In March 2014 I wrote an article titled “I Need Your Undivided Attention.” It’s posted on the Newsletter Blog. Recently, Father has been speaking to me about multi-tasking. Webster’s definition of multi-tasking is 1.  the concurrent performance of several jobs by a computer;  2. the performance of multiple tasks at one time. Originally the word multi-task was coined when the computer age erupted upon us and it described how a computer could perform many tasks at one time. Soon society took the word and transferred it to people who could do two (or more) things at once. We now see that multi-tasking has become a pre-requisite in nearly every employee entrance interview as a requirement for hiring.

I question if people can really multi-task. Did God create us to do more than one thing at a time and do it well as unto Him? Some may be able to ‘perform’ more than one task at a time, but let’s ask ourselves if it is really in Father’s intention for His creation to do that. He’s not looking for our performance or our ‘doing’. He’s looking for us to ‘be’ with Him. There is one area that I am certain of. He continues to ask us to give Him periods of our undivided attention each day. For some that man mean 30 minutes (or more) of time with Him all in one stretch. For some it may mean that we take ‘attention breaks’ throughout our day and for others it may be those times in the night hours when He wakens you to come and be with Him. Regardless of how we structure that undivided attention, it means just what it says…attention that is not divided. It’s time with Father with NOTHING else…no Bibles, no notepads, no music, no structure, no praying, no declarations…nothing but just being alone with Him and listening with our spirits to His still, small voice. There will be other times for the good things like Bible reading and study, worship and the like.

For most, there are huge barriers in our lives that will have to be crossed to accomplish this kind of attention. Example: when you attempt to get quiet before Him, how much does your soul shout things at you; how often does your mind wander? How often are there other things that demand your attention or other voices that cry out or scream to be heard? How many times do you have to tell your soul to ‘shut up’ before you actually get spiritually connected with His Spirit? When one begins this journey of undivided attention you’ll have to lay aside all multi-tasking. You simply cannot divide your attention when He is calling you to ‘come up higher with Him.’ Once you embrace the rhythm of this quality time with Him, you will be ruined by it and your spirit will begin hungering and thirsting for more of it.

In conclusion, you may be one who can ‘multi-task’ in your office at your computer, or driving your car down the Interstate, or preparing the best recipe from your kitchen, but you will not be successful in your intimate times with Father when you do that. He wants your undivided attention and it will require a shifting of gears from your office chair, your car or your kitchen, etc., and going to a place He helps you set aside to just ‘be with Him.’ How much time can you spare from your busy schedule? He has all the time in the world!