Making Priority Time

This weekend, I'm talking about building on the basics in order to get started on the Big Dream God has for your life. The basics of our faith journey, prayer, reading the Bible (and doing what it says), being in community and continuing to serve are all a part of being prepared to hear and live out God's dream for you life.

Spending time reading God's word and praying every day is a habit that all effective Christians work to include in their lives. So, if you are going to make reading reading the Bible part of your day, here's some tips and an outline of how to make the most of your time.

Tips for a Priority Time with God:

• Schedule it. Put it in your calendar, set an alarm on your phone, make an appointment to sit down with God's word each day.
• Make Priority Time your best time. If you are a morning person, set it in the morning. If you're best at night, set it for night time. Give your best time to connecting with God. (Personal note: I'm a night owl by nature, but I try to have my Priority Time in the morning because if I don't do it first, the rest of my day can crowd it out. Just saying.)
• If you miss, don't beat yourself up. Like a meal, if you miss one, eat twice as much next time! Don't get down if you miss a day, just pick it up the next day and keep rolling.
• Read straight through. Don't dip-and-skip through the Bible, and don't just read your favorite parts. read systematically, through a book front to back.
• Some starting points: Start with the book of John, or Ephesians, or James in the New Testament. If you prefer, Genesis, Joshua, or Nehemiah in the Old Testament.
• Get a partner. If you have someone to talk to it about and help encourage you, it makes it easier. Get someone from your Growth Group (hint hint) to read with you, and share what you're learning.
• If prayer puts you to sleep, write it down. I suffer from the ADD, so in order to keep focused, I write down my prayers. It also lets me come back and read it later to see how God is answering my prayers.

How to structure a Priority Time: the 10 minute starter version

1 minute: Pray. Take a moment to slow down, focus and ask God to teach you something from His word today.

4 minutes: Read. Read until you come across something you feel God is saying to you. It's not about coverage, it's about hearing from God in your life.

2 minutes: Think. What is God saying in His word? Is there something to do, a truth to live by, a mistake to avoid, a promise to claim? Think about what God is saying and what you are supposed to learn from it.

2 minutes: Pray. Ask God to help you apply what you've just read, then pray for anything else that is important to you for the day. (Ask God to show you His dream for your life!)

1 minute: Thank. Thank God for His word to you, and for the lessons you are learning. Thank Him for anything else you are grateful for.

10 minutes is a great start, but as you get some momentum to this habit, you can spend more time, but remember: whatever you can do to spend time in the Bible is time well spent.

If you have tips or hints that make Priority Time work in your life, post a comment and share! If you're starting up the habit, let us know and we'll pray for you! Come get started on the basics for the dream.