Sometimes, doing less is more. Sometimes, silence is louder than words. There are times when quality is far more important than quantity. This is one of those times.
As our community at the International House of Prayer continues to reset our lives from the busyness of life to the importance of Jesus’ preeminence, we are being intentional as a spiritual family and ministry to slow down our pace and reassess our priorities. This isn’t just about doing less. It’s about fewer distractions and more focus. Listening, seeking, leaning in to Jesus.
Why are we doing this? Because we desire to give extra attention to pursuing the “better part,” the “good portion” Jesus spoke of in Luke 10. We long for the intimate revelation that Jesus extends to those who sit at His feet—something that “will not be taken away” from them. Instead of being “worried and distracted about many things,” we are seeking the best thing—the “one thing” that Jesus said is needed (Luke 10:42). During these next forty days, allotting extra time to wait before the Lord will be our primary focus, our privilege, our joy.
Because we desire to focus on going deep in God and growing together as a family, we are trimming the volume of our online posting—the regular updates, messages, and most new content (blogs, social media, etc.). This is a time to be present with God and with each other. As a ministry, we’re choosing to spend less time on social media (and media in general), so that we can keep our eyes, ears, and hearts pure and sensitized to the Lord. We don’t want to miss what God has for us in this season, and we’re believing Him to speak in some special ways, as we witnessed Him move at the last Onething conference. We will deliberately pursue the invitation of James 1:19 to “be swift to hear [and] slow to speak.”
It’s times like these (when we slow down our pace and draw back from business as usual) that can provoke us to want more—more of hearing God’s voice, more conviction of our deep need for the Lord, and more opportunities to genuinely love one another as His family. We encourage purposed time spent together as God’s family, as friends gather among friends, spouses with one another, and parents with their children, all seeking the Father’s heart. Turn off Netflix. Turn off social media. Tune in to the Holy Spirit and to those around you. Be deliberate. Be attentive. Be as uncluttered as possible in your personal devotion.
In this family-focused time we will still post minimal content, in order to share with you some of our corporate “journey of listening to Jesus.” More importantly, we invite you to start your own journey. Turn your heart to personal and corporate prayer with unusual intensity in this time. Or join our live worship and prayer room online. It goes day and night, 24/7.
We are so excited about what God is doing and invite you to slow down with us. Only one thing is necessary: Him.
What’s one thing you can do to slow down to be with Jesus?
