Would YOU eat moldy bread????

Would you eat moldy bread? Please visit me at Laced with Grace this devotion!

Quiet Time...At the Well

Amy from Raising Arrows asks us to ponder "Quiet Time" this morning.....

This is such an area that can "trip" us up as Christian women! We focus on the "doing" so much! I can have the mindset of "Martha" instead of "Mary". And, I can allow guilt and condemnation enter into my thinking.....

"I'm not having my "quiet time". Bad girl.

Or.....we can slip into legalism and the DOING. Had my devotions. Good girl.

But, what is so important is the RELATIONSHIP with the Lord!

Real.

Living.

Breathing.

Authentic.

I talk to God all day long. His presence is always here. He never leaves us. I need God more than just an hour in the morning. I need Him all day, every day, all through the day.

What I have found, though, is that I do need Him first thing in the morning.

If I don't focus my thinking on Him, my mind can go to all sorts of places that I don't want it to! I can easily slip into negative thinking.

So....while I am still in bed, before everyone else is up, I start talking to God.

Nothing fancy. Just start talking to Him.....

I love to walk in the morning. (And recently have begun to RUN. You can read about those lessons here!). I cherish this early morning time because as a mom of 5 little ones, it IS the only ALONE time I have each day. So, I make this my "quiet time." When I walk, I bring my "prayer journal" that has random scripture verses. I worship, ponder a few verses, pray verses, "put on my armor," pray for my family....spend time with God.

I also have prayer card that I use when I brush my teeth. It has a daily verse from Colossians that I pray while I brush.

I have a few flip-books with Bible verses and devotions around the house.

I have scripture posted around the house.

And- now don't be "grossed out"- but I take my bible in the bathroom with me!

I share all of this with you NOT so that you can copy it, but so that you begin to "look outside the box." Look at YOUR daily life.....find ways YOU can incorporate God into your daily life.

Now, please realize that although "quiet time" LOOKS different in different lives and that we can't be a "Pharisee" and impose OUR ways onto others or be legalistic about loving God, we DO need to spend time with Him. We must find ways in our lives to wash ourselves in the Word. Amy talks about reading the Word (in Children's Bibles) with her little children. We will all go through different seasons of life. Some seasons we will be able to sit for hours in front of the Word in study. Others seasons we will find "bites" of time with God whenever we can. It may look different from "conventional" quiet time. But, the most important thing is to FIND THAT TIME!

I recently struggled with this "quiet time" issue because I had not been spending enough time with God in ALONE time and I had become THIRSTY! Please read this post, "Lord I need You DAILY!"

Please visit the Well and read how others are spending their quiet time pursuing God!

Father God, I love You! My soul longs for You when I spend too much time away from You. Life is empty and my soul is THIRSTY! I can find myself in a pit.....So, Lord, I know that my spirit is made to be filled by You. I know I must make time in my life to be alone with You. I see Jesus getting alone with You early in the morning. I know prayer is so important. I know that You give us grace in seasons of our lives where time is scarce. Lord, I pray that You place in me a deeper desire to seek You. Lord, I pray that I would fall in love with You more and more and more.... Help me to find time in my day to be refreshed by You. Make that desire to sit at Your feet like Mary greater than any desire. I love You, Lord! In Jesus' precious name I pray. Amen.

Lord, I need You DAILY....

I was out running the other morning. It was quiet and I was thrilled being alone with God. I love to run on country roads where I can sing to the ipod at the top of my lungs. I can pray out loud in the Spirit. And, as I was running I began pondering my summer and the time I have (and haven't) spent with God.

There were weeks where I didn't crack open my Bible. Many mornings I skipped "quiet time" to begin the business of a summer day. Yes, I pray everyday all through the day. And, yes, most mornings I begin with a walk or run to talk to God. But, I haven't been continually soaking in the Word and spending quality TIME alone and quiet before Him, allowing Him to "work" on my heart.

I wasn't "filling up" on Him daily. I was often depending on Sunday morning church or the Monday evening Bible study I lead to "get filled." God again reminded me of how important it is to have DAILY intimate time with Him.

As I pondered all of this, God asked me, "Tracy, would you drink a long glass of water on Sunday (or Monday) and then not drink anything again until the next week- the next Sunday or Monday?"

Think about that. Ponder it. Imagine how THIRSTY you would be....

Imagine in your mind a full glass of water freshly filled on Sunday morning. Leave it out on the kitchen counter. What would happen? The water slowly evaporates out. Now imagine you need to also use that cup of water to fill other cups. Your husband's cup. Your children's. Your aging parents' cup. There is a cup marked "career or job." There is another marked "home". You slowly pour from YOUR cup into the others. Very soon YOUR cup would be empty.

Think of this spiritually. When you "fill up" spiritually....going to God....allowing Him to "get your heart right"....to renew your mind....to fill you to the measure of all the fullness of God...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, and self-control.....to focus on the eternal.....our cups are being poured out. Our kids need us. A friend is going through a severe trial. We need to take aging parents to a doctor's appointment. The laundry never ends.

God again reminded me that DAILY COMMUNION with Him is vital for me to live a victorious, joy-filled, abundant life.

"Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle (ever feel restless?). They were hungry and THIRSTY, and their lives ebbed away (does your life ever feel like it is "ebbing away"? Sunday turns into Wednesday turns into Friday turns into Sunday again? Where did the summer go?) THEN they cried out to the LORD in their trouble and He delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way (see Proverbs 3:5-6) to a city where they could settle. Let them give thanks to the LORD for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for men, FOR HE SATISFIES THE THIRSTY AND FILLS THE HUNGRY WITH GOOD THINGS." Psalm 107:4-9

Lord, thank You that You continue to remind me of how important daily time with You is. Thank You for Your patience, especially when I get "off track." Lord, I am sorry I forget at times and allow the busy-ness of life to invade. Sometimes, God, it is even the good things that interrupt that BEST- spending time with You. Thank You, Lord, that You put in my heart such a desire to be with You. I pray for all Believers, and especially for anyone reading this, that does not yet have that desire to "fill up" on You. Put that desire in all of our hearts, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

For a deeper study, read John 4:1-42. Jesus encounters a thirsty woman at the well. You may also enjoy reading Are You Thirsty? and Fill me up, but not with empty cups! and Thirsty for His Presence.