Ever feel like you’ve just been going through the motions, or feel like you’re in a rut, whether it’s at work, in your current relationships, with daily responsibilities, and dare I say…in our relationship with God?
Well, if you never feel like this, can we sit down and have a cup of coffee or tea, if you prefer, so I can pick your brain about what I am NOT doing right?
Seriously though, as a girl who loves routine (most times), sometimes I get to a place in my relationship with Christ where I am simply going through the motions. I know I need to have a daily devotional time with Him, whether it’s 5 mins or an hour. I need time to sit with Him daily, connect with Him, uninterrupted, listen for what He wants to say to me, pray, and read His Word. (Trust me, I see the difference when I don’t do it.) Yet, even in that, I find there are seasons, where I am doing it out of rote and routine.
And this, my dear sister, is when something needs to change and we need to switch it up. Our time with the Lord should be a time where we can’t wait to sit in His presence, at His feet. However, I understand that because we are in this flesh, which never wants what the Spirit wants, i.e. to commune with God, we have to fight against it, to carve that time out, every day. Ravi Zacharias said it best,
Your biggest battle you will face in life is your daily appointment with God. Keep it or every other battle will become bigger.
Ravi Zacharias
This is why, for the last several years, my one resolution and goal is the same:
Keep my daily appointment with God and He’ll give me instructions on everything else I need to do for each day, month and year during that time.
I will be the first to admit that I miss some of these appointments. However, during one of these recent “daily appointments”, I realized that I was in a place where I had fallen into a rut, just going through the motions, and thus, felt like I wasn’t really connecting with Christ. I needed something different…to do something different. Just as quickly as the Lord made this clear to me, He gave me 5 ways I could connect with Him in a new and fresh way.
- Pause
If you are reading through a daily devotional, a book or chapter of the Bible, as you are reading His Word, take time to pause after you read each verse and listen for the Holy Spirit’s prompting. Ask the Lord to reveal anything in your heart, based on what you just read or what may have stood out to you. Don’t rush through the scriptures. While you may plan to read an entire chapter, sometimes God may want you to just read one verse for that day or pause throughout your reading and focus in on one particular Word. Pay attention to that.
2. Pray Through
Based on what you are reading, the Holy Spirit may lead you to pray through something. I often find that lately, when I read scripture, I put myself in the text and begin praying what I just read, making it personal to me and my own life.
3. Praise
This one sounds so simple or common sense right? Take time throughout your day to just offer up a word of thanks to God, acknowledging Him, even in the middle of a task. Sing a line from one of your favorite worship songs or hum it while you are going about your day. (My laptop is super slow, y’all, so I found myself even yesterday, just praising God as I was typing away and thanking Him for allowing it to just cooperate with me and let me be great!)
4. Ponder
This is something I recently started doing and it has helped me so much, especially on some really tough days I have had at work. Based on what you have read during your quiet time or something you may need to be reminded of, put it on your phone as a daily reminder and set a timer to it. You can also take a screenshot of a particular verse you read or write it down and put it somewhere you can see it throughout the day. Set your timer throughout the day to just ponder on that scripture or word God may have spoken to you. Be still in these moments and listen for the Holy Spirit.
5. Practice His Presence
A very short, but popular book that is treasured in the Christian community is The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. From the time your eyes open in the morning and as you begin to move about your day, practice talking with God as if He is right there with you (because He is!), going about your day with you. Consider that He is with you in everything you do that day, in the mundane and ordinary things, like brushing your teeth or washing dishes, to completing major projects, studying for an exam or in the middle of a very important presentation you are leading. As you become more aware of Him in your day to day, you will begin to feel more deeply connected to Him.
Sis, I’m praying that as you implement 1 or all 5 of these ways to connect deeper with Christ, what was once mundane and routine, becomes exciting, extraordinary and special each time!
Reflection:
Which of these 5 things are you already doing? Are there any other ways that you currently connect with the Lord? Please share below!
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