Never underestimate the power of your personal time with the Lord.
All my life, I have been challenged to have a “quiet time.” What I didn’t know was just how impactful and necessary a “quiet time” would be for me daily. My daily personal time with the Lord has become the foundation on which I lean.
We’ve heard the saying, you become like the people you hang out with. So, if I want to live out Ephesians 5:1 to be an imitator of God, then I must spend time with Him daily. How can I be like Christ if I don’t spend time with Christ? I will never live out His Word if I don’t spend time in His Word.
Here are three things I do daily to spend time in God’s Word and grow closer to Him. No matter your age, these activities should be a daily priority before anything else.
1. Read God’s Word.
Daily I read God’s Word. I encourage you to read the Bible in its entirety to understand the full context and not just individual parts. We’ll never get the full view and understanding of God and His redemptive story if we never read the whole Bible. I do this by reading Scripture each year in Chronological order, using the One Year Chronological Bible. You don’t have to do exactly what I do, but spend time in Scripture daily however it works best for you.
2. Pray using a prayer list.
Most believers don’t have an effective prayer life because they don’t have an effective prayer list or strategy. I used to fall asleep during my morning prayers, or would forget to pray for people I promised to pray for, and so much more. I now keep a prayer list in my Evernote app. Each morning, I go to my Evernote file and pray through my prayer list. This has radically changed my prayer life. I write prayers under the note each day. I write the date then type out a small prayer or an answer to a prayer. I do this for my wife, my children, our ministry, our church, others, and myself. I look forward one day to giving these prayers to my spouse and children, and I’ll be able to because I wrote them down. Ask yourself how can you enhance your prayer life by creating a more effective prayer list.
3. Reflect.
I don’t believe we learn from our experiences, because I experience a lot of things that I never remember. However, I believe we learn by reflecting on our experiences. Reflection is journaling. Write down in a journal the lessons you’re learning in your personal time with the Lord and in life. This practice will force you to reflect daily.
All in all, if you want to take your personal walk with Christ to another level, be intentional and passionate with your personal time with God.
Brian Mills has been in ministry for 19 years and served in some of the largest churches in the US. Brian is a national communicator and author. He serves as the college pastor at Cross Church in Northwest Arkansas where he leads a ministry of over 1000 young adults. Connect with Brian via Twitter.