Prayer to Refine Your Priorities

Beloved, do you tend to get distracted? Do you struggle with knowing what God has called you to do, but you can’t seem to find the time to actually do those things? If so, this prayer to refine your priorities will help you pour out your heart to the Lord today.

But first, friend, before we begin, I want you to know that there is so much mercy and grace.

We are all on a journey with the Lord.

Jesus is our Shepherd. Thankfully, He is personally guiding us through everyday life, as it says in Psalm 23:

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake” (Psalm 23:1-3 NKJV).

And along this journey, there are always refinements to be made. We have to make choices every day:

• choices to pursue certain things and leave other things alone;
• choices to start doing certain things and stop doing others;
• choices to allow certain things to occupy our time, while refusing others.

And this can be difficult at times, for life can threaten to overwhelm.

I know that I, personally, struggle with this. Just like you, I also have so many plates in the air, between being a wife and mother and managing our family and home, and then also being a minister of the Gospel and the CEO of a growing business. I am extremely grateful for all of it, but many days I feel grateful just to have survived the day under a very demanding workload.

Yes, I rest and replenish; I wouldn’t be able to survive if I didn’t. But, there are things that are important to me–and, I feel, important to God–that I have been struggling to get done, from the spiritual to the practical, like:

• Getting more organized;
• Decluttering the house (with three people in a small house, the clutter seems to come in the door daily–and even if I fill multiple trash bags a week with shtuff, there always seems to be more shtuff that needs eliminating);
• Studying my Spanish so I can be more effective in missions–a BIG desire of mine;
• Long periods of prayer (I do take time for this, and it’s how I survive; but my spirit craves so much more);
• Long periods of just sitting before the Lord in worship (again, I do take time for this, but I yearn for so much more).

These are just a few examples, but sometimes I beat myself up because I never seem to have enough time to do it all. I know you can identify, right?

But, I believe that God, the original Time Creator and therefore the very best Time Keeper, can help us.

He is merciful, and He is mindful that we are but dust. As He Himself wrote in Psalm 103 in words that were breathed out by God the Holy Spirit:

“For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14 NKJV).

He knows that life would be too much for us to handle without His help.

He knows that we need His help to even cope at all. He is with us to guide us, to lead us, and to show us the way from moment to moment:

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you” (Psalm 32:8-9 NKJV).

And yes, we really can simply live in “today” with Him, doing our very best to heed Him today, without trying to figure out the entire future course of our lives at one time.

In Matthew 6, Jesus actually commanded us not to worry about tomorrow:

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:25-34 NKJV).

O beloved. He is with us to help us, and to carry us ever higher.

And His Word says that, even though we don’t carry things out perfectly from day to day, we can keep on pressing, keep on refining, keep on seeking Him with all our hearts …

… and that the journey of refinement is worth the effort.

As the apostle Paul wrote in Philippians chapter 3:

“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14 NKJV).

So, even though He is so merciful, patient, and caring with us, we can press on purposefully into all that He has for us.

And that is where refining our priorities comes in. We can’t do it without His help, for without Him we can do nothing. But, if we will ask Him to do so, God can help us each refine our priorities so that we can press onward, upward, further into His high call on each of our lives.

Do you want this?

Do you want God to help you refine your priorities today, so that the way you manage your time, and what you focus on, and what you fill your schedule with consists of the very BEST that He has for you?

Do you want to live focused on God’s very best, instead of batting at shadows?

Do you want to walk straight forward on the path God has for you, instead of going around and around the same wilderness mountain for years at a time, like the rebellious Israelites did in the desert?

I know I do. I want God to help me refine my priorities on a daily basis, and I need His wisdom and supernatural empowerment to do it.

If you feel the same way, pray this brief prayer to refine your priorities with me today:

“Dear Heavenly Father, I come to You in Jesus’ name.

Abba Father, thank You for having good plans and a purpose for me and my life. Thank You that You have called me with an eternal call, to know You and to serve You.

Thank You for drawing me along, discipling me, and shepherding me into all that You have for me. I praise You for Your goodness and faithfulness, Lord.

Abba Father, I really want to live a life that is focused on all the best You have for me.

I know that Your plans for me are very specific. And although You are so gentle and kind and merciful to help me and forgive me when I get off track, I would love to live a life that is completely on-track with Your very best plans for my life.

In order to do that, Lord, I would love to refine my priorities–but I need Your help to do it.

Father, I don’t want to live a life drifting through, without focus.

Instead, I yearn to:

• Know exactly what You’ve called me to do, and focus on it;
• Not get distracted;
• Have a plan that is Your plan, and stick to Your plan;
• Be able to grow and develop purposefully;
• Learn intentionally until I have mastered any given topic, or at least become proficient in it;
• Practice what I need to practice, without forgetting that I need to practice it;
• And just generally stay on focus and on point with Your very best for my life!

Abba Father, would You please help me refine my habits, systems, and thinking patterns to be able to do these things?

And by that I mean, Lord:

• Would You please help me to remember what I’m called to do (or understand it fully for the very first time)?
• Would You help me to care so much about Your calling on my life–and the components of that calling–that I keep You and Your instructions front and center of my heart at all times, so I don’t forget what I’m supposed to be about?
• Would You reveal to me the plans of Your Spirit in all things that pertain to me?
• Would You please help me to carry out the plans of Your Spirit?
• Would You show me the areas in which You want me to study, learn, grow, and develop–and give me a keen interest in those things, as well as a desire to obey You, so that I do indeed apply myself to learning and growing in all those areas?
• Would You help me say no to distractions and stay focused on Your highest, best, most perfect will for my life?
• Would You protect me from the good things that rob me of the best things?

I truly only want Your very best, Abba Father.

I want to be so submitted to You, and so engaged in what You would have me to do, that I never turn to the right or the left. I never want to get distracted, Abba; I desire to live a life with all my priorities, habits, and even time management focused on Your upward call on my life.

Would You please help me refine my priorities in this season, Lord God?

O my Father, not only that, but would You please keep me on track with what You desire me to do? Would You once again, in this area, continually hedge me in behind and before, and lay Your hand upon me? Would You instruct me and teach me in the way I should go, and guide me with Your eye?

Please help me refine my priorities, Abba Father. Please help me to live my life with single-minded focus and clarity, keeping You–and all of Your very best will for my life–front and center of everything.

You are worthy of this level of attention, Lord. You are worthy of my focus and concentration in everyday living. And I desire to give You my all–and to worship You in spirit and in truth, in intention and in action.

Thank You, Abba Father. It is in Jesus’ holy and precious name that I pray. Amen and amen.”

Beloved, do you need to refine your priorities?

If so, God will give you the wisdom you need. He promised He would in James chapter 1 when He said this:

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:2-8 NKJV).

I know that sometimes figuring out what God wants you to do versus not do can look like a minefield before you begin.

However, our Father will help you. He will show you if you will ask Him to do so! He will give you peace about what IS His will, and no peace about that which is not. And His peace will be your indicator of where He is versus is not leading you, as He told us in Colossians 3:15:

“And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ’s] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always]” (Colossians 3:15 AMPC, emphasis mine).

So He will give you wisdom.

He will give you peace about what is the right direction, and no peace about any wrong directions. And His Holy Spirit will guide you, for Jesus is your Shepherd–and He is leading you right now on the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake, because you are His bride, and He loves you.

Does this word encourage your heart today? Do you need to refine your priorities, and did you ask the Lord to help you refine your priorities using this short sample prayer? If so, leave a comment below, and we will also agree with you in prayer!