This spring, I attended my grandson’s first T-ball game. What a riot! Turns out the order in which players do things is important. For these little tikes (4-5-year-olds), it was a lot to remember! First hit the ball. Then put the bat down. Then run to first base. Where is that again?

As believers, sometimes we get things out of order as well. Lately, I’ve been focusing on a specific need. I think about it multiple times a day, like every time I hear my phone “ding!” I mention it during my prayer time and wait for God to move. I also remember that while waiting, I should ask God what He wants me to learn.

Finally, the Holy Spirit hit me upside the head with a Scripture I learned in a song decades ago. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).

Jesus taught that His kingdom includes those who receive God’s Word and who rely on Him, putting Him above other things. Allowing God to rule on the throne of our heart means surrendering to Him all areas of our life.

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus prayed to His Father, “[Y]our kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). He also prayed for God’s will to be done above His own when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.

First things first. Seek Him and His will.

Now when my phone “dings,” my goal is to remember to pray for God’s will to be done, but it’s taking a while for that to become automatic. (Good thing I’m not ‘out’ after three strikes!)