Spending time with God

Time with God – there is no substitute
His week I had the pleasure again of two days set aside to pray and fast and seek God on my friends boat. Moored in the Blyth Estuary 30 minutes from my home town it is a place far from anyone except God.
I have found as life gets busier and the things I seek to do for God increase in number and importance. To let such times get squeezed out by business is very foolish and short sighted. To have two days of prayer and study requires good planning and a schedule to stick to. I owe a lot to the Navigators and to authors like Richard Foster and his classic book ‘celebration of discipline’. As a young Christina this book and the disciplines of bible meditation taught by heroes of mine like Warren and Ruth Myers of the Navigators put capacity in me from an early age to get up early and seek God with a bible and journal and meditate over sometimes small portions of scripture like a verse or even a line from the psalms. I learnt to listen to God and hear God and feed on Scripture without the aid of anything else. This is a priceless discipline. In our instant and fast food culture where everything is ready made just assemble easily yourself. To learn to hear God from the scriptures in solitude and silence. To learn to pray in tongues for a prolonged time. To pray in the Spirit with all kinds of prayers and requests these are the anvils upon which God’s purposes in and through us are hammered out.
As I began my time on the Boat I was praying and meditating and worshipping God through Psalm 12 Verse 6 says ‘the words of the Lord ‘the word of the Lord came to me’ to hear God speak to be aware of his counsel and direction and affirmation and promises, cannot possibly be bettered by any other experience. Nothing can give such confidence and certainty or courage. I began my time by thanking God he would speak to me whilst I was on the boat seeking him. I began thanking him for all the ties he had spoken to me. I began by telling him that all I ever need is to hear his voice of command and promise and whatever he says I will do, whatever he promises I cannot but trust him for. Once he has spoken sure pure words that cannot ever be false. Nothing can stand against his promises.
I want to encourage you to learn the disciplines of meditating on Scripture. Let the pure words of the Lord shape and direct your life and character.
With so much to do, the stakes are too high to try to do it without hearing from God.