I don’t know many church leaders who think they spend sufficient time with God. Our lives are busy, and it’s tough to add more responsibilities to our plate. Here, though, are some ways to spend more time with God, beginning today.
- Pray daily, “Lord, turn my heart to long for You.” If you genuinely want that change in your life, God will transform you. You will look forward each day to being with Him.
- Read the Gospels, and see Jesus intentionally spending time with God. He’s our master and model, so we should plan to live like He did:
- “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he got up, went out, and made his way to a deserted place; and there he was praying.” (Mark 1:35)
- “Yet he often withdrew to deserted places and prayed.” (Luke 5:16)
- “He was praying in a certain place …” (Luke 11:1)
- Be honest about the distractors that get in the way of your time with God. Sometimes they’re good things (e.g., ministry responsibilities). At other times, they’re just time wasters. In some cases, they’re actually idols that mean more to us than our time with God does. Identify your distractors, and don’t let them win.
- Subscribe to a Bible reading plan. A simple web search will direct you to options. If nothing else, the reading in your inbox every morning will remind you to get alone with God.
- Plan your daily time with God the night before. Life’s too busy and unexpected to wait until each morning to determine how/when you’ll spend time with God. Something else will fill your calendar before the day ever begins.
- Find the best time and place to be with God, and prioritize that time. For me, my office is NOT the best place. Much better for me is my home study, a local restaurant or even a place in the woods in good weather.
- Take advantage of your 10- and 15-minute opportunities throughout the day. Even if you’re convinced you don’t have an extra hour to be with God, you likely have these brief opportunities that will add up.
- Use your driving time wisely. Listen to the Bible. Meditate on the Word. Pray.
- Schedule a quarterly day of Bible reading, prayer and fasting. Go ahead and block the days—and let only emergencies cause you to reschedule them. Ideally, get away from your office and your phone to be with the Lord.
- Plan an annual leadership retreat that includes nothing but Bible reading and prayer. Jesus took Peter, John and James to the mountain to pray (Luke 9:28), and that’s when His transfiguration took place. God often just does something when leaders of His church get alone to pray.
What other practical ways would you add to this list?
This article originally appeared here.
