How My Devotional Life Has Changed
Hello, my friends! I want to share with you how my devotional life has changed in these past few months, and how it has shifted the way I live my life!
I don't know about you but I have never been good at having a consistent devotional time. I am not, by any means, a morning person and it's always been a mystery to me how people can get up before the sun and be awake enough to actually pray; it just doesn't seem possible to me! I have tried everything I could think of to somehow be better at my devotional time. I tried a prayer closet, but that didn’t work because I accidentally got locked in there for 3 hours (it's actually a pretty funny story, but for a different time), so I figured that wasn't for me. I tried having worship music on in the background to stay focused in a "worshipful atmosphere" but it would turn into a Holy Ghost party and I would have my own worship night. I tried devotional books, you know, the ones that have 365 lessons in them; one for each day. But just as I would get started I would miss a day and lose all motivation. I tried just about everything I could think of and none of it worked; I was still “bad” at my devotions and I would go to bed every night feeling guilty and ashamed that I could not have a regular, consistent, “quiet time”.
About 2 months ago as I continued in this cycle, the Lord began to teach me something that I believe can help many Christians dealing with the same thing. The Lord revealed to me that I was approaching my devotional time the wrong way.
You see, I didn't realize it but I was approaching my devotion time with God as my relationship with God. If I missed a few days of reading I thought my relationship with God was struggling, and if I read consistently that week I thought our relationship was doing pretty well. As God began to speak to me He brought me back to the book of Genesis. Right after Adam and Eve sin it says, "And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden." (3. 8) As I read this, God spoke to me and said, "The reason I walked in the garden at that time was because I did it every day. Adam and Eve recognized My sound because they had heard it every day. They lived in My presence".
After hearing this, my entire life changed. God brought me through a season of about 2 months teaching me that we as humans were meant to be in constant community with Him. We were created for continual conversation, continual community, and continual relationship with God. Our relationship with God is not limited to how often we open our Bibles. Our relationship with God is constant and never ceasing. Think about it, if you are dating someone your relationship isn't contingent on how often you talk to them. You are still in a relationship with that person 24/7, whether you see them that day or not.
Devotion time is purely the sweet, intimate moments of our relationship with God. It is when He pours out His love for us and we praise Him in all His majesty. It's the early morning breakfast dates, the late night, crazy long, phone calls we can have with Him, or the midday lunch date because we don't want to go all day without seeing Him. These are the moments that strengthen the rest of our relationship. Devotion time with God is vital, it is just not the extent of our relationship with Him.
The pressure is off, I no longer have to read my Bible... I want to read my Bible. I look forward to those moments I can spend with God. I long to hear from Him, to study Him, to get familiar with His voice.
Because our relationship with God is never ceasing, He is constantly speaking to us. God is always talking to us, comforting us, protecting us, warring for us, and showing us the depths of His love. This concept changed everything for me. I can honestly say, with all sincerity, that I am more passionately in love with God than I have ever been in my life!
I encourage you, if you are struggling with devotion time, ask Him to reveal this concept to you. I pray you fall as in love with God as I have become.
Blessings, my friends! :)
