willing to pray, but your flesh is so weak.But can I ask you a question?”
“Yes ma!” I replied.
“Did temptation look at Peter, confirmed he was tired and postponed his coming till another day?
Chai! Peter you are so tired that’s why you are not able to pray. Let me come again another day, little Peter wants to sleep.
Cris! I know we are in a very busy world today. We have so much work to do. We barely have time for ourselves. We go out to work and come back late.
We are so tired that we can’t prepare a healthy dinner. Sometimes you have to eat indomie. Sometimes you are forced to buy from a food a restaurant and before we are able to find sleep, it’s already 12:30.
You have a very good reason why you have not been observing your quiet time and studying your Bible but will temptation listen to that excuse? Will the enemy that swore you must accompany him to hell fire listen to that excuse?”
I sighed.
“No ma!”
“Jesus said we should pray, so that you do not fall into temptation. He was teaching us how to avoid temptation in that scripture. Cris open to Psalms 132:4”.
I came down from the bed and took my Bible. In a jiffy , I arrived at the verse.
“I’ve found it ma!”
“Read verse 4 and 5 let’s hear”.
“I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids.
Verse 5. Until I find out a place for the LORD, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob”.
I bowed my head in frustration.
“Why does everything have to be so difficult? Why is it so hard, especially everything about God?” I asked within me.
“It’s left for you. Take care of your spiritual life. Stop all these I’m tired! It’s not helping! Stop it! Satan doesn’t care to know whether you are tired or not.
Cris, there was a movie I watched lately where the two swordsmen in a combat. One of them was so powerful and skillful with his sword that he broke the sword of his opponent. They had to continue the battle another day.
When the battle was going on. The man who sword was broken, kicked the right thigh of his opponent and the performance of his opponent in that battle dwindled. As the battle went on, the he kept kicking that same leg. A point came, the other man was limping. That was how the powerful sword breaker lost the battle.
Would he tell his opponent that it was because I had pains in my leg that I couldn’t fight very well?
Understand this Cris. In warfare, your excuses are your enemy’s advantages. Your tiredness is the key to your enemy’s victory. The more you excuse your failure to engage the enemy in combat, the more you give him access to win.
Don’t forget the Christian proverb. A prayerless Christian is a powerless Christian. Satan knows this and he wants you to stay powerless. Because he’ll always be the winner, as long as he can successfully keep you prayerless.
Cris! This is war! And I’m not happy you’re allowing the enemy win. Rise up girl! Rise up and rebuild your prayer life. Shake off the dust from your bible. Pick up your bible study jotter and pen.
You don’t build your prayer life by wishing. You build it by discipline. If students can dip their legs into bowls of water, drink caffeine, wash their faces just to stay awake and study for their exams. What makes the Christian too lazy to stay awake in the night and study his Spiritual text book, the Bible and pass his Spiritual exams and be promoted to spiritual levels or higher dimensions?
Why have we chosen to be lazy? Why? We take everything serious except our spiritual lives? We don’t joke with our business. We don’t miss our meetings with officials. But we miss our appointment with God, the greatest of all officuals. When our alarm reminds us it’s time to wake up and allow God speak to us, we shut it down. But if it’s a call from our boss at the place of work, the sleep disappears immediately. Why? We don’t want to get fired. We don’t want our salaries to be cut down.
Who are we decieving? Cris, we stay online on social media chatting till twelve midnight. But as soon as it’s time for prayers, we start feeling sleepy and retire for the night. Cris how long will our spiritual life mean nothing to us? How long shall we continue to give excuses to God?
When are we going to grow up spiritually? For the past two years, you have been in one spiritual level. Grow! You don’t want to! But everyday, you cry that it is your desire to grow. I don’t understand you at all. Oya read your Bible and pray everyday so you can grow, you’re too tired. I don’t know what to do anymore.
Discipline yourself Cris! Your body is the biggest enemy to your spiritual growth. If you are not ready to watch it suffer? If you’re not ready to discomfort it by cutting down your nap time. Selecting one hour out of your 5 hours sleep. Staying awake to read the Bible. Don’t ever cry that you want to grow Spiritually”.
I didn’t know how I started crying.
“Why is it so difficult to obey God?”
To be continued…….
Yes it would always be difficult to the man who wants to serve God with his human strength.
Not by might
Not by power
But by my Holy Spirit says the Lord of hosts.
Brethren, God will not come and drag you out of your bed. It’s true God through his Holy Spirit will empower you to pray. But you’re the one who would get up and begin to kabash. You’re the one who would discipline yourself and study your bible.
Spiritual life will never grow at the comfort of your flesh. If you’re afraid of disciplining your body, then don’t be sad when you see others who started yesterday and getting ahead of you
