Is Social Media Ruining Your Prayer Life?

I am a huge procrastinator! Often, I know I need to be doing something right then and the next thing I know, I’ve turned my attention to something else. This has been a downfall in my spiritual walk with Jesus Christ. A lot of my procrastinating has to do with... you guessed it: social media.

In my five years of being saved, this has been an issue the entire time. It leaves me with a guilty feeling. Perhaps it’s God telling me to buckle down and open my Bible! 

Pretty much everyone owns a cellphone. Most of us browse social media throughout the day. It’s common! It’s a part of our lives! And I think it's safe to say, as young women with an online presence, social media DOES and WILL get in our way of spending time with God.

Years ago, when times were less complicated (without the constant scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, and viewing stories), people found more time to pray, read the Word, and seek God. Though social media can be used for the goodness of Christ by sharing God’s word and speaking to friends who need a powerful touch from the Lord, it can also draw us away from Him at the same time. We have to be careful in how much time is too much time.

That said, I have some questions that might put things into perspective:

1. Are you prioritizing God?

You will probably say “of course”, but we have blindly misunderstood what it really means to spend time with God. 

Many (myself included) are really just spending a small percentage of our day with Him. We simply read three or four verses and close our Bibles because “that’s good enough.” We go right back to social media after we “put in our time with God.” However, the Bible speaks several times about how God is a jealous God. Therefore; when we choose everything else over Him, He isn’t happy; likely He's disappointed and sad.

I don’t like admitting it, but I’m speaking for myself largely in this post. I can’t speak for you guys, because perhaps (and I wholeheartedly hope) you’re doing better than myself. I've fallen victim to being on social media more than spending time in the Word. I’m ashamed and not worthy. Most times I will think “I’ll read my Bible first thing in the morning;” then it’s lunch time and my Bible has still gone untouched, sitting on the kitchen table. I normally don’t get around to it until after dinner. 

This is a daily battle between flesh and spirit. Our flesh automatically steps in wanting to interfere with our walk with Jesus Christ and most times we let it. 

2. Is social media ruining your prayer life?

Don't be fooled. The browsing you’re doing can affect your prayer life and Bible study. We have needs. We ask God for financial help, relationships, addictions, job opportunities, but nothing is changing, because we aren’t spending enough time with the one who can change it all! We aren’t getting on our knees and really seeking the answers we are longing for.  We get the “DING” text notification and whoops, there goes our train of thought. We were going to pray, but we have a conversation waiting for us that can’t be ignored. 

3. Where in the Bible does it insinuate we need to spend more time with God?

The Bible implies many times that we should spend more time with God. Doing so, we become stronger in our walk with Christ. 

• James 4:8 - Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.
• James 4:2 - You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.
• Jeremiah 2:32 - Does a young woman forget her jewelry? Does a bride hide her wedding dress? Yet for years on end my people have forgotten me.

It says in Matthew 14:23: “After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.”

Jesus knew his purpose and God’s plans for Him, but Jesus still made time to pray and spend with the Father.

Reading some of these verses really show us how much God wants our time. He yearns for our attention. He wants us to take that extra time getting into the word to really understand what He has for us. His plans are divine, but if we keep pushing the time that we could be spending with the most high God into a corner; then we’ll never get any further in our walk with God. We’ll miss our next opportunity.

My pastor’s sermon a few Sunday’s ago speaks perfectly about what I’m writing. “If we want more, we have to work hard for it.” Don’t quote me. He probably didn’t say it exactly like that, but you guys get the message: work hard for a payoff. This is the same for our relationship with Christ.

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As I come to a close on this article, I’ll admit I felt guilty choosing this particular topic to talk about, because this is my “thing” I’m still working on. I debated if I should have written about this at all, being that I, myself, let social media get in the way of my time with Jesus. I asked God, Was it the right thing to write about? Or am I being too hypocritical? You’re reading this, so I’m pretty sure God disagreed with my questioning.

At the end of the day, I’m just a girl who gave her entire life over to Christ and I’ll spend every day in my earthly body trying to better myself for the kingdom of Heaven. I’ll never be perfect, but Praise God I have a perfect Father who’s love is everlasting (as do you). Keep the right perspective, and remember that social media will one day be gone – but our God will last through all eternity.

Ally Woods is a lifestyle/beauty blogger, a stay at home mom to one, and enjoys reading and writing in her free time. She can often be spotted at the nearest coffee shop sipping on an iced caramel macchiato!