What not to do during your time with God

A few days ago, I saw a video of a pastor telling a story about what he saw one day when he was at the mall parking lot at noon.

The Pastor was in his car ready to leave when suddenly a Muslim man parked close to him got out of his car with a rug.

The man placed the rug on the ground, bowed down and prayed. Right there, in the parking lot, in front of everybody.

It shocked the pastor to see the devotion of this young man, and this made him think about his own devotion to God.

I closed my eyes and pictured this man praising and worshipping in the parking lot. In the middle of his busy day, he didn’t allow anything to keep him from spending time with his God.

It made me think about all those times I have let my busy schedule take over my life and steal my time with God.

I haven’t been as devoted to God as He deserves.

I haven’t been devoted to God as I really want.

But I have decided to make Him a priority in my life again and spend quality time with Him every single day.

If you feel the same way as me and you are ready to step it up a notch with your Daddy God here a list that will help you know what not to do during your time with God.

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Do not make it a routine

Out of all the appointments we have, our daily appointment with God should be the most important. The one that we should look forward to the most.

Don’t treat your time with God as a chore. Do you think hanging out with your friends is a chore?

When we do it as a routine is called religion, and The Lord is not looking for religion but for relationship.

You don’t need a script to talk to your parents. So you don’t need one to talk to your Daddy God.

Let yourself be led by The Holy Spirit so that your time together will go as He planned and not as you programmed it.

Do not rely on your feelings

As a new creation in Christ, you should not be led by your feelings but by The Holy Spirit.

One day you feel the presence of God very strongly and another day you won’t feel anything at all.

One day you feel the excitement of spending time with God and the following day you feel too tired to do it.

One day you feel that you can do all things with Christ who gives you strength and the next day you feel like God doesn’t answer your prayers.

Stay on The Word of God because His Word is truth. It doesn’t matter what you see or how you feel, His word is truth, and will last forever.

Spend time with God daily, regardless of how you feel. Be faithful, be strong, be immovable, and don’t rely on your feelings.

Do not have an agenda

An agenda is a plan organized by time.

Let me give you an example:

30 minutes to be with The Lord= 10 minutes praying + 10 minutes reading the bible + 5 minutes meditating on the word + 5 minutes of praise and worship.

Don’t do this, don’t limit God.

If you have 30 minutes to devote to God, be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes God may want you to spend more time in His word or more time meditating and listening to what He has to say. Some days He may want you to pray longer and He will put people in your heart.

It’s OK to stay within your 30 minutes if that is all the time you have. But in those 30 mins let God lead you. Be sensitive, be open, be willing, and surrender yourself to Him because He knows what you need the most.

Do not allow distractions

Find a place where you can be with The Lord without distractions. I have a little space in my closet and also my office.

Wake up before the kids or wait until they take a nap or go to bed.

Do not bring your phone with you. Your phone will scream for your attention. Let this time be sacred to you. Not only are you talking to the King of Kings but also your spirit is getting stronger.

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 6:6

Do not let your mind wander around

One of the most important things you should not do during your time with God is to let your mind run loose.

Sometimes when I spend time with God, everything I have done or should have done in the last 39 years come to my mind. 😂

But God has given us the ability to focus on Him.

When I pray, I imagine that He is sitting next to me, this helps me stay in focus.

When I sing praise and worship songs to Him, I imagine that He is in front of me sitting on his throne.

Keep your mind focused on Him only. Give God your undivided attention. Leave your problems and your worries at His feet and focus on loving Him and spending time with Him.

Do not spend the whole time talking

When you spend time with somebody you don’t do all the talking, right?

A lot of prayers go unanswered because we don’t take the time to listen to what God has to say.

In your devotional time, always make time to listen to God. It’s also a great idea to have a pen and paper to write what He speaks to you.

This is a great teaching by Priscilla Shirer called Hearing God’s Voice. (Listen to it when you have a chance or while you are doing chores)

Do not use vain repetitions

When you talk to God talk to Him like you are talking to a parent or a friend. He doesn’t like rehearsed prayers that don’t come from your heart.

Remember, He wants a real relationship with you. Open up your heart to Him and be real.

And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

Matthew 6:7

Do not rush through it

Take your time and really enjoy being in God’s presence. It is an honor that we get to come talk to the Creator of all things and have Him speak back to us.

Be reverent of His presence because He is right there with you.

He deserves so much more than we can give Him. So when we give God our time, let’s do our best to give Him our best.

Do not rely on others

There are so many wonderful Bible studies out there and there is nothing wrong with using these resources.

But do not rely only on the revelation of others. Get your own revelation by digging in God’s word and have Him reveal His word to you.

The best Bible study is you, your Bible and your journal sitting down at Jesus’s feet.

Do not take God for granted

Do not get so used to God that you forget who He is.

Don’t take His love and grace for granted.

It is a great honor to spend time with Him. Let’s make Him a priority every day by choosing to take time to be with Him because He is the one that really matters.

If this list of what not to do during your time with God was a blessing to you, please share it with a friend or two. Every time you share, you help me spread the Kingdom of God across the Earth.