My children video chat with their grandparents almost every day. They love talking with GG and Paw Paw just as much as GG and Paw Paw relish talking with their precious grandbabies. On several occasions, I’ve had to remind my girls to pause the videos playing on their tablets to speak with their g-parents and give them their full attention. There are other times where I’ve told them to look at Paw Paw or respond to GG when they say something because I catch my daughters reading a book, playing with a toy, or interacting with each other rather than focusing on communicating with their grandparents. So I say something like, “Paw Paw just asked you a question, did you hear what he said?” or “GG is trying to get your attention, were you listening?”
When I find myself encouraging my children to give their grandparents their full attention, I can’t help but make the connection with us as God’s children. He wants our undivided attention, but how many times are we distracted? There are so many things vying for our time and energy. From household duties, the needs of others, social media, extracurricular activities, and busyness for busyness’s sake, these things can often rob us of quality time with our heavenly Father. He has so much that He wants to say to us, but sometimes we miss out on what He’s trying to communicate because we aren’t listening. It’s like God is looking down at us, saying, “beautiful child, may I have your attention, please.”
That same attention we put into reading our favorite books or engaging in a conversation with our best friends, God wants that level of engagement. You know that undivided attention we put into watching our favorite shows or completing a project, He desires that degree of attentiveness. God wants comparable or even more uninterrupted time to what we spend scrolling, hearting, and commenting on social media or selecting the best selfie or video to post.
We can agree that we need God more than anyone or anything else, amen. We are reminded in Acts 17:28 that it is in Him that we live, move, and have our being. So we have to ask ourselves how much time are we investing in our relationship with our Father? He promises to draw close to us as we draw near to Him. He also says that we will find Him when we search for Him with ALL our hearts (Jeremiah 29:13).
God invites us in Jeremiah 33:3 to “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Therefore, we can embrace His presence and remove anything that interferes with the gift of cultivating a flourishing relationship with our Father. God deserves our undistracted and undivided attention because He loves us and wants to commune with us.
Reflect & Relate
What are the benefits of giving God your undivided attention?
What are some people, places, things, or situations interfering with giving God your undivided attention?
What can you do this week to create space for quality time with your heavenly Father?
Let Us Pray
Dear God, my Father. Thank you for these reminders that you want to spend time and have a thriving relationship with me as your child. Reveal to me the people, places, things, and situations that may be getting in the way or distracting me from giving you my undivided attention. I want to hear from you. I want to seek you first, and I long to strengthen our relationship. Thank you for your promises that you draw near to me as I draw near to you, you answer me when I call, and I can find you and learn great and unsearchable things when I call on you. I love you and give you praise. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
If you haven’t already, I invite you to check out my new book, A Glimpse of Our Father: Lessons Parenthood Reveals for All of God’s Children, and join us for my virtual book club/small group called Gathering for a Glimpse where we journey through each lesson in the book. This is a time to go deeper in who we are as God’s children and who God is as our Father with thought provoking discussion questions, fellowship with other believers, and prayer for one another throughout the journey. Season 3 is set to begin in March 2022. Sign up by clicking here.
Copyright © 2022| A Glimpse of Our Father
He deserves the time we put into hobbies, fun stuff, etc. Boom! Well said!
Yes He does Nita! You are absolutely right. We need Him more than anything else. To God be the glory and thank you for sharing your thoughts. Blessings!
Thank you for this post! It encourages me to really think about what distracts me from spending time with and hearing God. Love the prayer!
Praise God Melanie! By design, there are so many distractions, but when we can identify them, we can work towards minimizing or eliminating them to get that quality time with our Father in! Thank you for sharing and blessings to you!