My scripture study and quiet time has changed since I read this.
"We all get discouraged and distracted-caught up in the thick of thin things-no matter how good we are. But do we have time, energy, or emotion to waste on what dress to wear or whose living room is the loveliest? We have real things to think about, things of the kingdom of God. We need to drink more deeply and be filled more fully for the work that lies ahead of us.Let me suggest some ways that this fulness can come. Often when I face difficulties, I need to turn off the phone, lock the door, kneel in earnest prayer, and then curl up in a chair and meditate, contemplate, search the scriptures , and cry out again and again in my heart, completely focusing my mind on the mind and will and presence of God until I can see a clear picture of him. I like to think of Him with loving, outstretched arms. With such a loving image, I begin to feel my connection with Him and a confirmation of His love. Sometime I may have to work at this for hours, for a significant portion of the day, or for several days.
Now, I can just hear you saying, "Pat, get real. I don't have five minutes to do that, let alone an hour or two. I am exhausted now just trying to keep up with things." I know all about your life because it is my life, too. I am busy also, and I have been for as long as I can remember. I know what it is like to chauffeur teenagers, face the laundry, serve in the Church and in the community, and be married to one of the Lord's equally busy servants. But that has everything to do with the point I wish to make.
I realize that life has to go on and that you will not be able to pursue this heavenly communication in a completely uninterrupted way, but if it is a high priority and a fundamental goal in your life, you will find ways, early or late, to be with God. If the key to your car or your mortgage payment check or a child were lost, would you take time to find them? Wouldn't finding them provide the peace you need to then go about your day? If God is lost in your life and you are not going to be strong or stable without Him, can you be focused and fixed enough to find Him?
If you believed that your earthly father could comfort any heartache, heal any illness, solve any problem, or just be with you through the crucibles of life, would you call to him constantly? I am just childish enough to believe that our Father in Heaven can bless us in all those ways. The price to be paid for this kind of communion is time and your best powers of concentration, but by that investment you may offset untold hours, days, week, and months of struggle or sorrow or pain."