I have had many people ask me how they can grow in their devotion time with God or
how they can get back into their devotion time with God after not devoting time for so long. There is no "magic formula" that I have to share but there is a keyword: discipline. You need discipline to begin to grow in your devotion because the truth of the matter is that there is ALWAYS something else you can be doing: sending e-mails, checking social media, running errand the list is endless. Before you know it, all you have done all day is thought about God and the time you had planned to worship. Then it becomes a cycle because you might have plans to do your devotion before bed, but sleepiness has taken over and once again, all you have done is thought about your intentions to devote some time to God. The great thing is there is no right or wrong to getting started, the most important thing is that you start. Starting gives you that motivation to keep going and growing with what you have right where you are. Here are just a few things that I do to start my devotion time with God... #1. Use the top of the morning to set the atmosphere for your worship & for the day Instead of worrying about the day ahead or being consumed with all your responsibilities for the day, use the top of the morning to set the tone for the day. The peace of God will flow where you direct it to go. If you give peace no direction for your day, you give chaos space to run rampantly. If you have errands to run or work, give yourself about a 2-3 hour early head start. Make yourself a little breakfast, and prepare your mind to go into devotion. If you find yourself worried about the day, deflect those thoughts with praise and thanks to God. "God, I thank you for waking me up, God, I thank you for my health, God, I thank you for shelter, God, I thank you for food..." You get the picture. Just thank God for what you have to get your mind off of everything that could possibly go wrong. Then from there, talk to God verbally or in written form. Let Him know that you are on the journey to devoting time to Him. Ask Him for His help. Ask Him to direct the time that you are giving to Him. Ask Him to penetrate your heart with the scriptures. Make your request known. Be direct. What are you hoping to get out of this devotion time? Tell God all about it! When I am making breakfast or drinking my coffee, I have a playlist of my favorite gospel music I like to play in the morning. Some mornings when I don't want to hear all the singing, I play Dappy T. Keys Christian instrumentals on YouTube. His instrumentals are so powerful, they are good for sleeping, studying or reading a good book. They bring in calm over my atmosphere. I love them. His instrumentals have helped me deal with my anxiety as well. I encourage you to give them a try. Once you've prepared your heart and mind for devotion, now it's time to #2 Digest the Word With you just starting and learning to put aside time for devotion, I know it could be tempting to just go to YouTube, find your favorite preacher and let it play. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but it should not be your first choice; your first choice should always be reading the Word for yourself. And I know reading the Bible can be intimidating because of the language and the history. Thank God there are easy to read translations. The Message Bible uses the language we use today. You can also invest in the New Living Translation Bible. At one point I used the International Children's Bible to break down certain scriptures. I would read my New Living Translation, then go to that exact scripture in my children's Bible to see how it's worded. If you don't have a physical Bible that you understand, now is a great time to go Bible shopping and find the perfect study Bible for your devotion! Your next dilemma may be you don't know where to start to study. I suggest that you start at Proverbs or Psalms. Proverbs has 31 divisions, which you can use to challenge your devotion time 31 days straight. Also Proverbs is the book of wisdom, therefore that gives you something to constantly pray for within those 31 days, wisdom to understand the words that you are reading! Psalms is a collection of songs that is used to express the heights and depth of our relationship with God. The Psalms inspire us to approach God no matter what situation we may find ourselves in. You fill find praise, prayer, confidence and a true respect for God's Word. Some of the songs are long so just break them down and study them three or six verses at a time. Whatever feels right to you. Just remember that the goal is to UNDERSTAND what you are reading, not rushing through just to say you read it, so if you spend three days on one Psalm that's ok. Ask Yourself Questions: 1.) What are the words that stick out to you? 2.) What is the passage telling your heart? Is it comforting? 3.) How is God revealing His character to you? What attributes do you see God showing you about Himself? 4.) How can you apply the passage to your life? 5.) How do you take this message out into the world with you? How can you be an example of the passage? How can you encourage someone else with what you have learned? If you have time, google the words that stick out to you, or google them and write the definition down. Sometimes we think we know what a word means, but we don't have as much understanding as we think. Looking up words that stick out can give you an understanding of who God really is! If you prefer to have a devotional book, I want to egg you on to invest! There are plenty of devotionals designed to ignite your passion for devotion time and keep you on track with your days. A few authors I suggest: 1.) Sarah Young 2.) Sheila Walsh 3.) Daily Bread. Y order and have come to your house once a quarter. 4.) Priscilla Shirer There are plenty of great authors, but these are just a few that I have purchased and I love their books! Last but not least... #3 Pray Pray after you read and study. Pray that God penetrates your heart with what you just read/studied. Pray for an opportunity to talk about your devotion time with someone that needs encouragement, and then begin the day! Once you get in the habit of doing this a few mornings, you'll find that your spirit is much lighter. Even if you go into devotion heavy, you won't leave out heavy. You'll find that your heart is going to long for that time. You'll find yourself carving out that time every morning. You'll find your understanding of the Word will deepen. You'll understand the words you are reading better, God will lead you to different websites and different people to help you understand what you are reading on your own. This is why it's important that you read for yourself. You give the Holy Spirit an opportunity to point you in the direction He wants you to go versus you giving yourself direction in that aspect. And let's be perfectly clear, you reading your Bible does not stop roadblocks and obstacles from happening throughout the day, it merely gives you a different perspective on how to handle them. Reading and studying at the top of your day will give you insight and wisdom on how to handle what you will encounter. We all look for ways to be better prepared for our day and this is a great way to do so. And that's pretty much the "magic formula" to start to grow in your devotion time- dedication and consistency. I pray this has helped you. If you need more information or just need an accountability partner, reach out to me at erica@thrivingleaf.org. I love you!