My Time With God

 I used to wonder if my time with God in the morning had to include bible reading. 

To be honest, I used to think reading the Bible was boring. 

And I wasn't learning anything from it, so I was slowly getting out of the habit of reading it each day.

The problem wasn't the bible (obviously). The problem was my mindset.

Instead of thinking of your time as 'Bible time', think of it as 'time with God'. 

So, it doesn't necessarily have to be reading the Bible, although I highly recommend it. 

It can be worship in song, prayer, or anything else that you feel close to God! 

You can get creative about your time with God. 

As long as you're growing in your relationship with Him and spending time with Him, you can practically do anything!

Right now in my Bible reading, I'm going through 1 and 2 Thessalonians. I realized I don't really know much about it!

Usually, every day, my time with God looks like this. 

    1. I start by asking God to be with me and teach me.

Remember: your time with God needs to actually be time with God. If he isn't there, then it's back to being a boring bible study.

    2. I read through a chapter.

I usually pick a book of the bible to go through, and then, each day, I read one chapter of it.

    3. I pick my favorite verse from that chapter.

Don't forget: This is your time with God. If you want, you can pick two favorite verses. Or, half a verse!

    4. I write that verse down on a piece of paper and study it.

My studying typically means reading through it a bunch of times, and looking up words I don't know. There is a cool technic that I use, which I will explain later, that really helps me look at the verse differently.

    5. I write down things I'm learning, and if it's something that really stuck out to me, I write it in my Bible.

If you feel like you're not learning anything, it might be wise to choose a different part of the Bible to study, or use a devotional.

    6. I think about how I can apply what I learned to my life.

Think of this as practical ways to apply it. Not something vague, like: 'I need to serve my family more'. More like: 'Today I will do my brother/sisters chore, that I know they don't like doing, for them', or: 'I will do the dishes without being asked to'.

    7. I go into my private Garden of Prayer.

I know what you're thinking. Wait a minute...what is your garden of prayer? That's a good question, and I'll answer it in a sec.

For me, this usually takes around 30 minutes to do, but if it's way more, that's totally okay! 

Some people like to set timers to make sure they get at least an half hour in, but I usually just go on for as long as the Lord leads me to!

My cool technique for studying:

Emphasize one word each time you read through it. I know, that doesn't seem as amazing as I made it sound. But trust me, it is. Here's an example:

   1 Thessalonians 5:17

"Pray without ceasing." Then "Pray without ceasing." Then "Pray without ceasing."

See how it can really change your perspective?

I wanted to tell you about this really cool test that I heard about.

Basically, there was a group of people in a room, and they were all studying a certain verse. 

They said that it was after ten minutes of studying it that they started to have breakthroughs in their learning, and started to really understand what it meant!

Before that, they weren't really learning anything. Isn't that cool?

My Garden of Prayer:

I like to think of prayer as going into a garden - a private garden where only you and God can go - and talking to Him there! 

I imagine the pretty flowers and colors, butterflies and birds. 

And I can go to this garden whenever I want, and talk to Him about big things and little things.

You can have your own Garden of Prayer too! It's a great way to motivate yourself.

And that's about it! If you have anything you want to talk to me about, or any questions about any of this, don't hesitate to contact me! 

You can either comment on this post, or fill out the contact form on the sidebar (next to this post on the left)!

Either way, I love hearing from you all!

Have a blessed day!

In Christ,

Lucy K