Quiet Time

The past two days devotionals on Purpose Driven Life (http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/en-US/FreeTools/devotional/archivedDevos/DevoArchive.htm) have been about establishing a daily quiet time with God. For the past year, I have been journaling my prayer rather than just talking to God. Although I must admit that I have missed days and even whole weeks of journal entries, for the most part, I have been consistent in my quiet time. It has made a huge difference for me personally. Since I am at my best in the morning, I take my shower, get my coffee, sit at my desk with pen in hand and start my prayer. Some days, the prayer goes somewhere totally unexpected. Some days, honestly, I just get it done and move on to the next thing on my "to do" list. But every time I write, I am being connected to God in a way that I wasn't when I was talking to him. My prayer life used to consist of hurried prayers throughout the day. When I would try to concentrate on prayers, I would often get distracted. By writing my prayers down, I get less distracted and in the end, it works for me. I liked the lists on the PDL devotionals because many people think that starting and maintaining a prayer life will be hard. My list for my quiet time is different in some respects, but it works for me. Here are my suggestions:

• Commit to start, and then do it.
• Pick your best time of the day. (For me, it means getting up 1/2 hour early.)
• Have no distractions. (Close the door and let others know it is your time.)
• If you have never journaled your prayers, start. You can use a journal or a notepad. Don't worry about grammar, spelling, or flow, just write your thoughts to God.
• Go where you feel led, don't limit the process.
• Don't set a time limit - some days your prayers will be short, some days will be longer.
• Pour out your heart to God, don't worry about what others would think if they stumbled onto your journal.
• If you skip a day, or a week, don't give up. Pick up the journal and start again.
• Look back over your prayers every once in awhile to see what God has been teaching you and to see the prayers he has answered.

Thanks to Carson Valley Christian (http://www.cvcwired.com/) and Pastor John for getting me started on my own journey of a prayer journal. It has changed my life and the growth I have and am experiencing is the deepest I have had on the journey called life with Christ.