Do you have things that you do every day? Is there a certain way and time(s) that you brush your teeth? Is there a day of the week when you grocery shop? Do you have a normal way that you go to and from work or school? Are you a coffee or tea person in the morning?
A little while ago, I read Atomic Habits and found it to be very helpful in terms of setting up routines, thinking about habits, planning to achieve goals, breaking bad habits, etc. As I read that book, I grew to appreciate all the more one of my daily routines: having my morning fellowship time with God. I always wanted to have this discipline in my life but struggled for many years to be consistent. Getting up early was my biggest challenge and trying to squeeze it into the day or do it at night before bedtime wasn’t happening.
Thankfully, about 20-25 years ago, when I came back from an overseas trip, I woke up early because of jet lag and the time change adjustment. I took the opportunity to have some Bible and prayer fellowship with God and this experience locked in for me the habit and daily routine of having a quiet time with God. Sometimes, these fellowship times are very deep, rich, satisfying, vibrant and illuminating. Other times, they can seem mundane. But my goal in keep these daily fellowships with God is intimacy and connection – such that God (Trinity) can have undistracted access to me, and I can be present with God in stillness and quiet before the day’s activities get going into overdrive.
Over the few decades that I’ve kept my daily fellowship with God, I’ve used a variety of strategies to keep engaged to facilitate conversation and connection with God. For example, there was a season when I routinely settled into the Lord’s Prayer, slowly sitting in each phrase to be attentive to what God would say to me as well as expressing my thoughts and feelings about that phrase. I’ve also enjoyed some wonderful intimacy with God through some more traditional practices like doing the Examen that the Jesuits use, doing Lectio Divina and some Bible memorizing, as a few examples.
I’ve been reflecting on the different strategies that I’ve employed over the years to help me maintain and experience intimacy with God. Often these various strategies have been very powerful, but I also know that methods and strategies can foster automatic behaviors and don’t always ensure personal engagement. I can go through the motions but not be fully present and connected.
As I’ve been thinking about this, it’s clear to me that what’s most important is the intimacy and connection I have with God. Methods, strategies, routines, plans have value when they are tools to help me be close to God. But when I don’t wholly participate with the tools, when the tool is like a toothbrush that I mindlessly employ to “check the box”, then I need to pause, have some purposeful dialogue with God and assess what needs to change or happen to keep our intimacy vibrant.
If you haven’t already, I’d encourage you to buy my book, “Hey God, Can We Talk?” It’s a really great resource to explore a deepening relationship with God!
Hey God, Can We Talk? Book | Marilyn and Sarah (netviewshop.com)
