Steps To Spending Time With God

1 on 1 with our heavenly father

'Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.' Psalms 139:23-24

'“Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” ' Psalms 46:10

a couple of days ago i wrote about the challenges of making time to be with God because of the project i’m on for work. what it really comes down to is the lack of planning and commitment that is causing me to miss my devotions. similar to not forgetting to eat and breathe, i should just do it. today’s reflection is from the saying you may have heard from other leaders:

“By failing to plan, you are preparing to fail” or similarly,

“He who fails to plan is planning to fail”

if it is important you’ll do it. create a simple plan and follow it until it becomes a habit. once ingrained, it becomes something you want to do and 2nd nature, instead of it being a chore.

1) unwind and chill - learn to relax and don’t be in such a rush to get “through” your time with God. also, try not to just dump everything on Him without preparing your minds by emptying it of whatever junk is stuck in it at the time. work on being present.

2) start off by asking the Holy Spirit to scrub your heart of whatever is not in alignment with the Lord, and to guide you in your conversation with God.

3) get into the Word - open the Bible and select a book, passage, or use a devotional guide (use the church’s if you don’t have one) like this one new hope hawaii kai’s daily guide.

4) take the time to read, understand, and hear from God instead of thinking it is homework and needs to get done. if you don’t get it, try to read it again and slowly. still unsure, look for resources online that may help you gain more insight to what that particular reading means.

5) try to memorize scripture as that is our defense against the devil and his schemes. being able to say, “it is written” …….. (scripture) to combat the lies like - you have too much stuff to take care of and it’s ok to miss my time with God.

i do start my day with prayer, even throughout the day i will for various things; will listen to Bible app on a 365-day plan after prayer, then worship music on the way to work. what i still have not been able to do is actually stop and read the Bible, rather than having the app speak it out. while i do #1 & 2, 3-5 needs serious work.

dear Heavenly Father, thank you that you do give us your time and attention and only asks for us to make and honor that time together. teach me Lord how to be more in tuned with you when praying as i want to hear you clearly and do what you ask. in Jesus’ name i pray, amen!