Daily Time With The Lord

I have a question for you?

Do you struggle with your daily devotions?

Is it hard at times to know what verse or verses the Lord would have you to read and meditate upon for the day?

Does your mind wander as you are attempting to pray for the needs of others?

Do you end up wasting more time trying to find a devotion to read for the day than you actually do reading God’s Word and praying?

Are you frustrated at times due to a limited capacity of reading The Word of God due to physical infirmities?

When it comes to your quiet time with the Lord, do you desire for it to be the most important part of your day, yet you find yourself just spinning your wheels?

Wow, my one question turned into six!

And it even sounds like the beginning of a great infomercial!!

And YES I DO have the solution to your problem!!

Just stay tuned for the answer!!

Since chronic illness entered my life several years ago, my daily devotional time has been very diverse.

What I did depended on how I was feeling.

Some days I could write out a chapter or two from one of the books of the Bible.

Other days it may have just been a few verses.

Some days I would read from one of my favorite devotional books.  

Some days when my symptoms were flaring, I would listen/watch a sermon or simply listen as the man inside my phone read the Bible to me!

However, over the past few months, I realized that I was becoming quite frustrated.

You see, due to my symptoms flaring more often, I usually need to lay down in the afternoon to rest.

Since I don’t get up at the crack of dawn, again, due to my illness, it doesn’t leave me with a lot of time between getting up, showering, eating, doing laundry or cooking, if I feel up to it, and doing my devotions.

I found myself wasting so much time jumping from one devotional to another.

From one sermon to another.  

From one book of the Bible to another.  

I ended up accomplishing nothing, except feeling overwhelmed!

Not being fed from God’s Word because I was too busy trying to figure out what to read for the day.  

And by that time, I was fortunate if I could get out of my mouth, "Father, thank you for this food”, since it was time for lunch.

The days I’m living in now call for simplicity and having something ready and waiting for me.

Well, the Lord brought that "something" into my life through a Mother’s Day gift from one of my beloved adopted daughters!  She’s not really my adopted daughter, but in my heart of hearts she most definitely is!

Neither she, nor I, had any inkling that this particular gift would simplify my quiet time with the Lord, and yet make it so much more fulfilling and enriching!

So what was this amazing gift?

It's a prayer journal!

But not your “everyday run of the mill prayer journal!"

This particular prayer journal has everything I need for my time with the Lord placed on ONE page!!

Like I said, simple yet in-depth!

The name of the journal is, "Quieting Your Heart 6-Month Prayer Journal" written by Darlene Schacht!  

Darlene is otherwise known as, "The Time-Warp Wife!"

She has a fabulous website which features LOTS of goodies.  

A few weeks ago, I downloaded the free Philippians Bible study.  

It's a WONDERFUL study! 

If you click the link below, it will take you directly to her website.

http://www.timewarpwife.com

Oops, sorry for chasing that rabbit.

Back to the prayer journal!

Reasons why I really, REALLY like the "Quieting Your Heart 6-Month Prayer Journal"

• There is a section entitled, “Lord teach me to…"  This makes me stop and truly be still before the Lord and ask Him what He wants me to learn from Him and APPLY into my life for that specific day. 

• There is a Bible verse for each day.  I look the verse up in my Bible, even though it’s written in the journal.  That way I can read the verses which are before and after, and I can put the daily verse in context.

• Everything is condensed on one page!

• Of course there is a portion for prayer requests!

• A section to write a prayer to the Lord.

• A special decorative box to record the date!

• Each page includes a picture of a whimsical bird which you are free to color if you so desire, and, yes, I so desire!

• There's plenty of empty space around all of the other sections which I use to write TONS of praises!

Please excuse my amateur photography skills, but I wanted to give you a few snapshots of what exactly is inside this fabulous prayer journal!!

I can honestly say that since I have begun using this journal, my time with the Lord has “skyrocketed”!  

I'm no longer frustrated and wasting time trying to figure out what verses to read or hunting for a prayer list, because this way I pray as the Lord leads and for those He specifically lays upon my heart for that particular day!

I can easily spend well over one hour in this journal and it seems like it’s only been ten minutes!  

The time flies, and I LOVE it!

When it comes to my time to pray for others, I DO break out my Crayola Twistable Colored Pencils!  

YES, I color while I'm praying!  

It may not work for everyone, but it sure does work for me!  

It helps me keep my focus on praying!  

My mind doesn't wander while I'm coloring and praying at the same time!  

In fact, I found as I'm praying (and coloring!), the Lord puts many more people upon my heart to pray for than just those I have listed on the page for that day!

So if you're like me, and you need simplicity in your life, but long for a close walk with the Lord at the same time, I would highly recommend purchasing a copy of "Quieting Your Heart 6-Month Prayer Journal".

You can purchase the prayer journal through amazon.com.  

The cost for the journal is $8.99 plus shipping and handling, but it's worth every single penny and it will last you six months!!

As a side note.  There's also a "Quieting Your Heart 6-Month Bible Journal".  Of course this is different from the prayer journal which I'm talking about.

The Bible journal is for taking notes as you read your Bible, for writing out verses, etc.  I just didn't want you to be confused when you go to order the prayer journal.  

You may just want to order BOTH of them!!  

He walks
with me
and
He talks
with me
and
He tells me
I am
His own!

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May God Bless You,

Barb