Spending Quality Time with the Lord
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I’m not a morning person. I do my best work at night when everything around me has settled down; just peace and quiet. The only thing I won't do at night is spend time alone with the Lord. As a young person, I remember being taught to spend time with the Lord early on in the day so I could pray about that day’s happenings. I was also encouraged to make sure I treated spending time with the Lord as if I would spend time with friends; carving out a moment in the day to spend reading my Bible and praying, making it a priority.
It was not until I was in college when I heard this statement from a Sunday school teacher, “If you can only read one or two verses a day, the Lord will be happy with those one or two verses”. That was hard for me to swallow because that is not what I was taught growing up and I honestly didn't believe the Lord would be too pleased with only five minutes of my day.
Even today, it’s hard to imagine only giving God five minutes out of 24 hours. We spend countless hours in front of a television and just as many hours on the telephone. We also spend more than five minutes reading a book and surfing the internet. Why is it so hard to give more than five minutes a day to the God who created us, loved us and sent His Son to die for us?
When I taught school, I had my devotions in my classroom before the day began. I made sure I left home in time to be able to have a quiet time before other teachers arrived and we met for our staff devotions because I just could not get up and get to moving earlier than I really had to.
Over the years, I tried having my devotions throughout the day. I learned that waiting later in the day to have my devotions does not work. There is ALWAYS something that just so happens to come up that keeps me from having this special time with the Lord. Trying to have that special time before going to bed, is also a not getting it done situation. By the time I’m going to bed, my brain has shut down and my body is shutting down for the night. I can’t fully concentrate on praying and reading my Bible.
I finally found that having my devotions as soon as my husband leaves for work, works for me. There’s peace and quiet in the house with nothing to hinder these moments. The busyness of the day has not kicked in for my mind to wander about.
During the winter months, my husband has to be at work at 4:00 in the morning. That means the alarm clock goes off at 2:30 and I finally get up about 2:50. Once the lunch and breakfast is made and my husband is out the door, I have my devotions around 3:45 and then I quietly curl up on the sofa and drift off to the sleep. Once I wake back up, I can focus on cleaning the kitchen and getting school started.
If you are finding yourself not SPENDING QUALITY TIME WITH THE LORD everyday here are some things to consider:
No matter when you have your time with the Lord, purpose in your heart to be disciplined in following through with your special time. There is so much the Lord wants to share with us, if only we will spend time with Him.
Spending Quality Time with the Lord
It was not until I was in college when I heard this statement from a Sunday school teacher, “If you can only read one or two verses a day, the Lord will be happy with those one or two verses”. That was hard for me to swallow because that is not what I was taught growing up and I honestly didn't believe the Lord would be too pleased with only five minutes of my day.
Even today, it’s hard to imagine only giving God five minutes out of 24 hours. We spend countless hours in front of a television and just as many hours on the telephone. We also spend more than five minutes reading a book and surfing the internet. Why is it so hard to give more than five minutes a day to the God who created us, loved us and sent His Son to die for us?
When I taught school, I had my devotions in my classroom before the day began. I made sure I left home in time to be able to have a quiet time before other teachers arrived and we met for our staff devotions because I just could not get up and get to moving earlier than I really had to.
Over the years, I tried having my devotions throughout the day. I learned that waiting later in the day to have my devotions does not work. There is ALWAYS something that just so happens to come up that keeps me from having this special time with the Lord. Trying to have that special time before going to bed, is also a not getting it done situation. By the time I’m going to bed, my brain has shut down and my body is shutting down for the night. I can’t fully concentrate on praying and reading my Bible.
I finally found that having my devotions as soon as my husband leaves for work, works for me. There’s peace and quiet in the house with nothing to hinder these moments. The busyness of the day has not kicked in for my mind to wander about.
During the winter months, my husband has to be at work at 4:00 in the morning. That means the alarm clock goes off at 2:30 and I finally get up about 2:50. Once the lunch and breakfast is made and my husband is out the door, I have my devotions around 3:45 and then I quietly curl up on the sofa and drift off to the sleep. Once I wake back up, I can focus on cleaning the kitchen and getting school started.
If you are finding yourself not SPENDING QUALITY TIME WITH THE LORD everyday here are some things to consider:
- Schedule your quiet time – see what time of the day works. While the morning only works for me, another time during the day may work for you. Do this for several days trying out different times throughout the day.
- Allow plenty of time – Don't rush through your devotions, quality time with the Lord is going to take time. Spending time with Him should be enjoyable and rewarding.
- Alone time – While family devotions are a wonderful time for a family to spend together with the Lord, we all need to spend time with Him, alone. Jesus spent time alone with his Father – Matthew 14:23
- Distraction free time – Spending time with the Lord needs to be a focused on Him only time. Find a place free from distraction. Jesus spent time in the wilderness seeking the Lord- Luke 5:16
No matter when you have your time with the Lord, purpose in your heart to be disciplined in following through with your special time. There is so much the Lord wants to share with us, if only we will spend time with Him.
