Holy Habits / Renewal

Five Minutes a Day

Who do you talk to every single day?

Verse of the Day

“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

Colossians 3:2

Today’s Devotional

I read something in a devotional recently that stuck out to me.  It pointed out how people who spend a great deal of time together tend to become more and more similar.  Which made me think.  My husband and I have many more of the same likes and dislikes than we did in the beginning of our marriage. The same is true of my really close friends.  Perhaps this is the reason that we are told in 1 Corinthians 15:33 that “Bad company corrupts good character.”  If we spend time with people who make ungodly choices, we will likely begin to rationalize making those choices ourselves.  God knows this about us.

As I think about the fact that humans will become like the people they are consistently around, it made me realize the importance of my new habit of meditation.  The more time I spend with God, the more like Him I may become.  And in meditation, the hope is that He will do the talking instead of me.

Think about someone you talk to every single day.  For me, that’s my husband.  Now think about what that relationship would be like if only one of you ever did any talking.  If I spend five minutes every day with my husband but I never gave him the opportunity to speak, it would be a lopsided relationship.

Please hear me:  I am not suggesting that we only need to spend five minutes each day with God.  I AM suggesting that as a spiritual discipline, spending at least five minutes each day learning to LISTEN to God, meditation is an avenue to make my relationship with God less “all about me”.  My guess is that some days our conversations will take longer.  Some days it will feel like a necessary “check-in”, which is still valuable simply because the relationship is valuable.  Some days one of us will have more words than the Other.  Hopefully, some days God will do all the talking and I will be willing and able to listen.

Communication is a bedrock tool in relationships. And I think I am pretty good at communicating with God.  I am learning that I still need lots of practice to give God the space to communicate with me.

Journal Prompts

Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.

How do you feel when someone always does all of the talking?  Do you do that with God?

How good are you at hearing from God?

Are you willing to take the time today to practice listening to God? For help with a 5 minute meditation technique, click here to read yesterday’s post.

I would love to have additional meditation techniques.  If you have a favorite, please email me at kristen@hungerthirst.net