Very early in the morning, while it was still dark.  Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

Jesus replied,”Let us go somewhere else – to the nearby villages —so I can preach there also.  That is why I have come.” So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

Mark 1:35-39

The Proverbs 31 woman got up while it was still dark, just as Jesus did.  The Bible tells us Jesus left the house to find a solitary place to pray and thus meet with the Father: That may or may not be a realistic option for you on a daily basis. In either case, I encourage you to create a Prayer Oasis.  Find an area in your house that you can transform into a beautiful place to meet with God each day.  It may be a closet or a corner of a room.

The reason the Proverbs 31 woman’s husband could have full confidence in her is because she had full confidence in God.  Confidence in a relationship comes from investing time in that relationship.  If we want to have something valuable to offer the world, we must first have something of value to offer.  It must be more than material things.  True, we can rush out the door first thing in the morning in pursuit of stuff to buy and give to our loved ones, but the things of this world are fleeting have no lasting value.  Instead, let’s invest our time seeking heavenly treasures, like spiritual insight, knowledge of scripture, the power to demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit, and the ability to carry the presence of God with us wherever we go.

Any determined, hardworking woman can bring home the beacon and fry it up in a pan.  That’s no great accomplishment.  A woman who is so wise she has figured out how to get the bacon to come to her and has trained her children to be servant hearted enough to do the frying- now that’s a valuable woman!  That’s a woman who will inspire confidence in her husband everyone else who meets her.

If you want to be an inspiration to everyone you meet, meet with God first.  If this were an important business meeting, you would make the time and instruct your staff to set up the best conference room in the building and have everything ready in advance.  Well, you have important business to do with God, so set up the conference room and have everything ready.

Before you meet with your family,before you face the world, before you do anything else, meet with God.  Give him the first half hour or so of your day.  This step alone will transform your life.  Just think how different your life will be 21 days from now if you take time, every day, to meet with God first!  I promise it will be dramatic.

Affirmation:  I commit myself to time alone with God.

Create a specific place for time alone with God, a place where you do nothing else but spend time with him.  Equip it with all the tools you need for Bible study, prayer, and meditation.  Place your Bible, your Personal Notebook, pens, index cards, and Post-it notes in a small basket.

Establish a lifetime habit of TAG (Time Alone with God).  Give God the first thirty-minutes (or more) of every day.

• Note where you’ll meet with God.
• What time?
• Write out your commitment to TAG, then sign and date below:

Dear Lord,
I hereby commit myself to give you the first _________ minutes of my day for the next 21 days.  I believe you are a rewarder of those who diligently seek you, so I have set my hart on seeking you first.  I believe by faith, that one of the rewards you will give me is supernatural wisdom and the ability to conduct the affairs of my day with greater efficiency so that my TAG WIL in no way diminish my effectiveness but willing fact increase it.  I sign this on

_______________________________(date).

With love,

__________________________________________________________(your name)