How can you keep your time with God alive, fervent and meaningful?
It is so easy to let it drift into routine or even neglect it through busy-ness or other seemingly urgent things. It is easy for our hearts to get cold and even indifferent.
First, we must first recognize that there is a problem if there is no desire to spend time with God. We must pray and ask God to put a desire in our hearts to spend time with Him each day. That is the beginning point.
I love this quote by George McDonald.
“If I felt my heart as hard as a stone; if I did not love God or man or woman or child;
I would say to God in my heart, “O God, see how I trust You because You are perfect and not changeable like me. I do not love You. I love nobody. I am not even sorry for it.
You see how much I need You to come close to me, to put Your arm around me, to say to me, ‘My child.” For the worse my state, the greater my need of my Father who loves me.
Come to me, and my day will dawn; my love will come back, and I shall love You, my God.”
Second, we must make it a priority. Judy Puckett, a former church planter's wife says, "There is NO substitute for personal time with God. If you do not invest time in your spiritual walk with Christ, it will soon become apparent to everyone. You will lack the knowledge and depth you need to teach your children and others. You will lack the maturity to handle problems that are sure to arise in your church or in your family. You will lack the biblical worldview and guidance you need for life skills. And most importantly, you will lack the stability and joy that sustains you in difficult times. You can have all this by spending time in prayer and the Word."
Third, we must have a plan. We don't have to pray an hour a day, but having a planned time each day can help us follow through on what we know is right. Shortly after we were married, I noticed that the first thing my husband did was read his Bible. Some days I did, some days I didn't. After months of failure, I realized that I needed a better plan. I decided that I wouldn't read anything else BEFORE I read the Bible (magazine, other books, email, etc.). Some may think that is legalistic, but it has given me a good habit that pushes me to do what I know I need to do.
I try different things to keep my time with God fresh. I'll share one that has helped me. Often when I'm reading my Bible or praying, my mind begins to wander. Writing down my prayers, a praise thought about God, or something I got from the Bible helps me focus.
How do you keep your time with God meaningful?
Would you share what helps you keep your time with God fresh? Share a comment/idea below and I will choose one response and send you a $20 gift certificate to Amazon - so you can buy a devotional book or music or whatever you like to spur you on.
I know sometimes I may sound like a broken record because I write about this a lot. I really feel this is where we won or lose the battle for victory even in the smallest areas of our life. There is strength and power and love and guidance and all that we need... waiting for us. I need all the help I can get!
Since I have so many little ones running around I find it hard to have any quiet time without interruptions. This year I have to pick Gabriel up after school. In order to pick him up on time I have to wait in line in my car for 45 min. This is when I spend my time in the Word. I have no one else with me and I am completely alone and uninterrupted. It's not the first thing I read each day, but it's quiet and I have no interruptions.
ReplyDeleteIt's helpful to me to have my devotion time slotted into my schedule/"to do" list. Actually, it's a list of daily chores to help me stay focused and organized. Not that I think of my time with God as a "chore," but, like Sandy's rule of not reading anything else before she reads the Bible, I can't put a check mark beside that or cross it off until I've spent time with God. It keeps me accountable.
ReplyDeleteWell, I definitely find that the more time I spend with God, not only the easier it is but the more I want to do it. Over the past few years, I have slowly become a morning person and made myself get up an hour earlier than the kids so that I have time to (1) drink a cup of coffee while I check email and wake up and (2) do devotions and pray. I generally do the same thing for several weeks at a time: finish up a Beth Moore study, move on to a book like What Women Fear by Angie Smith, etc. I also really enjoy reading Jesus Calling in the mornings (it's a short read for when there isn't as much time) and then we read the kid's version of Jesus Calling at night. It's a good way to bookend my day and they cover the same topic each day just in a way that is appropriate for adults and then kids.
ReplyDeleteI have found that by becoming more organized, life seems a lot more simple and I actually put time with the Lord in the schedule. (As has already been said, it's not another chore, but I must schedule it in.) With little ones, we were seeing the need for simplicity and organization and found that this really helped in my time spent with the Lord, too. I usually spend my time with the Lord in the mornings, though sometimes my kids wake up early. On those days, I spend time with Him during their naptime. I currently am reading through Romans and I use two great books that help me in praying Scripture over my kids and my husband. I have found that different seasons in life require adjustments, so while this is what works now, I know that in the future it will likely change. The plan is just to keep it in the schedule.
ReplyDeleteWorking fulltime and having to be at work by 7am Monday through Friday, I have found I do not have a lot of time in the morning to spend with God. I use to try to wake up at the crack of dawn to have my devotions but since I am a little older now I find that by late week I am so exhausted I will oversleep and then have no time for God. So since I have a 30 minute ride to work for the past five years I have started devoting that 30 minutes to God. People that pass me on the road probably think I am crazy because sometimes I talk out loud to God, sometimes I sing to God, sometimes I cry to God… :0/
ReplyDeleteI still read my Bible in the morning before I leave but I know that I can talk, pray, cry, sing on the way to work in the car.
Since becoming a full time real estate agent, i have found that between that and the ministry duties, life can be hectic and not go according to "schedule". My favorite time to do my devotions is at night when my house is quiet and peaceful. I love to journal my prayers. I find during the difficult days, I can revisit how God has provided in the past and it gives me renewed hope. Journaling and a Bible reading plan along with great Christian self-help books keep me on track.
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