Go deeper

I had a amazing experience yesterday, the kind that only God could bring me into. Before I went to church in the evening to volunteer at Next Level (the area in our church where people who have accepted Christ come to be prayed over and receive a Bible), I spent a couple hours reading through devotionals and my Bible, and the last 10 minutes I spent on my knees in silence, ready to hear from God. The phrase “young girl” just kept going through my head, but I wasn’t sure if it was just my own mind thinking up those words. However, I kept my heart open and prayed for God to speak through me. We ended up having a few people come to our table last night, and sure enough…the very last was a young girl. I took the initiative to talk to her and I led everyone in prayer over her, just letting the Holy Spirit speak through me. It was an incredible moment to finally step out of myself and fully give the Holy Spirit control.

I feel like the time I spent in God’s word yesterday afternoon opened up my heart to be able to hear from God. I will be honest here...I go almost all week just barely reading over a devotional before I go on to the other things in my day. I have email devotionals that come to my inbox all day, and I read them when I receive them and pray whatever prayer is included, but I seldom spend much time contemplating over anything or letting the message truly sink into my heart. The Holy Spirit is convicting me that I really need to make this more of a priority, but I know that I cannot do it without God’s help. That being said, here is my challenge:

• I will start by making it a habit on Saturday or Sunday afternoon to spend at least one hour reading my Bible and going through my devotionals in a more concentrated setting than just briefly reading over everything.
• The next step is to spend at least one hour 3 days a week…probably Tuesday, Thursday, and then one of the weekend days.
• Final step is to spend at least 30 minutes reading the Bible and going through devotionals on a daily basis.

I desire to be closer to God, and to spend more time in His Word learning from what He has to say, instead of what the world says.