So, Where are Our Hearts? Taking a Look at Devotional Time with God

Devotion: n. love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person or activity (from The Oxford Dictionary)
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What does your devotional time with God look like?

​God wants to be as much a part of our life as He can be. He wants to find Himself on our minds and in our hearts from the moment we wake to the instant our eyes close in sleep. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to profoundly dedicate time to and with Him.
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​But how?
Lucky for us, that list is very long. Below are my favorites.
 
​-Read your Bible. Study. Take notes. Stop and pray as you feel moved to do so. Talk to God about what you learn in his word.
​-Read a daily devotional. Let the beautiful words of Billy Graham or the encouragement of Joyce Meyer guide your time with God.
​-Pray. Have a deep, quiet, intimate conversation with our Heavenly Father.
-Write down your prayers in a prayer journal.
​-Sing or listen to praise music. Let the soothing rythms and uplifting lyrics open your heart to God.
​-Study with a group. Find fellowship with like-minded men and women. Learn with them and through them.
​-Draw, doodle, illustrate Bible verses or prayer journals.

​I was taught that devotional time should be a quiet, private affair. I learned that it was about silent study of the Bible and deep prayer time. To this day, I still find these two things to be helpful in learning God's word and connecting to Him. But as I hear how others spend devotional time with God I realize that it can be so much more. I love shaking things up when it comes to my daily devotions with God. I don't like to be caught in a rut in which I feel less alive during those minutes with God than I do the rest of the day.

​As a mom, I admit to having to fight for my devotional time. My personality thrives on a quiet time with my Heavenly Father where I focus only on Him, but it is hard to fit a good block of that as I care for my husband and family. I’ve learned to get creative and self-disciplined. However, just as this season of my life is crammed with activity and demanding on my time and heart, it is for this reason that I need to grow with God. I need to walk with Him and learn His ways.
 
For most of us, the reason we haven’t found a way to do daily devotions is time. We feel we do not have the time for it. But we do. The Bible says that where our treasure is, there is also our hearts (Matthew 6:21). The things we treasure we find the resources to care for them, invest in them, and adore them. All of us can look back on our typical day and see many things we invest our resources in that do not include God.
 
So, where are our hearts? 
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My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways
Prvoverbs 23:26, NIV 

​How do you benefit from devotional time with God? Have you found a way to daily come into His presence?