To know God we must spend time with Him and in His Word. Yet this can be challenging this day and age. We have pulling at us from a million different directions. It can be hard to know WHERE to start or HOW to start or how to stop all the distractions.
I think we must start by asking the Holy Spirit to help us in our time of need. We must make our relationship with God a priority. We must say to our hearts, “This is the most important thing I can be doing now. More important than the dishes or making the bed.” This is vital.
“The Word of God I think of as a straight edge, which shows up our own crookedness. We can’t really tell how crooked our thinking is until we line it up with the straight edge of Scripture.” Elisabeth Elliot
So, we must be in God’s Word to know God, but also to allow the Holy Spirit to convict and comfort us through the power of His Word.
Shut off the distractions. At least the ones you can control. {wink}
Put the phone somewhere else not nearby. Turn off the tv. Maybe do a quick “brain dump” list before starting so you aren’t tempted to worry about what is for dinner. Write a quick to-do list of all that is on your mind and get it on paper. And feel no guilt if little ones are playing at your feet or crawling on your lap. There will be days of quiet in your future. But for now, it’s ok for children to see or hear you pray, for them to see you open God’s Word even if you only get but a minute to read.
Start with gratitude. Just begin naming your blessings…”Thank You God for…”
Naming our blessings reminds our hearts of our true joy and contentment and that it can only come from Christ. We are also reminded of how blessed we are. It is good for us to tell our hearts we are thankful. It is good for us to remind our hearts of the faithfulness of God.
Say a simple prayer, “Lord, I want to see You, I want to know You, I want to behold You.”
Sometimes we get worried or nervous that we aren’t praying right. Or that we don’t know what to say. Or that we aren’t eloquent enough. God sees our hearts and knows us intimately. He already knows what is on your mind, so just tell Him. Tell Him you want to know Him more. That is a prayer He loves to answer.
Don’t rush. Sit and wait. Be ok with silence.
In our culture today we are so used to the noise that we often have a hard time in the quiet. Yet, in the quiet, when we can still our hearts and minds, we can hear the still, small voice of our Lord. We can allow Him to minister to us in the quiet. Slow down. Sit with God awhile.
“The devil has made it his business to monopolize on three elements: noise, hurry, crowds. He will not allow quietness.” Elisabeth Elliot
Read 1 Psalm a day.
If you aren’t in a Bible reading plan, I highly recommend reading and praying through 1 Psalm per day. The book of Psalms is the place where my heart first learned to pray the Scriptures. Through this book the Lord worked miracles in my own heart during a very dark season in my life.
What times would you add to this list? I would love to hear from you in the comments!
Bonus Tip
If you aren’t sure where to start in studying God’s Word, I have a wonderful resource to share with you.
Learn 7 different ways to study your Bible in 7 days (or longer if you wish to spread out the content!) These 7 ways are do-able by anyone!
Bible Study Methods contains video content for each of the 7 methods as well as workbook pages to correlate with each method. Arabah Joy does a great job of walking you through each of the 7 methods and I know many of you will be so blessed by this resource!
You can read more about this course here. It is at an introductory price of $29 this week.
I also did a live video showcasing what is in this course, you can view that here.
Free Ebook on Praying the Psalms
Through 3/26 you can get my ebook, Praying the Psalms, for FREE when you purchase Bible Study Methods through my link!
Please email me at candace@mercyisnew.com to request your free ebook!
These are simple but meaningful strategies.
I intend to use them personally and share with my children.
Thank you for sharing these tips. Simple yet profound. During my retreat. In my latest blog post, I shared about my retreat and a book, Invitation to Solitude and Silence by Ruth Haley Barton, that I enjoyed reading while I was there.
grace and peace,
pat
Thank you Candace. I have been struggling with staying focused, so I grateful you shared these awesome suggestions. God bless you.
These tips are great. I try to read my Bible at night but I do think it is a powerful message to take some time while my daughter is playing during the day to pray and read the Word. The visual aspect can definitely be great for children. Thank you for writing this post. Keep up the great work. God bless you and your family.