The Power of Why

WEEKLY OVERVIEW

In our first week of Catalyst, we’ll explore seven answers to the heart’s most important question: “Why?” Until we understand why spending time alone with God every day is worth the time and energy it takes, we’ll never be able to develop consistency or go as deep into God’s presence as we were created for. May you realize both the depth of your need and the goodness and availability of your Father as you discover your why.

DEVOTIONAL

I wish I were one of those people who would do things just because I should. I wish that my discipline were greater than my desires. But I’ve grown to accept the simple truth: it just isn’t. The only things I do consistently, I do because I want to. And I’m learning that that’s kind of OK. In fact, I’m learning that God’s intention is for my heart to align with his—that I would live as an authentic disciple of Jesus out of love for him, not obligation. I’m learning the key that unlocks authentic desire to meet with my heavenly Father is discovering the answer to a powerful, one-word question: “Why?” 

The only things I do consistently, I do because I want to.

I spent years feeling bad for even asking the question. I ignored the question, tried to get past it, and tried to live as if I knew how badly I needed time alone with the Father. But the truth is that if I really believed I needed it, if I really understood why spending time one-on-one with God was so important, I would have been doing it. 

Looking back, I see two issues were at play in my heart. I hated how I felt when I realized that I didn’t value spending time alone with God as much as the other things I was spending my time on. And I didn’t believe that there was a good enough answer to my question of why, and that scared me. 

I mean, what if spending time alone with God really is boring? What if the Bible doesn’t really apply much to my life? What if I never like worship songs as much as other music? What then? 

Rather than bringing the question before God in faith that he truly was good enough to have a life-changing answer, I shoved the question down time and time again. It wasn’t until I got so desperate for something more, so desperate for a different way of living, that I came to God with my question of why and discovered answers that changed everything for me. It wasn’t until my desperation gave me the courage to be honest before God that I discovered that he was actually thrilled to explore my question together. 

  

Before we explore some powerful reasons for why spending time alone with God really is worth our time and energy, let’s take time to bring our question of why before our good and wise Father. Let’s take time to taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8). Let’s allow the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with the courage to be honest about those things that are holding us back from diving heart first into greater depths of our relationship with him. May we discover a God who is better and wiser than we thought—a God both more aware of our questions than we knew and more thrilled to address those questions than we could have imagined. 

May God illuminate any why within your heart and give you a sense of his grace and love as you enter a time of guided prayer today.

 

GUIDED PRAYER

1. Take a moment to be still and receive God’s presence. Reflect on the facts that God is already all around you and he has promised his presence to you. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal his nearness in a real, tangible way.

“Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.’ If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you” (Psalm 139:7–12).

2. Where do you feel prone to give yourself more to the world or others than to God? What often takes the place of spending time alone with God or distracts you from going deeper in your time alone with him? Know that God isn’t angry with you. He’s actually thrilled to give you wisdom and revelation. Journal what thoughts come to mind to help you focus.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5).

3. Ask God for one answer to why spending time alone with him is worth what it costs you. Ask him for a gift he wants to give you, like freedom, peace, or revelation. Ask him why he wants to meet with you, specifically you. Take a moment to be silent and create space for him to speak. Pay attention to any way you sense him answering you. 

GO . . .

Take notice of how you spend your time today. What matters most to you that you would give it your most valuable possessions: your time and attention? God looks at you with total grace. He isn’t mad. He’s happy that you even want to meet with him, to go deeper with him. He’s so good that he takes whatever you offer and multiplies its impact like Jesus did with the bread and fish. 

Taking an inventory of your time allows you to be more intentional and make space for that which matters most: your relationship with God. The path to intentional living, of aligning your time and attention with God’s why, takes time and is never really finished. But it’s a path that leads to greater and greater depths of abundant life. 

May you grow in your desire to abide in God today as you take inventory of the people and pursuits that matter most to you. Sense God’s profound grace and love for you throughout your day.