Diligent devotion – developing personal intimacy with God
Its another week, another time to share and be inspired with the word of God. Last week we touched on creativity and stressed the importance of prayer in creativity. This week, we will be discussing the place of private, personal devotion in our walk with God. our main text is below:
And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. Mark 1:35
We live in a time of significant distractions, when everything is tailored to get our attention. From social media, to push messages on our devices, emails, tv shows, work and even religious activities. These all compete for our time which can easily and gradually erode our private time with God. Another aspect of this, is the role of family morning devotion, morning prayers on various platforms or Christian prayer gatherings. While these activities are good for building our faith, we must be careful not to make them substitutes to our personal time with God.
Our opening scripture depicts how our Lord Jesus Christ approached his relationship with God and ministry. He understood that the secret to success in the marketplace is in that place of communion and intimacy with God. Intimacy can only be built in the place of privacy. God is more interested in communion with us personally. He wants to share his heart with us and loves it when we create time for Him. There are places corporate prayer alone will not take you to. In the garden of Gethsemane, we see how Jesus had to take 3 disciples along to pray with him but then, he left them at a certain point and had to go alone to travail in the spirit for what he was about to accomplish.
Consistency is key to making this work. I sometimes struggle with this in the midst of a changing work schedule but its good to try. Do you have a routine in your spiritual devotion? This is often called piety. Great men like Moses, Daniel, even the apostles as in Acts 3:1 had a time when they met with God. This helps to readjust your body cycle and you find that it gets easier and also helps you measure your Christian growth. It does not have to be one hour. You may start with 15 minutes but then you aim to improve. You may miss some days but instead of feeling guilty it is better to see it as opportunity to adapt and improve. Christian growth is not a passive process, it requires intentional and active involvement with clear and measurable indicators. It requires diligence if we are going to experience the glories and power of God’s kingdom. Let us build resilience and perseverance in the presence of God and partner actively with Him to bring His will to pass on earth as it is in heaven.
Our discussion questions this week:
1. What are some of the challenges you have experienced when it comes to having a set personal devotion time?
2. Can you share some tips you have found useful in overcoming some of the common challenges or distractions to our consistency in personal devotion?
Please click on the topic to make your comments. I look forward to hearing from you!
- 13 Replies
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Well, distractions have taken over… some of the challenges I face are real organisation and discipline. For a long time, I have decided to take a moment alone with God but everyday is just the same routine. Sometimes ago, the first thing I was doing as soon as I wake up was to take my mobile phone to check notifications either on WhatsApp or on Facebook or to check my mails, and throughout the day I won’t have meaningful time to get closer to God. But once, reading the book of Daniel, and Psalms I understood that Daniel was a man of great discipline concerning the things of His God. Despite his assignment as a political leader, he never failed in having time for His God. As well as David.
Then I said to myself, I need to cut off with distractions. The first thing I did was to deactivate the notifications of my social media so that when I am trying to check the time I am not tempted to go on social media.I also decided to use my time efficiently. Every morning I take the bus to go my workplace except Saturdays and Sundays and it takes like 40 min – 1:30mn. I use this time to read spiritual materials, that will keep me spiritually alive for the day.
In the morning I do my best to pray, to have my personal time with the Lord, fellowshiping and worshipping… I mean I try to maximize spiritual activities because distractions have taken over…
Do you have other recommandations ?Thank you Jefferson. I think these are practical suggestions. I like the part of using your commute time as well. Yes it is amazing to see how devoted Daniel was despite being the Governor of governors. I think he formed it into a habit just like brushing the teeth or eating food. We tend to struggle now because there’s so much information. Sometimes having a special day in the week set aside for devotion may also help especially if you are too busy during the week.
Consistency is they key to a powerful prayer and devotional life. God respects history. When we come into His presence, our history with Him in prayer gives us an edge. When you are consistent, your spirit becomes filled with faith and the power of the Holy Ghost just like you one becomes physically fit over time by exercising consistently. For me, I strive to get my devotion in to my daily plans before anything else starts. You just have to find what works for you and stick to it. It’s all about the discipline and consistency- PIETY. Nowadays, Christians don’t know or talk about the word “piety.” We ought to be Pious Christians.
Thanks Philip for this. Thats true. The word piety has been lost. Growing up we heard the term Pious man a lot but it seems to be a forgotten or archaic term. I think setting a practical target and growing from there helps.
Thanks, @Michael! Great post and questions.
Simply put, the biggest challenge to my morning devotion routine is waking up on time and staying awake! It’s always been a struggle for me because I am naturally a night person. Most recently, motherhood has exacerbated the challenge because I am more physically tired when I’m pregnant or nursing through the night. Like you mentioned, any time your life and work responsibilities/schedule changes, it can easily impact your piety if you’re not intentional about being consistent.
As far as tips… I’ve found that in addition to consistently dedicating time, it’s helpful to be open to trying different things in my one-on-one time with God. Sometimes that looks like reading a chapter in the Bible and praying for the day, other times it’s a Greek/Hebrew word study, using a devotional or study, or listening to the audio bible, or making declarations over myself, or spending time to journal my prayers to God or what I hear God saying… I’ve found that my devotion time looks different in different seasons and that’s okay. Years ago I had consistent times of extended worship, praying in the Spirit, and Bible study. I haven’t been in that flow for a while now but I still remember it and I recognize the fruit of that time… I’m just in a different life season now.
Some may disagree… but I think the discipline of spending time alone with God isn’t so much about the specific activities I do or the order I do them or the precise amount of minutes or hours… it’s about consistently making time and space for intimate communion with Him. When it’s not just about checking boxes on a spiritual to-do list, but it’s meaningful time that ultimately strengthens my walk with God, then I consider it a “success”.thanks @purposefaith for the insight into another aspect of this. i think things a definitely a bit different when you start a family. little wonder Paul stated this in 1 corinthians 7 that the married person will have many distractions. These are valid challenges which I also struggle with because its no longer about what you want but you have others to take care of and carry along in any decision you make. Like you said, it not about a set of tick boxes but about a heart that is committed to intimacy. God knows our areas of struggle and sometime ago when I felt guilty for missing a prayer time, this became a ripple effect hindering me further from praying even at another time. The Holy spirit then spoke to my heart that I should leave the guilt and take advantage of the next opportunity. Its not a set of rigid codes but a loving relationship.
However, we need to set the targets for our own development because no athlete that wants to improve goes in without a measurable plan. God wants us to exercise ourselves in godliness. Setting a goal helps us know how much we have improved. But we must not make this become a hindrance or law to us and not a point of competition with others or boasting.
Inspiring comments. Consistency is key. Part of this is setting targets that are achievable and growing from. Don’t set a two- hour target if you only have very limited time in the morning due to work or even family commitments. You can set special days for longer devotion. Also don’t stay too long on a 10-minute target when you know you can do better. You need to stretch yourself spiritually if you want to grow. This is part of godly exercise, strengthening your spiritual muscles.<div>
Does time matter? yes and no. Yes because when you are trying to grow it important to stretch yourself else you’ll not be motivated to go higher and you cannot measure your growth. Also as we go deeper we find that the longer time you spend with God, the more you discover and experience the power of his presence. It becomes easier to do it without thinking. Moses spent 40days and 40 nights and came out with his face glowing. Don’t underplay the effect of longer time in God’s presence. Jesus asked his disciples to spend 1 hour with him, so he had a time frame in mind. You may start with few minutes like I did but aim to grow from there. Conversely, No because God does not function in time and space and just needs your availability and consistency. Also the Holy Spirit can help our infirmities and does not want us fixated or guilty because we did not meet a certain time target. Its not a tick box exercise and definitely not a bragging right, but an active process of growth through relationship.
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I do agree that to have intimacy with God require having a quiet time with Him. This can only be achieved by self discipline and consistency. I have tried severally to map out a day in the week dedicated for my communion with God but l find out that the daily work scheduled always alter this plan and most time is hard to keep. Now what l do to overcome this challenge is to create time for my self at work place dedicating few minutes with God. I normally get to work before 7am and since work starts at 8am, l use 1hr that is 7-8am to have time with God. This is actually working for me because l have other evening church programmes to attend after work And getting home from work to church most time one is exhausted.
Having a quite time with God is time we speak to God and He speaks to us. It is a time of discussion with God, so l do more of listening to him speak than talking much.. when you understand that while with Him, He speaks to us, we will know more of His mind concerning us.
In our Quiet time we should understand before we speak, he already knows our heart. This the reason why we should keep our ears for listening. He hears us and because He does hear us , He will answer our prayers.
Wow! Thank you @Maureen for sharing in a simple yet insightful way. I like the fact that you adapted your devotion into your schedule instead of giving up or giving excuses which many often do- about being too busy. Surely, God knows our heart already even before we pray, this is the beauty of it, that He still wants to hear from us and speak to us privately. This is the grace of true fellowship- to receive counsel from the Almighty God! Glory to God!
@maureen That’s a very smart way of ensuring consistent devotion on a daily basis. A lot of people make excuses why they can’t spend time with God and how their daily responsibilities keep them from finding time to be quite and commune with God.
But if they will be dedicated to doing this they will surely find a creative way to make time for God. For me, I start work at 10:30am and due to the pandemic, I work from home which has been a blessing because I have quality time to spend with God in the morning before work starts.
very interesting topic Mr Michael. it brings me to understand that yes it is good to pray with others but there is a high importance to put on the “secret place” .
And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. Mark 1:35
reading this scripture you posted we can see that despite having disciples he was praying with, he couldn’t disconnect from his habit of running to the secret place to pray before the day breaks or he starts doing anything. The truth is that if you are not a consistent person with discipline and principles you can’t benefit from the secret place which is a place of personal fellowship, exchange, worship focused only on God far away from distractions. at that moment you receive the directions for the day, where you hear the heartbeat of God, he can tell you his burden. i always believe that there are some messages God can’t release to you if you don’t meet Him at that place..in the midst of people voices are many you can get confused.
we live in a system where we easily get busy and carry away by different daily activities or i will say the system make us feel 24hours are not enough.
in my personal life i will say consistency has been the biggest issue. to start never be a problem but along the way i get caught up with activities work and others from there i loose track and start praying at different hours than the ones of my secret place. Also i think the organization of my schedule makes it difficult due to the nature of my job but this is not an excuse if i want to walk with God
to help myself i tried to wake up before starting my shift at 7AM and enter a worship mood and begin to pray and try to read the word so i can have what to meditate along the day..i tried to go in the secret twice a day when i can….
i realize that nothing can replace that moment of intimacy especially when you start your day in his presence there is a slight chance only to not be aware of what will happen.
it is a daily exercise and experience we all need to do and have…i will continue to press on until i am fully consistent with it because nothing can replace the secret place, that intimate moment with the maker.
God bless you Sir
Thank you Line Carly for your sincere and thoughtful response. I like it when you spoke about personal devotion being a daily exercise and experience we all need to do and have. It resonates we our current study. I couldn’t agree more. It could be challenging just like any exercise involves doing things outside our comfort zone but then the more we do it, the easier it gets until it becomes our habit. Keep up the good work!
thank you Sir!!! may God inspire you with more powerful topics so we can share our own experiences.
God bless you
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