There’s always so much to do. Get up, eat, prepare for work or school, exercise, prepare a meal for the evening, catch up on small odds and ends, relax before bed and then… back to sleep. Throw in any other commitments and it’s going to be an even busier day! When do we have time to really sit and spend time with God?
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
jeremiah 29:11-13 nkjv
There’s the “Thank you Lord for waking me up this morning” quick prayer. Maybe even the prayer you might say before you eat your meals…anything more though? When you think about a relationship that you’re interested in nurturing, you think about how to be a better contributor to the relationship. You spend time with the person to get to know them better, you speak to them on a consistent basis, you might even share with close friends and family how interested you are in this person and what you admire about them. Are you curious about who this person really is at their core? What they like? What hurts them? More often than not, the answer is yes. As children of God, we should want to know more about him and pursue him. I know the demands of the day can get in the way so here are three simple and effective ways to spend more time with God:
- Wake up earlier- I know…I know…for those of us that are not early birds, it’s rough. And trust me, I understand that there are other factors at play such as working late, having very young children, studying, etc. I get it! BUT, it is extremely helpful. Start with waking up 10 minutes earlier and use that extra time to pray to God about the things that are on your heart. After a couple of weeks shoot for waking up 20 minutes to half an hour earlier to pray and meditate on scripture. After a month or so, push your wake up time to an hour earlier. Reassess until you find a good wake-up schedule that works for your daily prayer and bible study time. Once you get into the groove of it, you’ll find that this time is time with God that MUST be included in your day. If waking up earlier doesn’t work for you in this season, simply find a time during the day that you are alert and have time alone. You’ll never regret it.
- Seek him EVERYWHERE– Spending time with God is not only confined to your home…want to go to your favorite coffee shop? Do it! In the car on your way to work? That works too. While your showering? Yes! On your lunch break at work, between client meetings or classes? Absolutely! God is always with us, so why not? I know that online we often see aesthetically placed bibles and coffee mugs with comfy looking blankets and all the beautiful things in the background and listen, there’s nothing wrong with that, at all. If that’s how you do things during your time with God, I love it. Just know that it’s not the ONLY way. God wants us to spend time with him. He wants us to seek him and hear from him. Start where you can and he’ll lead the way. If you’re intentional about your time with him, it will happen, regardless of where you are.
- START– It seems logical and maybe a bit too simple but you just have to start. You can even start after reading this blog post. Take 5 minutes and pray. Often times, the battle is in our mind…nothing is perfect. The time won’t always be perfect…the day won’t either. Just start. Start right where you are and then tomorrow start again.
There are so many distractions and so little time in a day. Getting through this blog post probably took more effort than it should have because… phone notifications or that never ending to do list bouncing around your brain. Spending time with God isn’t an option though…it’s a MUST. Knowing what the Word says for yourself is a MUST. Hiding his Word in your heart is a MUST. Not being deceived by many who will come in Jesus’ name but do not know him or his truth is a MUST.
“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'”
Matthew 4:4 nkjv
My prayer is that you find time to sit before God and spend time with him. Your heart needs it and so does your soul. Growing in relationship with God takes nurturing and participation. If you show up, I guarantee you that God will be there waiting.🤍
With Love,
Stacia
