This is an article in our”Dear Pastor” series, where we provide real pastors with fictionalized scenarios and ask them to respond in a letter. This situation—while made up—represents countless pastors who experience similar struggles. Our goal is to serve you, dear pastor.

Situation:

You meet up for lunch with a dear pastor friend. He’s pastoring a growing church and has a young family at home, and you wanted to see how he was managing it all. The pastor is honest with you; he feels discouraged. He says too often at the end of a long day, he goes home having spent maybe an hour on his sermon for Sunday. Often, he admits, he’s not even sure how he spent his day! He feels like his time his spent putting out one fire after another, responding to one “urgent” email or phone call after another. As a result, he often spends evenings after dinner with his door closed writing the sermon that he didn’t have time to write earlier. Ironically enough, before you have a chance to get a word in, he gets an emergency phone call from a member of his congregation. He has to go. You quickly pray for him and tell him you want to chat again soon.

Later that afternoon, you decide to sit down and write him a letter. So you write the following:

Letter:

Dear Pastor,

As you talked today at lunch about how you find yourself always busy yet seldom accomplishing the most important aspects of your calling, I found myself reminiscing about my ministry years ago when I felt the exact same way. It seemed I would go to the office every day with a straight-forward plan, only to find myself mired in everyone else’s problems. The result? I was always working hard, but not with purpose or priority. A constant parade of drop-in visits, phone calls, and urgent emails interrupted my study time and took my focus away from my primary calling.

A simple schedule I learned of and adopted years ago has allowed me to prioritize study and prayer, yet remain available to lead our staff and shepherd our congregation. This structure is not original to me but has served me well through the years. Perhaps you can establish this as the foundation of your workday and start to organize your week in a way that will help you better fulfill what the Lord has called you to do.

Give your mornings to the Lord

I endeavor to set my mornings aside for study and prayer. I do not schedule appointments before noon, and my staff knows that I desire to remain undisturbed in my study as I prepare to preach the Word. With the exception of a weekly staff meeting, I do not allow other appointments or happenings to crowd out my study time or sneak into my schedule.

By giving your mornings to the Lord, you ensure that you begin each day in Bible study and prayer. As you do, not only are you able to work according to your highest priority, but you are also gaining wisdom each day that will strengthen and guide you in counseling sessions and meetings that await you later in the day. Of course, there is the occasional scheduled funeral or unexpected emergency. Still, once your fellow staff members and the congregation understand that your mornings are set aside to spend time with the Lord, you will see your productivity significantly increase. Your preaching will improve, which will serve to bless your people greatly.