How to spend time with God and enjoy His presence
Do you know how to spend time with God? Do you battle the distractions when it's time to enjoy his presence? In the past spending time with God felt like a chore, an obligation or duty to fulfill. The bible felt vague and I didn't understand why he did many of the things he did.
I know how hard it can be worshipping or loving someone you don't 'get' no matter how good people try to make it look.
People are often afraid of what they do not understand. So when the word spiritual or God is mentioned, they tend to shy away from it because it feels so far away or reserved for spooky or select people.
But one thing I know about loving God is that we must be willing to start small and have an open mind.
We were made to discover and know Him. So we must know enjoy spending time with God until it becomes our new 'natural'
To spend time with God, understand that God can be known and loved
A mind shift (renewed mind) is one of the first thing that enables you to spend time with God and begin to enjoy His presence.
You need to understand that Man was created a spiritual being before the fall so it's spiritually healthy to walk as spiritual people.
There's nothing like being too spiritual. We were made to be spiritual! The world is trying to rob us of our real identity so we can focus more on the visible.
The world will keep trying to numb us down to be less than what God created us to be. But I'm here to tell you that you were created to be more than a mere man.
You were designed to live for more than food, bills, work, sex and anything else that’s visible to the natural man.
You've been called to be something greater so you must NOT find consolation in being less. This is where you must figure out your identity/purpose and desire it above anything else.
I know not all of us are very good with the spiritual lingua and we tend to give up when we fail at it.
But we must try again until we attain perfection.
Growing up, I used to feel being spiritual required some things I may not fit into, but it’s because I had little or no understanding of what being spiritual meant.
But now I know because I spend time with God and tell myself to enjoy it. So don’t be discouraged when you start learning about God. For anyone willing to discover God's heart, you will see how beautiful and loving He is.
For he not only gave us His Son, but placed a badge of the Holy-Spirit on us.
Isn’t that awesome?
Being spiritual is when we follow the HolySpirit's leading above ours. That's all it takes.
One of the ways of becoming spiritual is to enjoy spending time with God and craving it above all else.
Remember you’re talking with the One who loves you the most
God loves you more than you love yourself, even more than your spouse, parents or friends could ever love you.
Our ability to comprehend this truth strengthens us to engage him every day and incline our hearts to do His will.
God wants you to talk to him. Wouldn’t you enjoy talking with someone who has loved you with an everlasting love? I'd rather do so than spend time chasing things and people who don’t love me so much.
The world promises false love and will only keep stealing from you till it leaves you empty, but God offers benefits.
You gain so much as you interact with His Spirit inside of you.
Your soul flourishes like a tree planted by the rivers of water- Jeremiah 17:8
Your fellowship with God places you so high above the world. As you grow in Him, you begin to discern between good and evil and make the right decisions in life.
When there’s a casting down, you will be celebrating a lifting up because you’re finally accepting your status as a spiritual being in synchronization with a Spiritual God.
Pray in tongues more
I used to find prayer a chore when I hardly prayed in tongues. I would run out of what to say because I was so limited by my understanding of thing and prayed according to my will.
Now don’t get me wrong. I still pray in my understanding, but praying in tongues is a gift from God which should be maximized.
It’s scriptural and as a believer, you should desire it.
Praying in tongues enables me to enjoy spending time with God. Because the HolySpirit is helping you pray, it serves as a great help. We don't know what to pray and how to do so, but God is such a faithful and loving God he provided assistance through the Holy Spirit.
Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Immerse your soul in Christ-centric music
As we draw closer to God, it reflects in our music choices. I used to feel comfortable listening to secular songs in the past, but now I don't feel the same.
Listening to secular songs overtime made it a little difficult for me to enjoy God and flow in the spirit.
The evidence that we are enjoying God is when our spiritual taste buds change.
Music is so powerful it can upset or brighten up our spirits. So we must be careful with the things we take in.
A Christ-centric gospel puts Christ and not self at the center. It also helps your hearts to soften towards God, especially when the world has thrown so much garbage at us.
As children of God, we must take caution and be alert always.
I’ve noticed that listening to spirit inspired music helps my heart to magnify God and remember his goodness. On days when I can’t see it or understand His will, I remind my soul of his goodness.
Misty Edwards has been my recent favourite. She's been on my repeat playlist. You should check her out on Spotify or Youtube.
Doing this makes it easy to pray in the spirit when I’m listening to godly songs that edify my soul.
Just the way we have flu flying around in the physical, we also have spiritual flu and viruses flying around. It’s unsafe to walk around carelessly without guarding our hearts and minds. So we must be ready to arm ourselves with the helmet of salvation and breastplate of righteousness.
Look for Christ in Scriptures
The bible isn’t a storybook BUT a map to God guided by the Holy-Spirit. We are on a treasure hunt. God is the treasure and we are the adventurers.
It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.
Proverbs 25:2
The more we seek him out from the Word, the more we are greeted by wonder. Like children beholding the face of their King.
Christ can be found in the Old Testament and the New Testament. It is only when we keep seeking him above ourselves that God unveils him to our souls.
If we have this mindset of seeking God above all else and vanity, it will help us enjoy bible reading better.
We would enjoy spending time with God better because it’s a refreshing and soul restoring experience.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul;
Psalm 23:2-3
When we want to read the bible, we must forget everything we've ever known and come as children.
We must be ready to drop our worldly mind, fearful mind, hollywood mind, business mind, feminist mind, and every other mind that keeps exalting itself against the knowledge of God's word.
We must come empty so He can fill us afresh. Our human wisdom will stand in the way of God's own wisdom and hinder us from enjoying God to the fullest.
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and BECOME as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven
Matthew 18:3
Journaling Scriptures
Journaling is a two way street. As much as it serves as a release for our thoughts, we must be eager to take in God's thoughts too.
Journaling God's word to me has helped me in my fellowship with God. Writing down the things he shares about Himself makes me feel fulfilled and reminds me that I'm not alone.
It used to be about me in the past, but now I I just want to know Him. Knowing Him fascinates me. It makes my existence worth it.
It's okay to write our heart out to God anytime! But we shouldn’t make it the focus of our prayers. Spiritual growth makes us see beyond our noses.
Enough about me. I want to know how God ticks. What about you?
God knows everything about you. So it’s time to start filling your journal about everything God is telling you of Himself. The Holy-Spirit is here to tell you about the Father.
That’s his job.
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come
John 16:13
There’s just this light that floods my soul when I discover something new about God. It’s so exciting that I’m torn between sharing it with my God-chaser friends or tucking it in my heart for pleasure.
That’s what the Life of God’s word does. It prepares our hearts so that when God sends his will, we are eager to obey.
I hope this post inspires you to enjoy spending time with God. He's everything your soul was made for and more!
Bloom with Love. Xx!