How to Consistently Spend Time with the Lord

I personally feel like this is a big struggle in the Christian world today. Almost everyone seems to be struggling with prioritizing God and consistently spending time with Him every day.

I know it's difficult for me to keep my priorities straight. Don't let this post fool you and think that I follow these tips 100% of the time and that I have it all together. We aren't all perfect, but these are the things that I strive to follow and live out every day. It's a daily choice that I work towards. I wanted to share it with you all in hopes that you can get something out of it.

One reason is I think that we don't have our priorities straight. We have too many distractions in our lives and God is just another thing on our to-do list instead of at the top of our list.

A reason why I think distractions get in the way is that we often get too focused on worldly things. It's so easy to be consumed by everything going on around us and not keeping our eyes set on the things above. I know I am guilty of this.

It's hard to live for the kingdom and prioritize God when it's not the "norm" or not everyone is doing it.

I personally struggle with making it a priority to spend time with God every single day. I often feel guilty for "missing" a day, or when I get too busy for Him. I am here to encourage you and hopefully help to change your perspective on this topic.

God never wants you to feel guilt or shame when you don't spend time with Him. Yes, He will speak to you and tug at your heart whenever you don't spend time with Him. But, that is Him just lovingly calling you back to Him. He is never shaming you.

Here are a couple of tips that I think can help you to become more consistent in spending time with the Lord:

Tip #1- Spend time with Him first thing in the morning, even if you aren't a morning person.

Yeah, I know some of you cringed while reading that. Believe me, same. But, we can't use the excuse anymore of "well I'm just not a morning person." While Jesus was walking on earth, He got up early in the morning to spend time with His Father. He was the model that we should be following.

Mark 1:35 says, "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed."

I heard a pastor once say, "Musicians don't tune their instruments after the show. They do it before." We can't go out and about our day without having spent time with our Creator first thing in the morning. 

We have to spend time with the Lord when we first wake up. Our cup has to be full before we can pour into the people we will come in contact with that day.

Tip #2- We have to set a specific time, place, and location.

Make time with God a priority. Make an appointment with God, put it on your calendar. Go to it just like you would a scheduled meeting or a class. Be consistent in where you spend time with God and when. This will help you to build a routine and become consistent. 

Tip #3- Spending time with the Father shouldn't be just a mark off of our to-do list, but an essential part of our everyday lives.

You don't have to only spend time with God during your quiet time or first thing in the morning. He can be a part of your everyday lives ALL day long, and He should be.

I'm reminded of the verse that says to pray without ceasing. Now it's unrealistic to actually be "praying" non-stop all day long. But, what I take from this verse is to stay in constant communication with the Lord.

Let me explain. We can talk to God throughout the whole day. Whether we are in our car driving home from work or school, or walking around our college campus. We should be sensitive and looking for God moments and divine appointments during the day. God is constantly speaking and showing us ways to be a light to other people, but we often miss them. 

Tip #4- It is a daily choice

We should thank God for giving us the ability to have free will and make the choice on our own. If the Lord forced us to love Him and spend time with Him, then would it even be love? Love isn't forced, it's shown and given.

We love Him by going to Him in prayer and talking to Him. We then listen back to see what He has to say to us by reading His word. We have to daily choose to die to ourselves, He must become greater and we must become less.

In conclusion, no one is perfect. We are human beings who mess up, it's in our nature. But, we have a God who loves us and wants His children to come boldly to His throne of grace with confidence. He wants to spend time with us. Make a plan. Get a routine down. Make Him the #1 priority in your life. God wants to spend time with His children.

-Kayla