Over the last few devotionals, we’ve shared with you four of the stress management principles from the life of Jesus:

1. Identification: Know who you are.

2. Motivation: Know whose approval you are living for.

3. Vocation: Know your calling.

4. Concentration: Focus on what matters most.

The fifth principle is particularly important. It’s the Principle of Meditation. To reduce your stress, you need to listen to God.

Jesus did this over and over in the New Testament. For example, the Bible says, “News about Jesus spread even more. Many people came to hear him and to be healed . . . but Jesus often slipped away to be alone so he could pray” (Luke 5:15-16 NCV).

Jesus, who literally had the weight of the world on his shoulders, developed the habit of spending time alone with God. As the pressures on Jesus increased, he often went away to reflect, to renew, and to recharge.

Noise is stress. 

Pastor, that’s why you must create intentional times of quietness and solitude in your life. 

If you always have noise in your life—the television is always on, the radio is always on, and the earbuds are always in—you won’t have the spiritual and emotional resources to handle stress in your life.

Instead, start your morning with good news. Don’t fill your mind with negativity right off the bat.

Spend time with God. Open your Bible. Find out what God wants to say to you.

If you want to lower the stress in your life, build the habit of solitude into your ministry.

Every day—no matter what urgent ministry task confronts you—get alone with God.