Our first priority is to cultivate an intimate relationship with Jesus. Yet, often the greatest threat to our spiritual vibrancy is not worldliness, but busyness and seemingly “sacred substitutes.” The apostles understood this danger and instead declared, “We will devote ourselves to prayer” (Acts 6:4). We can preach and teach passionately, but if we are not cultivating depth in the secret place, we risk living from the memory of intimacy and not the reality.