Discipleship is like one child telling another child where the cookies are.
Last Saturday, I had the honor of leading our men’s Ironman breakfast. My topic (all 9 minutes of it) was on the importance of having an intentional time with the Lord at the start of each day. Since not all people are morning people (I called them early birds vs. night owls), each person should adapt his time with the Lord according to his schedules, both personal and social ones.
From Scripture, we learn that Jesus got up each morning and had an intentional time with His heavenly Father, “And in the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and prayed there for a time” (Mark 1:35).
Isaiah had a personal time with the Lord, as well,
4 The Lord God has given me the tongue of disciples,
So that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word.
He awakens me morning by morning,
He awakens my ear to listen as a disciple.
I learned the other day that there are two parts to prayer: the talking part and the listening part. Among other ways, such as inspiration, friends, and circumstances, Bible reading is the listening part when the Holy Spirit speaks to us from God’s Word. Remember: Christ IS the Word, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).
Tools for the trade:
- A real Bible. Using a real Bible helps us remember where a specific verse is located. We may not remember the exact verse number, but we stand a good chance of remembering a chapter and where the verse was located on the page.
- A pencil or pen. We should not be afraid to mark in our Bibles. They are just books. The Word of God is the knowledge that is stored in the words. Marking special verses and making notes to other verses helps us know His Word better.
- A notebook. Writing down what we learn helps us remember. It also gives us something to turn to later on when for reference. We can also write prayers to God, which is a great way to incorporate Scripture.
- 3×5 note cards. Making a card collection of our favorite Scriptures and then walking through them daily helps us to memorize them. We can also make lists of people for which to pray. Having different cards for different days helps, too.
- Coffee! Whether it’s coffee, tea, diet coke, or whatever, it’s good to have something to sip on to help concentration. (A little caffeine doesn’t hurt, either!)
In this world, the momentum is going the wrong way. We must be deliberate and intentional about our time with the Lord. We don’t become like Christ by default. Let’s pray for each other that we would become deliberate disciples of Christ.
Abba, time with You is vital. It’s why we got saved! To have You inside us and then ignore You makes no sense at all. May we spend time (preferably early) in prayer, both talking and listening, so that we connect with You. This connection will last all day if we will practice living life in Your presence. Make Yourself known to us, O Lord. Amen.