Intimacy With God in the Secret PlaceSample

Practical Pointers

You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Psalm 16:11

Just as you would protect a young seedling from the elements that would destroy it, we need to learn how to cultivate and nurture a quiet time alone with Jesus without distraction. Over the next few days, we will look at some practical tips. Let’s begin…

• Put on your calendar scheduled times alone with God like you would your best friend. Give yourself a good half-hour or more. Without adding to your plate of to-dos, this is not your everyday time with Jesus; this is a separate time to worship and wait upon Him in His presence and hear what He has to say. Not the other way around. Remember, schedule your time when you are at your best.
• Arrange for someone to handle the kids, the dog, your duties, or whatever requires your oversight so that you will have uninterrupted time. From years of leading others into discovering greater intimacy with God, I have found that the folks having the most difficulty scheduling this time are those with young children, especially single parents. Still, it can be done, and your minutes spent being filled up with Jesus’ presence will be so worth your effort to arrange this time with the help of a friend or your spouse. Don’t allow any excuses, no matter what state your life is in now. Growing in God’s felt presence is the best thing you can do for yourself.
• Put your phone in another room and remove every distraction possible. Bring a notebook if it helps to jot down some stray but important reminders that come to your thoughts, so you don’t start obsessing about what you might forget. Crazy, but true. Honestly, almost at the beginning of quieting our hearts with the Lord, our shopping and to-do lists will appear to overwhelm our thinking. Don’t be discouraged if training your thoughts to stay on Jesus takes practice just as the 16th-century monk, Brother Lawrence, so famously wrote. My own obsessive and unhealthy thinking almost robbed me of life itself. It was here, in His presence, that He began to heal and bring order to my thought life. We all get distracted, but His Holy Spirit will help us. We just need to come.

We will continue with more practical pointers tomorrow.

From today’s list of help, which one spoke to you the most and why?