In football there is what is known as the 2-minute warning. At the end of each half both teams receive a warning that there is only 2 minutes before the game is over. Some say this is when the game really begins and quite often the team who has possession of the ball last wins the game. There can be more action in the last 2 minutes than there was the entire game. They have practiced and prepared repeatedly for this 2-minute window of time to utilize it for maximum impact and can see great success through precise execution.
What if you utilized this same principle for the spiritual battle you face every day? It is a way to have maximum concentration by refocusing on who God is and not what He will give you or do for you. You desire to see Him for the magnificent God that he is in all of His grandeur. This is different from your quiet time where you get filled up with His word and His presence and also different from interceding on behalf of others. There is a time and place for those but this is purposely and intentionally, “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.”
The 2-minute challenge is a call to intentionally schedule times throughout your day where you take a minimum of 2 minutes to sit quietly before Him. This is where you ponder in your heart how wonderful and awesome a God He is just like Mary pondered as she observed Jesus’ ministry. In Psalm 119 David speaks of setting 7 times a day where he would pray. Daniel had 3 daily, scheduled times where He would cry out to God and seek to be in His presence. How will you make sure you build a safe place into you day where you can hear His voice?
Jesus modeled this for us by going to a solidary place to intentionally step away from the distractions and pressures that were surrounding Him. Listen to this wisdom, “If it took falling with His face to the ground and great struggle for the Son of God to submit Himself to the will of the Father, how can we expect that it will require any less than us?” This is a willingness to seek Him purposely and spend time with Him while remembering that you are not doing this to get something but your goal to be with the great Someone!
It requires slowing down in order to bring silence and solitude for a moment into your life. It is walking in the rhythms of life He desires for you. Dallas Willard refers to silence and solitude as, “The 2 most radical disciplines of the Christian life.” Yet, it is almost impossible to live a healthy spiritual life without them. Again, if Jesus sought out these times to hear from the Father how much more do we need to implement a plan to do the same? Reading 2-3 pages from a devotional book or a chapter from the Bible each morning is not enough for what you will face each day.
Think of how your day can become difficult as you strive to remain in Christ. Fatigue begins to set in through the busyness and activities because worldly pressure tries to conform you but you want to be transformed. Abiding in Christ means you are remaining in Him so you can bear the fruit of the Spirit in difficult and challenging situations. If you are not abiding then you are not connected and if you are not connected then you cannot bear fruit! What you and every follower of Christ needs the most is to sit at the feet of Jesus continually throughout the day!
Think of how a balloon full of air is bouncy and resilient but slowly and surely over time it begins to leak. Your morning quiet time is where you fill up for the challenges ahead but all day long you are leaking. The world is great at sucking the spiritual life out of you. When this happens your tendency and temptation to walk in the flesh and not in the Spirit is amplified. This is when those triggers that set you off are intensified and temptations increase. It is when you know the situation should not be bothering as much as it is. Call out a 2-minute warning!
The world we live in is constantly trying to squeeze us into their mold and into their worldview. Listen to Romans 12:2 in the Phillips translation, “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.” You may be running on empty and at the end of your rope. Maybe you need to cry out deep within your soul, “2-minute warning!”
Find a place, to the best of your ability, where you can sit in silence and solitude. Then set your timer for 2 minutes knowing you have to start somewhere. That time can increase as you build this spiritual discipline into your life. Third, focus on God’s grandeur and the awesome God that he is. This is a time to “be still and know that He is God.” Fourth, fight the temptation to allow your focus to drift to anything other than His beauty, attributes, mercy, and goodness. Remember that He is God and there is no one else like Him!