02 - Staying Spiritually Refreshed

The Second pothole which causes one to become spiritually dull, and out of tune with God, is that of spiritual laziness. This person seldom sets apart time to spend with God when alone and free from any distraction. This person may in fact be incredibly busy, but nevertheless their laziness is of a spiritual nature because they does not seek the presence of the living God. Learning to survive without coming to the Father each day, they have lost the value and priviledge of time spent alone with God. They have done exactly what the proverb warns us against, they have fallen into a deep sleep, 'laziness brings on deep sleep...an idle man will suffer hunger.' (Proverbs 19:15)

Time spent alone with God is not often easy to obtain, but it is an essential practise. We must learn to organise our time and not let ourselves become overwhelmed and over ruled by our busy schedules. Something of great value is not acheived without great effort and diligence, thus we must work diligently to forge this time spent with God. Jesus clearly instructs us as to the importance of this activity...'when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen' (Matthew 6:6). Jesus assumes that you ARE going to pray, and you ARE going to spend time with your Father.

There are many different ways as to go about conducting your own private time with God, however I would recommend that it be a combination of reading the word, time spent in prayer and a time of praise and thankfulness. Don't let your distractions beat you, let them fuel your time with God. The things you are most preoccupied about should become stepping stones into prayer, which can then lead you onto broader horizons of prayer.

You may be a very busy person or a person who leads a relatively steady, easy going life. It really doesn't matter...when was the last time you spent some time with Jesus.