Learn to Pause and Pray Before Adding to Your Schedule

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES The Life You Were Meant To Live

Learn to Pause and Pray Before Adding to Your Schedule By Rick Warren — Oct 5, 2016 “It is a trap to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider one’s vows” (Proverbs 20:25 NIV). When you learn to pause and pray before making a decision, you are helping to slow your life down to a more manageable level. Proverbs 20:25 says, “It is a trap to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider one’s vows” (NIV). What is God saying? Ponder before promising. Deliberate before deciding. Muse before you choose. Reflect before you select. Consider your commitments prayerfully and carefully before you decide. Pause and pray before deciding. That will slow your life down. One thing I’ve had to learn the hard way is you can’t just keep adding things to your schedule without eliminating some. Every time you add a new activity to your schedule, you need to take something off. One of my mentors, Peter Drucker, used to say to me, “Don’t tell me what new thing you’re doing. Tell me what you’ve stopped doing.” The mark of leadership is knowing what to stop and what to cut out. If you’re burning the candle at both ends, you’re not as bright as you think you are. You’re going to burn out! Do you have a hard time cutting out activities from your schedule? When you’re faced with an opportunity, you need to do three things: Ask, “Is it worth it?” Is it worth your time, energy, effort, reputation, or money? Ask, “What am I going to give up?” Consider the cost. Learn to say “no.” It’s the greatest time saver in life! We need to learn to take these three steps and take time to pause and pray before adding more to our already full schedules. PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >> Talk It Over Why is it so difficult for us to say “no” to new opportunities? How can you help your kids learn to prayerfully reflect and consider before adding to their schedules? What new things have you added to your schedule in the last month? What things can you remove from your schedule to create margin in your life? Our Gift: Re-Energize Your Life - A Life Change Book In this first-of-its-kind guide, created from Pastor Rick’s most practical teaching, you will learn everything you need to know to re-energize your life the way God intended. LEARN MORE Complete Audio Series (Purchase) Includes six full length teaching CD's from Pastor Rick's series The Life You Were Meant To Live. LEARN MORE Series Summary Message 1: ​​Evicting Envy from Your Heart Message 2: ​​​​​​​​​​Getting Ready to Be Used by God Message 3: ​​Slowing Down Message 4: ​​Building Margin into Your Life Message 5: Remembering What Matters Most Message 6: ​​Lightening Your Load Message 7: Focusing Your Life PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST

Pastor Rick Warren

Enjoy today's Devotional? Listen instantly to the full radio message at Daily Hope Radio. Did someone forward this devotional to you? Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional. This devotional is based on the current Daily Hope radio series at pastorrick.com. Rick Warren has helped people live with hope and on purpose for more than 40 years. He’s the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California and author of several books, including "The Purpose Driven Church" and "The Purpose Driven Life," read by more than 100 million people in 137 languages. He created the PEACE Plan (plant churches of reconciliation, equip servant leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, educate the next generation), which is used by churches in 196 countries. His radio teaching and daily devotional, Daily Hope, is offered across America. This devotional © 2016 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission. You can unsubscribe at any time by changing your e-mail preferences. Update your preferences  |  Unsubscribe