“I wait for the Lord; I wait and put my hope in his word.” – Psalm 130:5

Could you imagine taking off walking through town with your toddler, expecting them to keep up? You tell them, “C’mon, just walk. Everybody does it. Surely it can’t be that hard!” Or tossing the car keys to your teen as soon as they get a permit, saying, “All right, go run my errands for me. Surely you can drive, I’ve been doing it for years.” I have realized recently that there are several things about a mature walk with God that I just take for granted, often failing to teach those disciplines to others. Probably my worst offense is the failure to teach what a healthy devotional time looks like each day. So, let’s take a moment this morning and look at some of the basic principles of healthy time with God.

First of all, choose when during the day you will do it, and how much time you will spend. Be realistic; not everyone can start by reading through the whole Bible in a year. Maybe your quiet time begins with just a single verse every morning. This is a much greater practice than no daily devotional time at all. Second, begin with prayer. Before you even open a Bible, ask God to speak to you. Recognize your need for his Word each day and go into your devotional time expectantly. Third, look at your Bible. Even if you buy a daily devotional written by someone else, take time to read and meditate on the passage they are centering that devotion around before you read their thoughts. Give God time to speak to you before you allow that author to speak (and if their daily devotion is not centered around a Scripture each day, get a new devotional). Finally, spend time in quiet meditation and prayer. Think about the places in your life where this principal needs applied. Ask God to keep these truths on your mind throughout the day. It is not good enough to just understand the principles from God’s Word; they must be applied.

Just keep it simple. Trust me, everyone can afford to spend time with the Lord each day. In fact, you can’t afford not to!

Heavenly Father, as we set time aside for You, speak to us clearly and guide us through our day.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Shane Cannon