God has called us into ongoing fellowship with Him. He commanded, "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord" (Ro. 12:11). Jesus rebuked the church at Ephesus for forsaking her first love for Him (Rev. 2:4), implying that He expects us to walk steadily in an intimate love relationship.
But for many of us such warm fellowship with god ceased long ago. Perhaps we once knew the excitement of communing with the Lord. The Bible was alive to us, and we enjoyed prayer. But now our devotions are dry, if we have them at all. We are easily distracted during quiet time.
If you're one of these people, how can you refocus your eyes on your first love? Here are ten steps I've found helpful:
SEEK GOD WITH DETERMINATION
Resist the temptation to quit your devotions when they become dry. Instead, set aside extra time for the Lord, even if it means giving up some television, a meal, or some sleep.
God repeatedly commands His people to turn to Him with all our hearts. He is the Lord of the universe, waiting for us to humble ourselves. When we come near to God, He will come near to us (Jas. 4:8).
We can express our humility outwardly by kneeling or even prostrating ourselves before Him. Such outward actions, though never a substitute for true devotion, often affect our attitudes and can help us focus on experiencing God Himself.
Putting away all excuses for spiritual slackness, we can ask Him for forgiveness and tell Him we want to seek Him with all our hearts, even if we do not feel like it.
God predicted that the Israelites would have times when their hearts retreated from Him. Yet He promised them, "But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul" (Dt. 4:29). Rest in this promise when you seek God in your quiet times.
ASK GOD TO SEARCH YOUR HEART
The Bible tells us that we are dwelling places of the living God. Like most houses, we tend to have an attic or a closet full of clutter. We stuff anything into it that we don't want to deal with. As long as the door is shut, we can fool ourselves into thinking the whole house is clean.
A period of dry devotions can be a warning sign that spiritual clutter has piled up. We need to open the door to the attic and pray, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Ps. 139:23–24). Then we need to listen patiently for God to reveal the clutter.
Jesus warns us of three sins that choke the Word of God in our hearts: the worries of this life keep us from trusting God; the deceitfulness of wealth tempts us to think we don't need Him; and the desire for other things distracts us from our love for Jesus (cf. Mk. 4:19).
A.W. Tozer compares the sins of the self—self-righteousness, self-pity, and self-sufficiency, for instance—with an opaque veil that hides the face of God from us.1 We need to bring the old self to the Cross for the deathblow before we can experience the life of God in its fullness.
SEEK TO KNOW GOD
Recently I set aside extra time to seek the Lord for some answers about my ministry. But as I entered into His presence, I found myself drawn away from my list of questions and toward God alone. I realized that God created and redeemed me so that I could know Him, and that Jesus came to give me eternal life, which is characterized by intimate knowledge of God (Jn. 17:3).
When the week drew to a close, many of my questions remained unanswered, but that didn't matter. I had experienced a deeper spiritual refreshment than ever before.
In each generation those who focus on God, who hunger to know Him, stand out as spiritual giants. But God's call to know Him extends to all believers, regardless of time pressures and obligations. The Apostle Paul not only traveled frequently, founded numerous churches, and wrote half of the New Testament, but also supported himself by tentmaking—yet his prayer life was constant. David was a busy king, but he still sought God constantly and his prayers—recorded in the Psalms—bless us today. Jesus ministered to people all day long but still found time for an extensive prayer life.
Begin where you are. Ask God to give you great hunger and thirst for Him. Tell Him you want to be changed. As you learn to focus on Him, reordering your priorities will become easier, until you can say with Paul, " . . . I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (Phil. 3:8).
THANK AND PRAISE GOD
The proper way to come before the King of the universe is with thanksgiving and praise (Ps. 100:4). God wants people to worship Him in spirit and in truth (Jn. 4:23). Therefore worship is essential to entering His presence.
Study the Psalms to learn ways to worship God. Singing, shouting, clapping or raising your hands, dancing, and falling down before Him are all scriptural ways of worship. Jewish believers weren't inhibited in worship! We shouldn't be, either.
Ask the Holy Spirit to set you free, then experiment with various forms of worship when you are alone.
One special form of praise is giving God thanks and telling Him why we love Him. David frequently recounted God's mighty acts on his behalf in the Psalms. You can reflect often on what He has done for you on the Cross and in your life.
FEED MAINLY ON THE BIBLE
I love Christian books and read them frequently. But when I rely more heavily on them than on the Bible, I am not feeding enough on the real food. "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Mt. 4:4).
If Christian literature substitutes for the Word, it does to us spiritually what junk food does physically: it spoils the appetite without providing proper nutrients for growth.
Beware the temptation to let Christian books—devotional books, works of theology, commentaries—become the main element in your spiritual diet. Useful as they are, they cannot take the place of God's written Word. It alone is "living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Heb. 4:12; NASB).
When our time with God has become stale, what we need is to be brought to life. We need to be reactivated in devotion, not just in devotions. We need to be pierced to the very depth of our hearts, to have our hearts laid bare before God so that He can heal us. The Bible is the only book that can do these things.
ADJUST BIBLE STUDY TO YOUR NEEDS
Almost every year I decide to read the Bible from cover to cover in my devotional time. This year I made it into 2 Kings. Then I realized I was starving spiritually. My Old Testament diet was too one-sided. Because I felt pressured to fulfill my daily quota, I wasn't listening to God's nudgings to explore certain topics of particular need to me. I missed what God was trying to say to me because I insisted on racing through the Bible according to a set plan.
A better way for me is to meditate and pray about a small portion of Scripture. To avoid bias, I pick a book and read it through, often taking weeks. But whenever God speaks to me about a subject, I take a few days to do a topical study. (A good reference Bible makes topical studies easy and rewarding.) Then I can go back to my study through the book of the Bible.
Experiment with your own flexible Bible reading plan until you find what works for you.
ASK!
"You do not have, because you do not ask God" (Jas. 4:2). Has your study of the Bible seemed fruitless lately? Perhaps it is because you haven't asked God to teach you new and exciting things, things that will change your life.
Begin by asking, "Lord, what are You saying to me? What do You want me to do?" Seek insight on how to apply the Word in various areas of your life. The more questions you ask, the more answers you will receive.
Ask God for spiritual treasures, like learning to overcome temptation and sin, growing in Him, getting to know Him, etc. As long as you are asking with the right motives, to please Him instead of yourself, you will receive (Jas. 4:3; Mt. 7:7; 1 Jn. 5:14–15).
USE A DEVOTIONAL NOTEBOOK
If you write down insights from the Word, you will remember them better. But a notebook can also help you in other aspects of your devotions.
Write down what to thank and praise God for, then use your list during your worship. A record of prayers and answers will build your faith. I like to note commands the Lord gives me in my Bible reading, so that I can check on my obedience later. (Stuart Boehmig's article in this issue of Discipleship Journal includes some helpful tips on journal keeping. For more extensive help, you might read Ronald Klug's How to Keep a Spiritual Journal [Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson, 1982].)
FOUR FOUNDATIONS FOR PRAYER
If you feel as if you have been just "going through the motions" in prayer lately, you might apply four principles from Josh. 24:14: "Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth . . ." (NASB).
When you pray, fear—or reverence—the Lord. The essence of man's rebellion against God is his refusal to submit to God as Lord and Ruler over everything, including self. Even though we are redeemed, we are still tempted to try to rule ourselves. Acknowledge that He is the Lord and joyfully submit yourself to His rule. Don't try to make God your servant. Seek to glorify and please Him. Do your prayers reflect this attitude?
Root your prayer in service to God in His Kingdom. Go to Him for instructions. Ask Him for the power to do as He commands. And commit yourself to obeying Him.
Pray with sincerity. Be completely honest with God. He knows all your thoughts and feelings anyway, but often won't deal with them until you open yourself to Him. Remember that He already proved His love for you by dying for you, so you have nothing to fear from opening yourself completely to Him, showing Him everything wicked that is buried in the depths of your heart. And keep your prayers simple. Even if your words are halting, God responds to the desire of your heart.
Pray according to truth. In other words, be guided in your prayers by the Word (Jn. 17:17). For example, instead of complaining that God seems far away, tell Him, "Lord, You say in Your Word that You draw near to those who draw near to You. I seek You now, and I thank You that I will find You." God answers such reverent prayers, offered in faith. He cannot deny Himself or His Word.
BE SURE TO OBEY
What you do after your daily quiet time determines its quality at least as much as what you do during it.
We show our love for the Lord by obeying Him in every area of life. "Whoever has my commands and obeys them," Jesus said, "he is the one who loves me" (Jn. 14:21). "If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love . . .. You are my friends if you do what I command" (Jn. 15:10, Jn. 15:14).
Disobedience to God hurts our quiet time with Him. "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves," wrote James. "Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does" (Jas. 1:22–25).
What we learn from Scripture and in prayer during our quiet times must make a difference in our lives, or we'll soon forget it. And our consciences will make us increasingly uncomfortable because of the disrespect we show God by ignoring the commands He gives us. If we want to walk continually in a love relationship with Him, we must make it our goal to please Him by obeying Him.
Seek God with a sincere heart; confess and forsake your sins; make God Himself—not spiritual knowledge—your goal; worship and praise Him; feed on the Word in ways that meet your current needs; ask God for what you need; reflect on what God is doing in your life; pray with reverence, sincerity, truthfulness, and the desire to serve Him; and practice all day what you learn in communion with God in prayer and the Word, and your quiet time will become vital and exciting.
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