Be still

I admit it.

I'm a tech junkie.

My iPhone is one of the last things I see at night and one of the first things I see in the morning.  (If you are honest, many of you would admit to being the same way.)

Anyways, one of the first things I look at on my phone is my Bible app.

I use YouVersion.  I think it's a great app.  I can use my King James version and it offers a variety of Bible reading plans, devotionals or study guides.  I use it to help keep me accountable on my Bible reading but one of my favorite features is that when I open the app each day, it has a verse of the day.  Today, that verse was Psalm 46:10

"Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."

Great verse!

As I went about my normal morning routine, that verse just rolled around my mind and God was using it to show me some things.

Now, if you're anything like me, you probably have some sort of schedule for your day.  Get up, read your Bible, eat breakfast, shower, go to work, etc.  Schedules are great to have and personally, I need them.  I am far too lazy to not have a schedule.  I need to have stuff to do to keep me busy and I like to be prompt.  But God was telling me to lighten up the reigns on some of my scheduled time with Him.  He doesn't like to be put into a box.  He does deserve to be in a box.  He needs to be our schedule maker, not penciled in if there is time available.

We live in a day and time when we like things instant.  We glorify "busy-ness".  Psalm 46:10 this morning, reminded me that sometimes, God just wants us to be still.

I need to just be still and to let God have full control of me.  It's so easy to allow your mind and your thoughts to wonder but if I can be still enough, God can take control of my mind, my thoughts, my tongue and my time and He can use it for whatever He so wishes.

But if I am busy and limit God to just 15 minutes of prayer in the morning, I cut Him off.  I limit Him on allowing Him access and control of me - and I am His creation!  That's ridiculous to limit God!

God's been working on me about my prayer life lately and this morning when I was thinking about that verse, I also thought about the hymn, "Sweet Hour of Prayer."  When I first got saved, I remember thinking, "Geez, spending a whole hour on your knees praying?!"  But it's amazing how fast time can go by when you give God uninterrupted, unlimited, devoted prayer time.  Please understand, I am not trying to come off as super-spiritual and imply that I pray for at least an hour every day, because I don't.  Shamefully, it's usually nowhere near that.  But I'm simply sharing the things God's been pointing out to me.  He wants me to give Him that kind of time and attention in prayer.  He was basically telling me, "Don't put me or our conversations on a timer, Amy."

He doesn't deserve to be on a timer.  He doesn't work that way.  I need to be on His schedule, not the other way around. 

I have experienced prayer time that has last over the 60 minute mark and William Walford was correct in describing it as "sweet".  I want to experience that more and the most amazing thought, is that God wants to experience that with me.  Who am I that he is mindful of me or that He would take the time or even desire to hear me, listen to me or speak to me?

But that's God.  He's great like that!

Those times that I have not limited or timed my prayers with God, when I just let the conversation between us flow free and unhindered, it truly is sweet and it amazes me; all the things and people God brings to my mind and my heart when I don't try to rush through it. I've realized that many of those times, God turns my prayers off of me (my problems, me desires) and fills that time with praying for others.

"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Galatians 6:2

Every single person needs prayer. Some will voice their requests frequently while others will keep them more private. Yet, God knows the needs of each and every person & He can bring them to your lips during your prayer time...if you're quiet enough and still enough for Him to do so.

So that's my charge to you, reader, because it's His charge to me as well.

Be still. Be still in your mind, be still in your mouth. Take time out of the day, out of the schedule and turn the timer off.

Be still and find out what God has to say.

I need it!

I need to read my Bible every day.

I need to pray every day.

I've come to realize recently that it is not so much simply an option if I should read my Bible and pray daily as it is a sheer necessity for me.  Yes, I know that it is good for me but I have come to notice that it is more than that.  I simply need it.

Just like many of you, when that calendar switched over to January, I was filled with optism and high expectations for myself. 

"I'm gonna do it this year and I'm going to make it a daily commitment."

I was off to a great start actually.  I couldn't sleep on New Year's so I got a jump start on my new Bible reading plan for the year and managed to get a good lead into it, even read a few days ahead!  But then ofcourse, reality and responsibilities settle in quickly and before you know it, I had ended a day and realized, oops, no Bible reading done today.

Shoot.

Well, I got back on the horse the very next day and have kept trying to plug away at it.  But I noticed something on those days when I didn't get my Bible reading in or when I didn't start my day off with the right amount of prayer time.  On those days, life was harder.  Anger and disappointment met me quite a bit quicker than normal.  My patience seemed even thinner than before and spiritual activity/thoughts struggled to even show up on the radar. 

The same thing happens with my prayer life.  A few months ago, a friend and I started calling each other in the mornings before we go to work.  We take just a few minutes and pray for the day.  Once in awhile, it doesn't work out for us to make that prayer call and I can tell a difference in my day.  Days when we make the call, I walk into work feeling focused, prepared and ready for whatever the Lord sees fit to bring me.  I'm usually calmer and more compassionate on these days and often, I notice more witnessing opportunities on these days.  But days when that phone call doesn't take place, well, it's just not the same.  I still pray on my way to work, when I think about it.  See, its easier to forget to pray or to let it slip because the accountability factor is gone.

I need to make time - every morning - and spend it with God in prayer and in His Word. I need it.

I can get discouraged easily. My natural reaction is to reach out to someone for encouragement but what I really need to do is go to God for that encouragement.

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Philippians 4:8

Spending time in prayer and in God's Word will help keep those kinds of things at the forefront of my mind. When my mind is filled with those good things, there won't be any room for discouragement, bitterness, discontentment, envy or any more of those vile and wicked thoughts that seem to always be ready and waiting to get my attention.