Yes, now. As in, without delay and without excuse and without negotiation. Right now.

When Jesus calls, I must respond.

“And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him” (Mark 2:14).

I don’t imagine Levi (aka Matthew) stalling or asking Jesus how much time he had to make a decision.

Neither do I hear him protesting, “But I have a good thing going here and I need this income to provide for my disabled uncle.”

And certainly not, “I’ll follow you if you dump those fishermen! And allow me to collect taxes one day a month.”

When the Word speaks to my heart, I must respond.

Now.

Where does prayer fit in my life?

If I eat three meals a day, prayer fits into a brief time slot (half a minute, at most?) before each.

Before I go to sleep at night, prayer often fills in two to four minutes.

Many mornings I pray while I walk down and up our one-tenth-mile-on-the-hill driveway; call it five, maybe eight, minutes.

Otherwise I may pray in fits and starts, bits and pieces, through the day.

Rarely (as in, would I need all my thumbs to count?) do I do this:

“And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed” (Mark 1:35).

Why did Jesus do that?

And why do I pray?