God on demand

In today’s day and age, with stuff like YouTube letting us watch any video we want, when we want, Spotify giving us access to any song we want to hear at the click of a button and the iPlayer allowing us to watch our favourite TV shows at a time that best suits us rather than when the TV schedule says they are on, we are so used to getting all our entertainment ‘on demand’, when we want it. And I wonder if we are guilty of taking the same attitude to God?
What do I mean by that? Basically I think we are guilty of coming to God when it suits us, expecting Him to speak to us in the brief period of time we have managed to set aside for Him, and then ignoring Him until our next ‘God slot’ – be it a quiet time or at a church meeting. We push the metaphorical ‘play’ button on God for a short time, give Him our attention, get our prayer requests in, flick through a few chapters of the Bible hoping something will leap out at us, maybe through in a bit of praise, then it is time to hit ‘pause’ and get on with the rest of our lives until our next quiet time. Which is not the kind of relationship God wants.
We should not be trying to fit God into our schedule. He should demand priority over every aspect of our life. We should be listening to hear Him speak at all times, not just brief slots of prayer time. We should be constantly turning to Him for help, not just cramming all our requests into one brief period of prayer a day. We need to let God have control over all of our life, 24/7/365. We shouldn’t be satisfied that we have done enough by going through the motions of a quiet time and so can forget about God until tomorrow. That is not what He wants from his followers. That is not a loving relationship with our Creator.
So here’s the challenge (for me as much as for you): wholeheartedly seek God. That is when we will find Him (re: Jeremiah 29:13). Seek after Him with your whole heart, not just in the short  “God on demand” moments we currently set aside to come before Him, but at all times. Maybe that will mean spending more time simply listening in silence for the gentle whisper rather than expecting it to come in the 10 minutes you have set aside for quiet time. Maybe it will mean spending more time filling your mind with material God could use to speak to you through – be it by listening to more Christian music, reading more teaching books or listening to sermon podcasts while walking to school/university/work. In whatever way you can, strive to seek God wholeheartedly rather than placing Him ‘on demand; to suit your schedule today.