Be Still

Be still and know that I am God

So much easier said than done, isn't it? I have a hard time being still. My natural tendency is to go go go... I'm guessing I'm not the only one like this! My alone time with God is usually in bed when I pray for my family, for my friends, thank the Lord for the day etc., but there have been times in my life when I have been in the habit of speaking to the Lord throughout the day. It becomes so easy to talk to God like he's a friend sitting right next to me when I make it a habit to include him in every part of my day. When I'm driving I thank him for the view of the snowy mountains in the distance. When I'm reminded of people I automatically say a prayer for them. When I see people on the street who look cold/hungry/lonely I pray for them, when I'm happy I talk to the Lord, when I'm sad I talk to the Lord, when I'm afraid I talk to the Lord... he's always in the front of my mind!

About 9 months ago we were talking about this in a Bible study and I decided to be very intentional about carving out quiet time for myself with the Lord. I decided to set an alarm on my phone to go off every 4 hours throughout the day, and wherever I was I would stop and have a meaningful time with God (meaning not rushed, spending time talking to him but also just sitting in quietness to listen for his voice). The first time my alarm went off was at 8am. At the time my son was almost 3 and my baby had not yet been born. I put my little one in front of the t.v. and told him that I needed a few minutes of quiet time. I went in my room and closed the door. I sat down on the floor with my Bible and decided to start by reading a passage and then move on to prayer. I did my reading and then sat quietly with my eyes closed to allow the Lord to speak. I think my eyes were closed for about 30 seconds when my little one started knocking on the door. "Moooooom." Sigh. This was going to be harder than I thought! I took him back to the living room and tried again. I think I only got about 5 minutes total with the Lord but you know what? It felt good to start my day this way! The next alarm went off at noon. I was able to stop where I was at and say a long uninterrupted prayer. The 4:00 alarm went off while I was tutoring so that didn't quite work, but I made sure as soon as I got to my car to stop and have a moment with the Lord before I set out into rush hour traffic. My evening alarm went pretty much unanswered. Oops.

This challenge was a little harder than I thought it would be but I actually enjoyed it. My goal was/is to make a habit of talking to God throughout the day (not just before bed!), and finding times throughout the day to just BE STILL.