My Spiritual Journey

I think we all go through different seasons in our walk with the Lord. Sometimes we need intense study, sometimes we're holding on for dear life, sometimes we just immerse ourselves in prayer and meditation. There's a time for all of it as we walk our journey with the Lord.

The past 6 months I've been in a season of survival. I always get that way after having a baby. I immerse myself in prayer throughout the day and short tidbits of scripture to fill my mind with truth; however there is very little structure or rhythm or goal-setting. If I were to do that, my time with the Lord would simply become something to check off. Instead I know that it takes me about 6 months to get back to normal after having a baby and so during that 6 months, I am way informal in my time with the Lord.

But its now been 6 months and I'm feeling the push from the Lord to no longer just float through life. I know he's calling me back into structure so that I have the disciplines set up that He can use to teach me and change me.

This past week, I've gone from just reading short scripture passages to reading through an entire book. I've been stuck in Isaiah this week. For some reason I can't put it down. It has been speaking truth in my life like crazy and giving me tons to think about and meditate on.

I've also decided to try to deepen how I meditate on scripture. In the book Meditation by Jim Downing, he suggests that you begin your personal time of worship right before you go to bed. You read the Psalms or whatever you usually read first in the morning right before you go to bed. He suggests that by doing this, you're allowing your subconscious to meditate on that scripture all night while you're sleeping. Then when you wake up, you're already familiar with the passage and can begin to experience deeper personal worship times in the morning. So here's to trying new ways to meditate!

Goals:

• No TV at night this week. I want the last thing my mind to think about to be God's word instead of CSI or Law and Order =)
• Read through a chapter of Psalms before my head hits the pillow at night
• Continue to read through Isaiah every day this week
  

I know goal setting and structure isn't for everyone and it definitely has its seasons where its not useful to me, but now is the time where God has called me back to structure so that He can use it to teach me and draw me closer to Him. Pray I make the transition back into spiritual discipline quickly. As I tell my kids, I want to obey right away, all the way, and with a happy heart =)