Enhancing the time you spend with God.
RECOGNIZE GOD
Experiencing God is an end in itself—to realize you are meeting with the Lord Almighty. To grow in this kind of devotion we can ask God what Moses asked in Exodus 33:18—”Show me your glory.”
Here are ways we can bring this recognition and adoration of God into our daily devotions:
—Meditate on one or more of God’s names or characteristics, such as Holy One, Almighty, Savior, good, merciful, compassionate.
—Meditate on God’s glory. Some helpful passages to consider are Isaiah 6:3, 1 Timothy 6:15-16, Revelation 1:12-16, and Revelation 20:11-21:4.
—Read a psalm of adoration and talk to God about what you find.
—Read a passage from the journals of a God-fearing man or woman, or from another devotional book.
ACCEPT YOUR CLEANSING
How often have you confessed your sins to God, knowing he hears and forgives you, but you never sense the cleansing? Perhaps it would help to imagine washing your face in the sink, and then watching as God pulls the plug, removing the dirty water and leaving only you—clean before him. The result is a praising, loving, forgiven sinner.
TAKE A STAND AGAINST SIN
Not only do we need to accept God’s cleansing and forgiveness, but we should make a stand with him in our fight against sin, since “without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). J. B. Phillips’ translation of Romans 12:9 is excellent advice: “Let us have a genuine break with evil and a real devotion to good.”
LISTEN TO WHAT GOD HAS TO SAY
Often we come to God in our devotions thinking, What do you have to say about ME today? We indicate to God what we want him to talk to us about, and we want to be able to make an application to prove to ourselves that we have met with him. God, however, wants to speak with us about himself—”Here am I, here am I” (Isaiah 65:1).
POUR OUT YOUR HEART TO GOD
Tell God what is happening in your life and let him know how you are feeling. David wrote, “Pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge” (Psalm 62:8).
Keep in mind, though, that self-analysis is not communion with God. When King Hezekiah received a letter threatening Jerusalem, he spread the letter out before the Lord and prayed about it (2 Kings 19:14-19). His prayer presented his problems not in a self-centered way, but in light of God’s supreme sovereignty.
One day God will be satisfied when we stand fully in his presence to worship him as he deserves. But even now he asks us to love him. This means spending time in daily worship, responding with heart and mouth to who he is, and listening to his every word with an eagerness to do his will.
T. Forbes
Intentional Faith 