Five Ideas to Enhance Your Time with God

1. Don’t get stuck in a rut.

   We all know about the “quiet time” but sometimes it feels like a chore. Vary your time with God by doing something different. Go for a walk. Sit in a park. Dance to praise music. God wants to have a relationship not a ritual. Now don’t get me wrong, consistency is important, discipline is important but when you are stuck in a rut it’s time to shake things up. What are places where you feel God’s presence? When have you heard from God? Who might go on a ½ day retreat with you?

2. Read Scripture from a new translation.

   If you’ve always read the NIV, try reading the same passage in The Message. Compare them, see how a modern wording helps your understanding. Try writing your own paraphrase and then pray through the passage in all three versions.

3. Read one of the “old guys.”

   Sometime you can get a new (old) perspective on God by looking at what Christians have written in times past. Men like Brother Lawrence, Augustin, Martin Luther and Dietrich Bonhoffer. Women like Teresa of Avila, Hannah Hurnard, Catherine Marshall and Corrie Ten Boom. Hearing insights from others can open your heart and mind to things you might not have thought of yourself.

4. Try for silence.

   Silence does not come easy to us but a relationship is a two-way street. Try waiting in silence for 60 seconds after you share something with God. It may seem like a long time but give Him a chance to speak to your heart. Read a passage of Scripture, verse by verse, pausing to let the message settle into your heart and mind. Silence is one of the Spiritual Disciplines, one we need to cultivate.

5. Memorize a favorite passage.

   I know! You have a hard time memorizing. We certainly memorize less that people did even 50 years ago. But we are told to “hide God’s Word in our hearts.” By doing so, we allow the Spirit to work those verses into our core. Memorize in small bits and once you have memorized, pray through the verse asking God to show you all you need to learn from it. You will be amazed at how this changes your prayer life!

Finally, relax and enjoy your time with God. Think of all he has done for you, for all of us. Thank him, Praise him, Worship him. Be willing to “be” in his presence.

 

Let’s start in the right place by understanding who God is, why he chose to free us, and what he has freed us for.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

Our true freedom comes when we recognize who our master is

You’ve heard this message time and time again – you can’t have it all. You can either have God or the world. But over and over again the world and it’s stuff draws us. The expectations of people imprison us. The “shoulds” eat up our time and money. And we ourselves place heavy burdens and expectations on ourselves. In verse 32, Jesus promises us that the truth will set us free. Free from the:

• tyranny of sin
• tyranny of the “shoulds”
• tyranny of expectations
• tyranny of the world’s hype
• tyranny our own requirements of perfection – work in progress from birth to death

But what is the truth? The truth is that God “so loved” us all that he sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins. The truth is that God is our creator, and he made us in his image. For a class, I had to write my  “theology” statement about who God is. Here are the truths that resonate with me:

My God is Creator: Therefore I can trust in His design for me

My God is omnipotent: therefore, I can trust that he can do all things as he has planned

My God is Sovereign, King and Lord: Therefore I can hold onto the fact that he is in control no matter how crazy things are in my life.

My God is Faithful: therefore I can know that he will never leave me or forsake me.

My God is Good: Therefore I can believe that all thing will work together for my good.

My God is Holy: therefore I can expect righteousness and justice from Him.

My God is Long-suffering and forgiving: therefore I can know that he will be patient with me as I try to do his will.

My God is gracious and merciful: therefore I can know that he allows for my humanity and doesn’t hold my sins against me.

Can you see the clear message – God is in control. God is our focus. God is all we need. In fact, God is the right place to start.