When I graduated high-school, I prepared to go to Bible College.  Many of the Christian leaders in my life came around me with encouragement to develop a strong devotional life with God.  They regularly reminded me,

“Don’t neglect meeting with God.  Resist the temptation to look at the Bible as a text-book!”

At the time it felt strange that people seemed to be so concerned about my relationship with God, after all, I was going to Bible College.  It should be assumed, right?

 

Let me tell you something, I’m thankful for those voices who spoke truth and did not assume I had it all figured out. Iron sharpens iron, people!  Those beautiful people planted an awareness of my need for relationship not just knowledge.

 

In over 20 years of Christian Leadership, among the things I hear most is: I know I should read the Bible more and I know I should pray more. Both of these acknowledgments are usually accompanied with a frown and a shrug.  Doing something because you have to and doing it because you want to are two very different things.  You have to move beyond what it looks like and explore the why and how questions, in order to grown this spiritual muscle.

 

 

 

 

Meeting with God: The What

 

The terms, “Devotions” or “Quiet Time,” are tied to this discipline of meeting with God.  This practice is designed to help you know God.

 

As a Christian, your first priority is to love God.  You can’t give your life to Christ, follow God, and not know that you need to meet with him regularly.  I know, you get it, that’s not the issue.  What does meeting with God look like?  There it is.  You know this is important and valuable, but you don’t know how to get after it.  Or maybe you have and you just want to go deeper?

 

Well, it is much more than just reading your Bible.  Meeting with God isn’t just doing a quiet time and praying your list of requests.   This sacred meeting with God is active and continuous because it is relational.  It is about knowing His heart.

 

 

 

 

Meeting with God: The Why

 

You were made by God and he designed everything about you to work best connected to Him.  He didn’t have to create the world and everything in; he just did.  You are God’s idea, and He loves everything about you.  He loves you so much that He secured a way of salvation for you through the finished work of the cross.  God has done all the heavy lifting, inviting  you to come and know Him–just think about that for a minute!

 

God, who is Sovereign, infinite, Almighty, initiates and relentlessly pursues your heart so that He can reveal His.  That truth wrecks me, every time I think about it.

 

As a believer in Christ, you have God’s spirit living in you.  Think about that.  The Spirit of God dwells in you, empowering you by His infinite strength to do more than you can imagine, not for your sake, but for His glory.  It’s outrageous when you consider the magnitude of such a wild plan.

 

Meeting with God is all about responding to His invitation to come.  You meet with God so that you can know Him.

 

 

 

 

Meeting With God: His Testimony

 

“I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’  I the LORD speak the truth; I declare what is right.”  Isaiah 45:19

 

This is one of my favorite verses!

 

God invites you to come.   It really is that simple.

 

Scripture is so much more than a religious book, it is God’s testimony of who He is and the revelation of his heart.  A number of years ago, I heard Bill Johnson preaching and he talked about this idea of meeting with God over the scriptures.  That statement evoked a picture for me that has been impactful in my life ever since.

 

God delights to show you his heart, just ask him.  Instead of looking at the Bible as a law-book, see it as a love letter from the One who created you.  Allow yourself to be drawn into the most epic story ever!  You wanna find God, then look for him in the pages of His Word, because His heart is all over it!

 

 

 

 

Meeting With God: He’s The Provision

 

“The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need.” Psalm 23:1

 

God provides Himself first and foremost.  Everything you need in life is found in Him.  He generously gives exactly what you need as you follow him.  Think about it.  If you believe the Gospel, then The Holy Spirit lives in you.  The same power that raised Christ from the dead is alive in you.

 

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  There is no law against these things!” Galatians 5:22-23

 

God is supernatural and when you respond to His invitation to come, the experience will also be supernatural.  He does amazing things both for you and in you as you come into agreement with this truth and promises.  Don’t try to figure Him out, just practice believing him.  God is greater than your limited human reasoning can contain, so you need to adjust your thinking and open the eyes of your heart.  Meeting with God always happens on His terms.

 

 

 

 

Meeting with God:  It’s All About The Love

 

“But whenever someone turns to the LORD, the veil is taken away.  For the LORD is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the LORD is, there is freedom.  So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the LORD.  And the LORD–who is Spirit–make us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”  2 Corinthians 3:16-18

 

You were made by God, for God.  You are redeemed by His amazing grace and equipped by the power of His Spirit, living in you, to walk above your human frailty.  Meeting with God is all about living out of the abundant, excessive, unrelenting grace of God.  He invites you to come and know Him because He knows that it’s only in knowing him, that you will know real love.

 

So God initiates and invites you to come.  You respond and enter in because you are overwhelmed by such love.  In this holy sacred meeting  there is an outpouring of knowing that happens in the place of surrender.  Meeting with God is about yielding the heart, the mind, the soul, and the spirit, to be changed by His power more and more into his likeness.

 

Meeting with God is always about love.  Life transformation and healing are the generous byproducts of the power of love.  Acknowledge that you are loved by God because that’s the only way to know how to love him back.

 

 

 

 

Meeting with God: Getting Ready

 

Listen, you need to understand that meeting with God doesn’t happen by itself.  If only it were that easy. So don’t make it harder than it feels.  God really is for you and He wants this just as much as you do.  Remember the Isaiah verse I shared earlier: God doesn’t hide himself.  Look for Him and He will make himself known.

 

Now, that said, I will acknowledge that there is some work involved, but the work is in the adjusting of your attitude, and beliefs.  If you don’t believe that God is going to show up, you have to acknowledge the doubt.  If you are struggling to believe, just admit it and ask God to help you in your unbelief.  He knows before you tell him, but because He will not violate your freedom to choose, you have to give him permission to work in your heart.  That is called: surrender.

 

Meeting with God begins with trust and surrender. You must know the heart of the Father in order to better understand his ways, keeping in mind, of course, that you human mind can never fully know the full mysteries of God, Most High.  But He invites us to come close because of love.

 

 

 

 

 

Meeting with God: The How

 

Get alone with him.  Meeting with God so you can commune is necessary.  Once you taste and see that He is good, there is no turning back.  One taste of His glory stirs up a hunger inside of you that will not relent until it’s satisfied.  That is the way of the LORD.

 

God lavishes his love until you feel like you can’t take anymore, but as satisfying as it feels in the moment, it drives you back for more.  The presence of God is the only place you can feel fully complete and whole.  Go ahead and let that sink in a little more.

 

God fills you up with that love not just for your benefit but also for the benefit of everyone you come in contact with.  The love of God transforms, heals and renews everyone it touches.  So meeting with God fills you up, changes you from glory to glory, and then everywhere you go, you impart the love of God, which creates this amazing ripple effect of grace.  You become the vessel of God’s love.

 

 

 

Meeting With God: Getting Practical

 

Meeting with God requires action.  Quit talking about doing it and just do it.  I struggled for years with performance anxiety and though it’s better now,  I’m still tempted to give way to fear of failure.  This can affect how I to come to God.   Straight up, this is where the work is.  You need to deal with baggage and sin that weigh you down even when it feels like an insurmountable task.   The truth is, God is greater and He has already overcome.  The only power sin has in your life, is the power you give it when you abdicate your authority.

 

So begin simply by showing up.  Set the time and be present.   I suggest that you evaluate your schedule and write it in.  You may think you are really busy, but when you look at your planner you may be surprised at what you really do have time for when you plan for it.  There is NOTHING wrong with setting up a meeting with God. He likes it, because it shows that you are making Him a priority.  Who doesn’t like that?

 

When I was a Mom of toddlers I was sick and I was tired–literally.  Getting up before the babies were awake was not a great option for me, so I found a time that worked into the natural rhythm of daily life and did my best to press in.  The very first thing I worked on was simply showing up.  As I showed up, God did too.  It wasn’t pretty, usually in the mess of the kitchen while the kids played in the next room with the TV on in the background.  But that’s where I was and guess what?  That’s where God was too.

 

 

 

 

Meeting With God: Tools and Resources

 

Come prepared.  Bring your heart and set your eyes on Him.  In other words, shift into faith mode.  It’s time to set your eyes on Jesus and believe Him for more.

 

In this season, I enjoy getting up early and greeting the day BEFORE the world outside or inside begins to stir.  Over the years, I have found that early morning is my favorite meeting with God time because I find it easier to shut the distractions out.  This is not true for everyone, so find your time and own it. When you find your time, block it out and guard it.

 

I come with coffee in hand and I like it quiet. There is nothing wrong with playing music in the background but for me in this season it is a distraction.

 

I also come with Bible and journal in hand, reading scripture and waiting for Holy Spirit revelation.  Sometimes I don’t hear anything until I journal through my prayers.  When I pray we talk back and forth.  I find that it helps to write my prayers because actually seeing the words activates something in me.  The practice of writing it out gives me the chance to soak in it a bit…and if correction is needed the Holy Spirit speaks, which creates the space needed for me to readjust.

 

Do it as regularly as you can and you will find that your meeting with God begins to evolve.  One taste of His glory will leave you wanting more.  Ask Him for more and your prayer life will change.

 

 

 

 

My Favorite Quiet Time Helps

I’ve put together a list of my favorite resources to help you practice meeting with God.

(Please note: I have not received any compensation or free materials for creating this list. These really are my favorites and I pulled each book off my personal book shelf to make this list.  I’ve used some of them for more than a decade and others since before College).

Meeting with God Quiet Time Helps