Confession: My time with God is not always a priority.
Let’s be real. My time with God each day has major competition. Things like my phone, my kids waking up early, extra sleep, and even exercise are always standing ready to take the time I should be spending with him and use it in any other way than praying and reading the Bible.
Several months ago, I could feel this chasm growing between God and myself. At first, it felt like a wall had been formed between us. I wrote about that distance between God and me and how God helped tear down that wall in this post. I encourage you to check it out if you feel distant from God right now and you just don’t know how to close that gap between you and Him.
However, even after the wall was torn down, my relationship with God felt weak and lacked excitement.
For months while I felt distant from God I hadn’t been spending as much time reading the Bible and studying the Scriptures intently like I once had.
And my prayer life? I was mostly praying in little pockets throughout the day because I couldn’t stay focused or awake to pray for more than a minute or two in the morning,
I felt the Lord telling me it was time.
It was time to get back into the rhythm of daily time with him. It was time to pray more diligently and to study his Word more often.
However, I felt too tired to get up earlier than my usual 5 or 5:30. I’ve always been an early riser, but having a one year old who didn’t (and still sometimes doesn’t) sleep through the night was making it extra hard to get up early every day.
I also felt like I didn’t have more time in the mornings to really spend time with the Lord because I needed to help get the kids ready for the day and get to work on time.
And then, God, full of grace, convicted me.
It was like a spiritual kick in the butt.
He reminded me that two to three times a week I got up at 4:15 to workout.
He also showed me that I spent lots of time every morning scrolling through Facebook, checking my email, and reading articles about anything from parenthood to ministry.
I had time. The problem was with how I was using my time.
For instance, I was prioritizing getting up to workout. And that’s not a bad thing. We should take care of our bodies physically!
The problem, though, is that I was prioritizing working out over spending time with God in prayer and studying his Word. Ouch.
And keeping up with family and friends through social media, looking through important emails, and learning new things by reading good articles are all great. But again, I couldn’t say that I didn’t have more time to spend with God when actually I was filling that time with this distracting little thing called my phone.
So early in November, I made a change. It’s one I’m still tweaking and trying to make all the pieces fit together just right, but wow, it has been absolutely worth it! I want to share it with you hoping that it will help encourage you if you feel in a rut like I did!
Spiritual Growth Over Physical Goals
The first change I’ve made is prioritizing my spiritual growth over my physical goals. I’ve made the decision to get up even earlier most mornings and have my time with the Lord before I exercise. (Side note: The 4 o’clock hour is still not my friend, but it’s getting easier. It was really hard the first two weeks. Don’t be discouraged if you try to get up 30 minutes earlier each day next week, and you accidentally oversleep or fall back asleep after your alarm has gone off four different times-it has happened to me, too!)
I’ve had to change my exercise routines to ensure that I have time for both my spiritual health and my physical health. And if I don’t wake up in time to have both, I prioritize time with the Lord. (Hear me, though-taking care of our bodies through exercise is important! It’s just not the most important.)
Nothing-getting fit, losing weight, or building muscle-is worth gaining if it means losing my soul.
Keeping Up with God over Keeping Up with Everything Else
This one is hard for me. From the second I wake up, it’s like my phone is calling my name.
“Pick me up.”
“Look at me.”
“Open up social media/email/texts/anything other than your Bible app.”
“Look at this! It’s so interesting! You must read this, right now.”
Anyone else feel like their phone is screaming these things at you?
This is definitely a temptation I’m still struggling through. One thing that has helped is that I have my YouVersion app set to send me their “Verse of the Day” at 4:00 every morning. That way the first thing I look at when I wake up is the Word of God.
That has really helped to at least start me well.
But there are still some mornings I spend way too much time on my phone.
One minute I’m just checking in with a loved one’s posts on Facebook, and 30 minutes later I’m watching some crazy cat video.
How is it even possible to lose track of that much time? Sigh.
I’m thankful for God’s grace and mercy as I try again every morning and even as I fail again and again.
Of course it’s not just my phone vying for my attention in the morning. Laundry, dishes, cleaning, any and all of those things…if I’m not careful, doing those things or just thinking about how I need to do those things makes me incredibly unfocused and preoccupied in the mornings.
Every morning is a battle of my focus, but I’m so grateful that I’m not in the battle alone.
Motivation When Our Flesh Is Weak
Even on mornings when I wake up early, hold off on my workout for an hour, don’t look at my phone, my kids sleep in, and there’s no housework (obviously this is purely hypothetical!), sometimes I just lack motivation.
It sounds terrible, but it’s true: I lack the motivation to spend time with the Creator of the universe and the Savior of my soul. Gulp. It feels awful to actual type that out.
But yet again, God is there, ready to extend grace to help my weak flesh.
Even when I don’t feel like spending time with Lord, I pray and ask him to give me the desire to spend that time with him. I need for God to stir the affections of my heart and the desires of my soul because I just can’t manufacture it on my own.
I utter a prayer asking God to give me the desire to read his Word and pray. And then I crack open my journal and my Bible and go for it-I don’t wait until I “feel” like it.
Because on some mornings, that feeling will never come.
What’s this mean for you?
I’m not saying that you have to plan your day like this or get up super early to have your time with God! Some believers prefer to have their devotional or prayer time during lunch or after the kids go down in the evening.
What I am saying is that what you give time to is what you’re prioritizing so just be careful and purposeful in how you spend your time.
As my husband has to remind me, we only have 24 hours each day.
And as Ephesians 5:15-16 reminds us, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”
So pick a time, a cozy spot, and grab your Bible, a journal or notebook, a pen, and some sort of reading/study plan. If you’re not sure where to start, research different Bible study plan options. I personally love the Daily Grace Co.- they have some awesome studies! You can check them out here.
Whatever time you pick, journal you choose, and reading plan/study method you use, as Nike says, “Just Do It.” Do it. Start today. Or start tomorrow. And just do it.
My Favorite Journal
Speaking of journal, if you need a new one, read on! I’m going to share a bit about a journal I’ve started using recently that I love. If you’ve got a great journal that’s working for you, that’s awesome! Feel free to skip down to the end of this post. 🙂
A little background: my friend got me this Bible study/prayer journal for my birthday in July. I think the Lord must have nudged her to buy it for me.
I was busy doing different studies for the different small groups that I’m a part of so I let the journal sit on my nightstand for 4 months. For 4 whole months I didn’t touch it.
But in early November I knew that it was time to start using my journal.
And wow, I cannot believe I waited so long!!
I mentioned this journal in a recent post because I love it SO much. It has several beautifully-designed sections that make my time with God more focused and more fruitful. It has been a game changer for me and for my time with God.
Let me tell you why I love the Abide Journal, and how I personally use it:
- I like to start by picking an attribute of God (they have a list in the journal) and reading/reflecting on the accompanying Scriptures they list with each attribute. This is to help me focus on who God is and on how amazing he is.
- There’s a section for writing down specific prayer requests, a verse to be praying, what God is teaching you while you pray for that person/situation, and when the prayer is answered, there’s even a place to write the date it was answered! I add prayer requests as needed and pray through my list with the verses I’ve written down. Having a list has helped me pray more focused prayers (I can pray for longer than 2 minutes now without drifting off in some thought process or in sleep), and I love that I’m praying Scripture so often!
- If I don’t have other study material to work on from one of the small groups I’m a part of, I use their Bible study method/study section to dive deeper into the text I’m studying. I love their fresh Bible study method, and I’ve enjoyed using it.
- My favorite part of the whole journal is their “Adore” section. I love it. I go through that reflection piece once a week on my Sabbath. There’s a place to write down how God has been faithful to you in the past week, what you are thankful for, and what God taught you in the past week. It’s such good reflection time. After all of that, you pick a Bible verse to be praying for the coming week. I also like to write the verse on an index card and stick it on my bathroom counter so I see it every single morning.
It’s Time, Y’all
Ultimately it doesn’t matter what journal/plan you use as long as it is helping to bring you closer to God. Make it a priority this week to spend time with God, even if it’s just 5 minutes a day. You will not regret it.
So what are you waiting for?
It’s time!
Plan what time you will meet with God. Prepare what your time will look like (journal, study, etc). Push away all of the distractions. And pray for God to stir in your heart a desire to meet with him and that he will bless your time.
And then, do it.
I’m praying for you and cheering you on!
Pressing on in faith, Jennifer
This post contains an affiliate link. I absolutely love The Daily Grace Co. so I am an affiliate of their company. This just means that I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through their website at no extra cost to you!