Heavenly Priorities: God. Others. Me.

When we ask for something, even something God has called us to ask for, the way we ask matters.

Praying, for instance, should never be a selfish or perfunctory action. Should it be consistent? Yes. Should it be habitual? Of course. But we should also present our prayers with a certain sense of priority.

As we pray and make other heavenly requests throughout our lives, we must remember our priorities: God first, others second, and ourselves third.

God. Others. Me.

Jesus paints a very clear picture of what our priorities should be in Matthew 22. When an expert in the law tries to test him by asking what the greatest commandment is. Rather than pick from the ones they are all aware of, Jesus condenses everything down into a one-two punch that is hard to forget:

“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

This is a powerful demonstration of priorities. In everything we do, we must put God first and others second. Note that Jesus doesn’t even say how we should go about taking care of ourselves. He doesn’t need to provide that kind of context because we’re naturally good at that! Where we all typically come up short is the struggle to put others before ourselves and, even harder, God before others.

Nehemiah’s Heavenly Request

Nehemiah was a leader in the Old Testament who lived over 400 years before Jesus uttered his famous two-part commandment. And yet, when I was pulling together a study on his story a while ago, I noticed that even he had his heavenly priorities in order.

In Nehemiah 2, Nehemiah asks King Artaxerxes for permission to help the Jewish people rebuild Jerusalem. Filled with clarity of God’s calling and a God-given boldness, Nehemiah goes even further once his king has given him permission to leave. In chapter 2, verse 8, he asks for the resources and additional safeguards to help him carry out this massive task, saying:

“And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests.”

This is already a bold ask on its own, but pay attention to Nehemiah’s priorities as he asks for his resources. First, he asks for timber for the gates of the citadel by the temple. Next, he requests wood for the city walls. Last, he asks for some lumber for his own home.

Nehemiah’s priorities are reflected in how he asks for materials: God first, then others, and himself last.

He is living out those two almighty commandments hundreds of years before Jesus says them — and his whole mission fits this pattern, too. Nehemiah isn’t going to be comfortable as he leaves his life as a king’s cupbearer, passes through dangers, and engages in hard work to rebuild the walls and key structures around a massive, devastated cityscape. Rebuilding Jerusalem is a project that, first and foremost, will honor God and, second, will help the endangered and oppressed Jewish people.

Nehemiah’s comfort is in there. The guy wants a comfortable home to live in after a long day’s work. That just comes last after everything else has been tended to.

Maintaining Heavenly Priorities

The way Nehemiah asks for resources, even when he’s in a mindset of service, seems to me like the perfect blueprint for how we should engage in this kind of behavior on a daily basis. My challenge for you (and me) today is to establish a new set of decision criteria.

Here it is. Whenever you make a decision, ask yourself, in order:

Simple, right? Yet, this quick and easy decision-making filter can have a life-changing effect on how we see the world. It can influence every action we take and help us begin to live into God’s calling for our lives on a daily basis.

I talked earlier this year about feeling called to help take care of people and lay foundations for God’s kingdom. Maintaining heavenly priorities is a key part of the process of living that commission out.

So let me ask you something.

What does it look like to seek time and resources in your life that honor God above anything else? What does it look like to use what’s left of those resources to prioritize others before yourself?

If you’re like me, this transformational practice will open your eyes as you use heavenly priorities to demonstrate love, care, and interest to God first, then others, and yourself last.

If you want to hear more from me, sign up for my email newsletter. You can also pre-order my new book, Blueprint for Belonging, here.

Heavenly Priorities: God. Others. Me.

God. Others. Me.

Nehemiah’s Heavenly Request

Maintaining Heavenly Priorities

More Articles