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3 Quick And Easy Ways To Stay Focused During Quiet Time

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Inside: These 3 tips will help you stay focused during quiet time with God. No more falling asleep or being distracted during prayer or Bible study!

It was as if all the stars aligned that morning.

  • I actually woke up on time … relatively
  • My boys were happily entertaining themselves in their room
  • I even got out of the bed instead of hiding under the covers

I grabbed my Bible, journal and headed to the living room for some much needed time with God. I couldn’t wait to just sit down and enjoy some time in His presence.

There was just one problem …

I couldn’t focus. My mind was all over the place. I stared at the pile of laundry that still needed to be folded. I thought about all the errands that needed to be run that day. And for some reason, I suddenly couldn’t remember if it was time to get the oil changed in my car.

Distractions often derail the best-laid plans when it comes to time spent growing our faith and deepening our relationship with God. And they aren’t always things related to housework or the kids.

  • Sometimes there’s just so much going on that it’s hard to reign in our thoughts and emotions.
  • Our children are going through a tough situation and we are overwhelmed by the desire to help
  • We feel burden by the weight of all the evil going on in the world
  • There’s so much pain in our personal life that it’s hard to take a breath and look up for help

These 3 tips will help you stay focused during your quiet time with God. No more falling asleep or being distracted during prayer or Bible study!

3 Quick And Easy Ways To Stay Focused During Quiet Time

Whatever the reason or the cause we can’t allow distractions to keep us from the one thing that will help us find hope, peace and maybe even finally put that laundry away.

What are we to do when distractions come? Here are 3 things that have really helped me in the past.

1. Have a Plan

One the best ways to avoid being distracted is to have a plan. Knowing where you are going to have your quiet time, what you are going to study or pray about and having all your supplies in one place is a great way to get started.

Having a plan also helps to take the guesswork out of your time with God. No more decision fatigue. No more minutes wasted trying to figure out what to read when you open your Bible.

Related: How do I know what to study during my quiet time with God?

2. Reading and Praying Aloud

Confession: I have a bad habit of falling asleep while I pray. And sometimes I fall asleep face down in my Bible instead of reading it.

I have found that reading and pray aloud helps me to stay awake during my quiet time, especially if it’s evening after the boys have gone to bed.

One reason this is so helpful is that it helps with retention. As you are reading your Bible and saying the verse aloud it begins to take root in your heart. After an entire week of reading the same verses over and over again, you’ll definitely have it hidden in your heart.

Related: 3 tips for memorizing scripture

3. Dealing with Distractions as they come

Sometimes God will bring a person or situation to mind while you are studying and praying. This is not meant to be a distraction. Instead, it’s usually the Holy Spirit’s way of prompting you to pray for them.

Sometimes no matter what you do distractions will come. But all hope is not lost. Here are a few things you can do:

  • Pray and ask God help you stay focused
  • Take some time to do a brain dump before you get started. This will clear space in your mind and heart so that you can hear from God more clearly
  • When something interrupts your thoughts during your quiet time keep a scrap piece of paper nearby to jot those thoughts down. This way you quickly refocus but still have a list of things that need to be looked at later

The next time all the stars line up for your quiet time with God you’ll have a few tips to help you deal with any distractions.

Your turn: How do you handle distractions during your time with God?

7 Encouraging Bible Verses About God’s Love

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Inside: Do you have a longing in your heart to be loved and cherished? Here are some bible verses about God’s love to encourage you when you feel lonely or brokenhearted.

A few weeks ago we said goodbye to my mother-in-law after a long battle with cancer. It’s never easy saying goodbye to someone we love. I remember how hard it was when I lost my father to cancer 7 years ago. Truthfully, it’s still hard.

There is one moment that will stick with me forever from her funeral service. And I’ll get to that in just a moment. One thing that really resonated with me during that entire service was love.

Love for a wonderful woman brought so many people of different backgrounds and from all over the country together. As people shared some of their favorite memories of my mother-in-law there was a common theme: love.

They told of her love for others. Whether she was serving in her church, caring for her patients in ICU or just loving her family.

I saw our love for her. Hearts broken at the thought of not seeing her smiling face here on earth. Tears of pain and ache. But I also saw tears of joy. Joy that she was now healed, whole and living with the Father.

Do you have a longing in your heart to be loved and cherished? Here are some bible verses about God's love to encourage you when you feel lonely or brokenhearted.

And then came the moment that overwhelmed an entire church with love. My father-in-law sang a tribute to his bride. Something that took him almost a year to put together. Something he wasn’t sure he would have done in time. But it blessed every single person that was privileged to hear him play and sing that day.

I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for him to watch the woman he shared so much life with slowly fade away. Or how much of a labor of love it was to put together a tribute to her. To know that she wouldn’t be with him much longer but to want to do something to honor their life together.

It was beautiful. And there was no doubt about the love that was shared between them. It still brings tears to my eyes to think of that sweet moment.

And even in that painful and beautiful moment, I got to witness another act of love. When my son, wanting to be there for his grandpa stood beside him and simply placed his hand on his shoulder. A small gesture. But something that meant the world. His grandpa told him later that having him right there was what got him through the song.

When things began to calm down a little and I had a moment to reflect I began to wonder if anyone would ever love me that much. With two failed marriages to my name and having suffered the pain of domestic violence, I don’t know that I ever want to open myself up in that way again.

But that song made me pause and wonder if there would ever be anyone that felt that way about me.

Can you relate to that longing? That desire to be so important and cherished by someone else?

I have some good news for you (and for me) …

There is someone that loves and cherishes you just that much and more! He adores you and calls you beloved. And yes, he even sings beautiful words over you to tell you just how much he cares.

Who is this person? It’s God.

Do you have a longing in your heart to be loved and cherished? Here are some bible verses about God's love to encourage you when you feel lonely or brokenhearted.

7 Encouraging Bible Verses About God’s Love for You

The Bible is full of scripture after scripture telling about God’s love for his children. There’s a reason some call the Bible God’s love letter to us. From Genesis to Revelation God demonstrates His love for each of us. Here are a few verses to get you started (if you’d like more here’s a month-long reading plan and prayer calendar all about love):

John 3:16 – “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Psalm 5:11-12 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread your protection over them, that all who love your name may be filled with joy. For you bless the godly, O LORD; you surround them with your shield of love.

Romans 5:7-8 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Romans 8:38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.

Psalm 69:35-36 For God will save Jerusalem and rebuild the towns of Judah. His people will live there and settle in their own land. The descendants of those who obey him will inherit the land, and those who love him will live there in safety.

1 Corinthians 13:13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

Isaiah 54:10 For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,” says the LORD, who has mercy on you.

Get your free prayer calendar and reading plan for more encouraging Bible verses about God’s love

Why First Thing in the Morning is the Best Time for Prayer

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Inside: Prayer is an important part of your quiet time with God and spiritual growth. Here are 3 reasons why early morning prayer is a good idea plus a little trick to help you consistently get up earlier each day!

I was really going to do it this year. I was going to get up early so I could have my quiet time with God before the day started.

Yes, I made that same commitment every year before that, and yes I always fell short every single year. But this year would be different. I had a plan. And I knew I could stick with it.

  1. Go to bed early so I’m not dog tired when my alarm goes off in the morning
  2. Have all my supplies ready to go right next to the bed
  3. Exercise during the day so I’m good and tired when it’s bedtime so I’m not up all night thinking about all the things

It was a good plan. I followed it perfectly. And guess what?

I woke up the first morning and promptly went back to sleep. The second morning I woke up and made it through my quiet time. The third day it just didn’t happen.

Consistency gets me every time!

I bet if you’ve ever decided to get up early or spend more time in the word you’ve had the same struggle. Big changes like that are hard to do even when you have the perfect plan and the best motivation.

But hope is not lost!

I found a little trick that helped me be more consistent. Not perfect. But I am doing better at getting up and starting my day with prayer and Bible study. I still have to do all the other things on my list but this one thing this what helps me see the most success.

Ready for it?

I get out of bed when my alarm goes off.

Yep, that’s it. I kick the covers off and stand up. Once that happens I grab my prayer notebook and Bible. It’s a simple step but it packs a big punch.

Related: How to Set Goals that You Can Actually Stick to

Prayer is an important part of your quiet time with God and spiritual growth. Here are 3 reasons why early morning prayer is a good idea plus a little trick to help you consistently get up earlier each day!

Sometimes we get overwhelmed by big goals and too many steps. One way to get over that feeling of overwhelm is to find something that will give you quick win. Something that you can do in 30 seconds that will get you one step closer to your goal.

Why 30 seconds? Because it’s enough time to make progress but not enough time to talk yourself out of moving forward. And it’s something that’s easy to check off your to-do list. Which then motivates you to keep going so you can check something else off.

For example, if you want to floss every day. A 30-second task that you can commit to is flossing one tooth each morning. Why? Because if you floss one tooth you’re not going to stop there. You are more likely to finish the rest of your mouth.

So the challenge is to figure out what is that one thing that you can do every day to achieve your spiritual goals.

My goal is to start my day with prayer.

I know there can be some controversy about if you have to do quiet time at a certain time each day in order to be in God’s will. I don’t want to get into that but if you give me a minute I want to make a case for starting your day with prayer.

3 Reasons Early Morning Prayer is Best

1. Jesus did it

Our main goal as Christians is to be more like Christ. So it’s important to take our cue from Jesus when it comes to our quiet times.

Mark 1:35 NLT – Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.

Jesus rose early in the morning to have time to talk with this Father. I don’t believe that God is calling all of use to rise before daybreak to pray but I do believe that He wants to hear from us first thing in the morning.

Prayer is an important part of your quiet time with God and spiritual growth. Here are 3 reasons why early morning prayer is a good idea plus a little trick to help you consistently get up earlier each day!

2. It’s the perfect time to get instructions for the day

One thing that I pray for daily is that God will lead and guide our day. I’m not prideful enough to think that just because I have a plan in place that things will go smoothly. Remember my plan for getting up early?

Psalm 5:3 NLT – Listen to my voice in the morning LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.

God already knows what we will face that day before we even open up our eyes. Why not take a few minutes to ask Him what that plan is? Do you have a BIG day at work … God has a plan for that. Spending the day taking care of your little ones? God has a plan for that as well.

God’s plans are perfect. And if we simply take the time to ask Him about it, He’s willing to share with us the right path to take.

Related: How to pray during hard times

3. Sometimes we need a little encouragement to put one step in the front of the other

If I’m 100% honest many times the reason that I struggle to get out of bed in the morning had nothing to do with how tired I was. Or my laziness or lack of consistency. Most of the time I just didn’t want to get up and face the day.

Psalm 119:147 NLT – I rise early, before the sun is up; I cry out for help and put my hope in your words.

Starting the day with prayer …

Talking to God about what’s on my mind and heart helped me put one foot in front of the other. Because when things are as bad as it can get the only thing that we can do it cry out to God for help and for mercy.

I always feel better when I spend time talking to God. He promises comfort when we need it and He never fails to deliver.

Make the commitment to start your day by talking to God. Make it even sweeter by spending a minute or two in the Word. And don’t forget to find that one thing that you can do in 30 seconds to make sure you keep that commitment.

Your Turn: Do you pray first thing in the morning? Does some other time work better for you?