Three weeks ago we kicked off a series in our large groups on campus asking the question how does God meet us in the midst of our brokenness? I've really enjoyed giving this series of talks.
The first week I talked about the fact that God uses prayer and Scripture as means of grace. These are some of the primary vehicles that God uses to meet us in the midst of our struggles. I challenged students to take their next step in spending regular time in Scripture and prayer with the Lord. For many of them, that means spending just two or three days a week, maybe 15-20 minutes a day with the Lord. And I encouraged them to celebrate that.
I've had several follow-up conversations with students asking some of the same two questions. I thought that the questions they've raised with me might be beneficial here:
1. "I want to spend time with God, but it feels odd/weird to set a specific time--too formal or structured. Why do I need to do that? I like just talking with God throughout my day."
The issue here is one of quality of interaction. It's one thing to interact with someone at church or during the work day. But if you really want to get to know someone or have a serious or in-depth conversation, you create intentional space to do so: coffee or a meal. The same thing is true with God. Of course we can talk with God at any point during our day. But it's an entirely different level of interaction to carve out intentional space to be with God, to listen and to speak. A real-time encounter with God requires real, intentional, time.
2. "What do I do?"
I get this question from first-timers and from folks who have tried to set aside intentional time before to be with God and don't feel like they're getting anything out of it. There's no one-size-fits-all formula for quality time with God (I'd encourage everyone to take the Sacred Pathways test to find out how God's wired you specifically to meet with him) but here's what I do:
Two props: a journal and a Bible (not important in that order). I journal every single day that I spend time with the Lord, all of my prayers. Not everyone digs writing, but I think most of us need some way to process the stuff that's in our heads. I'm a big external processor, so I pretty much have to either journal or verbalize it--given those options, using a journal keeps me from getting strange looks at Barnes and Noble.
Journalling helps to slow me down. I'm a fast processor, and part of the challenge for me in spending time with God is to be less efficient, more open, more lingering. I could pray faster if I just did it in my head. But journalling forces me to slow down, to be rather than just get it done.
First off, I do a verbal vomit in my journal of anything I'm thinking about coming into my time with God. This helps me to bring it before Him and it frees me up to receive whatever He has for me during this time--whether it relates to my issues or not. I usually do this in five minutes or less.
Then, I read a passage of Scripture. I'm always working through a book of the Bible (context is key). I usually read one NIV (or NRSV) sub-heading a day, almost never more than a chapter a day. I was working through Luke for a while. I'm switching to 1 Peter because I might be using that for Small Group Leader Training that I'm doing in May. If you're just getting started, I'd encourage you to start with a short New Testament book (Phillippians, Ephesians, or 1 John).
I try to do good Inductive Bible Study: Observe (what does it say?), Interpret (what does it mean?) and Apply (what does it mean for me?). I'm looking for a word, a phrase or an image that seems particularly striking--you can see some of that in a couple of last week's posts.
I then take that word, image or phrase and try to use that to frame, color, or shape my prayer time back in my journal. Last week I journalled for a while about the whole "healed on the way" image. I prayed for myself using that language as much as possible in the various places where I know that I need healing. I usually will then take that image or word or phrase and pray it for other situations or people that I'm praying for. This integrates my prayer life and my time in Scripture in a more cohesive way rather than segmenting the two.
It's always tricky to talk about this stuff, simply because everyone's different, but maybe this will spark some other thoughts for those of you who struggle to do this or need some help getting started. These are just some thoughts for folks who might be asking some of these same questions. If you've got other questions that I might be able to help with, please do ask!
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