Hello friends! I hope 2022 has been amazing for you! In my last post I spoke about how I could sense a shift taking place in my life. Because of that, I knew I needed to be as closely tuned in as possible in order to clearly hear God speaking to me. One of the changes I made was choosing to remove myself from certain social media platforms. I do have a third-party app that will allow me to post to my business pages without logging on. But I really felt like I needed to take some time away from scrolling and focus that extra attention on intentionally building my relationship with God and being in a position where I could hear Him clearly.

I’m the type of person who gets easily distracted. As I create this post, I have 9 other tabs open on my computer. Sometimes in church or while listening to a sermon, I may get a text or an email and I want to check it right away. I may remember something I need to add to my grocery list or I need to message an old classmate “Happy Birthday” although we haven’t actually spoken in years. I was recently presented with the question, “What is your etiquette when you come into the presence of God? Is your phone in your hand?” Oop. This question really made me think about where my attention is and how sincere I am when I’m supposed to be spending time with God. I had to start leaving my phone in another room.

Stephanie Ike shared a story about how she attended a worship event in college and while she was there, God showed her something. The people at the event were on their phones, laughing, talking, etc. There were angels in the room who were standing, waiting to deposit different things to the people. But the angels ended up leaving the room without depositing what they came to give. This story really made me think about my posture and my body language. I say I want to hear from God, but am I truly in a position to receive?

I’ve realized that sometimes other things I desire can actually be keeping me from hearing from God in the way I say I want to. At church one Sunday the pastor mentioned how sometimes we know we haven’t spent time with God, but we choose to binge-watch a new favorite Netflix show instead. I was thinking wow, he’s really in my business 😂. But seriously. How can I ask God to speak to me, then pray for a few minutes and move along to the next thing?

As I practice being more intentional with my time with God, I encourage you to join me! Here are three things I’m implementing in effort to be more intentional.

1. Schedule Time. While some people wake up before sunlight to spend time with God, others do it on their lunch break or at night before bed. What matters is that you implement scheduled time with God into your daily routine. Consistency will build intimacy.
2. Pray Out Loud. As I mentioned, I am easily distracted. Praying out loud helps me to focus on what I’m saying and I also feel as though I’m praying with more authority and conviction.
3. Journal. I feel like I’m reading my Bible more intentionally when I’m actually taking notes. When I write down what resonates with me, I’m more likely to remember it. If you’re looking for a new journal, I actually created some that I recently published to Amazon (the cool new announcement I mentioned last post). Here’s the link!

Building and maintaining intimacy with God requires intention. James 4:8 tells us to draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. In His presence is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). When my faith starts wavering or life feels overwhelming, I can almost always point back to being spiritually dehydrated in some way.

On my 27th birthday last year, someone gave me the task of writing out 27 scriptures for my new year. She told me to put my name in the scripture to make it more personal. My challenge for you today is to find at least 20 scriptures that will encourage you and build your faith in this current season. Put your name somewhere in the scripture and pray them out loud every day. I promise, it makes such a difference!