Today’s devotional will digress from our usual format. This is to give way to some tips on how to make our quiet time and Bible reading spaces more conducive for praying and learning more about God’s word and His character.
As present-day believers, we are facing the challenge of having too many distractions in our lives. The moment we wake up our brain is already prompted to check on notifications from our phone and rush through the day.
But since the best way of starting our day is to spend time with our Creator, it is important for us to intentionally make a way to keep our daily quiet time a habit that we look forward to.
“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” Psalm 90:14
During his days of torment because of the many enemies that were running after him, David, who later on became Israel’s greatest King, penned Psalm 143. This psalm partly talked about seeking God’s presence and guidance every morning.
Like David, we can face our struggles with hope and strength, when we tap into God’s power through prayer and meditating on his words.
As present-day believers, keeping the daily habit of praying and meditating on God’s word takes willingness and effort. It starts the night before, and not the morning we wake up. Why? Because we cannot have a soulful prayer time when we are sleepy because we binge watched a Netflix series the night before. Discipline is key, and sleeping early will help us feel refreshed to wake up in the morning and talk to the Lord.
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24
The area where we pray and read God’s word is also important. We should put our mobile devices in a separate room, and remove other possible distractions. As moms, praying early in the morning will be an advantage since the children will still be sleeping and nobody will bother us nor be noisy.
Another thing that could distract us during our prayer time is clutter, so it is best to take time to tidy up the area before we sleep at night so that we would not have the urge to clear out things while we pray to God and read the Word.
If we can help it, or if our resources permit, we should also exert effort to make the room conducive for reading. Enough lighting, comfortable temperature, and no weird odors. It may sound anal to think about all these things but doing our best to make the area conducive will be helpful for us in keeping our concentration in prayer, and in meditating on God’s word.
“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:6
Even people in the Old Testament devised practical ways to make people better understand the reading of the scriptures. In the Book of Nehemiah, it was told that as the Book of The Law was read to the people who just returned from captivity, the leaders and the priests made sure that the people heard the words clearly, and that they understood what they have heard.
“They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.” Nehemiah 8:8
Biblical scholars explain that much effort was made to ensure that the returning Israelites understand what they have heard because hearing God’s word without knowing what it means, would be useless. The same is true for us today.
And so, as we endeavor to grow our faith and get to know God through our daily Bible reading and prayer, we too should make it a point that we get to read God’s word and spend time with Him without being sleepy or distracted.
We should also exert effort to understand what we read by taking notes on things we may not understand, and searching the explanation through reputable sources. These reputable resources could include Bible teachers in the community like your priest or pastor, and then the leader of your bible study group. It could also mean commentaries, homilies, and preachings published by reputable bible scholars.
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6-7
More importantly, we should pray before we read the Bible, because it is the Holy Spirit who will reveal God’s word to us and what it means in our lives. Asking the Holy Spirit to intercede for us in prayer, and for guidance in reading the word is most important.
“And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.” 1 Corinthians 2:13
Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to
ponder on Psalm 143:5-12 to dig deeper on today’s topic.
Reflection Question: What are the steps you can take to ensure that you can stick to the habit of having a quiet time with God every morning?
Conversation with the Lord: Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be by your feet and seek you early in the morning. Your guidance is most important to us. Give us the strength and the discipline to seek your presence and guidance all our days. Amen.
