when God answers

In case you didn't know, and I can't remember if I wrote about this or not before or during Christmas, I was in a bit of a slump with my quiet times pretty recently.  I think it started when we got Chip, our newest pup, because he would wake up at three or four every morning, I would get up with him and then just fall back to sleep on the couch with him in my lap.  Because of all that, I am so sad to say that my quiet times were almost nonexistent for a few weeks. 

And then one day, it just dawned on me that I had let that go.  (It can seriously happen to any of us, and we have to guard that time like nothing else.)  I was in a bad mood more often than not while I was at home, I was tired, I think I may have been even a little down in the dumps.  (I wouldn't say "depressed", but definitely just down and very discouraged.)  I will add here that this is where the enemy most loves to work against us in our lives.  I don't like to give him too much credit, but when he sees that we are not firmly planted and rooted in the word of God, he will definitely attack us in ways that can only be described as spiritual warfare. 

When I started back, I had to pray and ask God to help me.  I had gotten out of the habit, and to stick with it again and start fresh, I desperately needed His help.  Throughout this time, I would still pray and worship the Lord, though, because how could I not?  But I would pray and then I wouldn't follow through with the obedience part.  Or I would read the bible and skip the prayer part.  It was all very scattered, though.  I would read for a day, and then I would skip three. 

But the Lord is always so good, and He did help me.  I wasn't very consistent with the time of day that I would do this, but I figured something was better than nothing.  Once I let go of the time of day, it got easier.  My new normal right now is that I get up super early to deal with the dogs.  This morning I was up at 4:30, because bless Chip's small bladder.  (We all went upstairs by 11:30.)  I always fall asleep with him again an hour or two, then I get up and feed them, have coffee, turn on the news, and right as the boys are all waking up, I am sitting down to have quiet time.  I am fully awake by then and I am able to grasp more of what I am reading in the bible at this later time.  I pray throughout the day, all day long off and on, but I concentrate the most on this before I start reading the bible.

The reason I share this is because I know this happens to everyone.  Maybe someone needs to be encouraged today.  Maybe it's something you've been neglecting as well, or maybe you're being too hard on yourself about this and being all legalistic on times and places that you sit and read and pray.  I was that way too!  Legalistic, I mean, because I was used to getting up early, getting my coffee, and then sitting down right away to pray and read.  But then real life hit when the new puppy came, and it all flew out the window.

Don't give up, though; the enemy wants you to do that, and nothing would please him more.  I once did a bible study on the armor of God by Priscilla Shirer, and in that she suggested that our prayers are what is holding off the battle going on in the heavenly realms that we don't see.  I believe that with everything in me; as much as the bible talks about praying continually, I know those words are there for a reason.  If this is you, if you need some help, or if you have a question about where you could start in this, will you please reach out to me?  I'll include my email, so you don't have to comment for others to see.  It's allboys@gmail.com.  A lot of you are friends in real life, so text me!  Or message me on Facebook.  I don't claim to know a lot about anything, but I know what it is like to struggle in this, and I am full of good ideas that others have handed down to me over the years.  I promise, I can give you some suggestions. 

I would love to help you out with this, and point you along in this way.  The one thing I can say now, for you to start, is to ask God to help you.  If you know you SHOULD BE doing this and don't have the desire to do so, ask Him for the want to.  I've prayed that very thing myself, and many times.  And I'm sure that some day in the future, I will pray it again.  I promise, He will answer you in this prayer, because He wants us to know Him more and He wants us to want more of Him.  And we get that by praying and in reading His word. 

Thanks for reading today.  I pray that the Lord uses this and encourages the ones He means for it to reach.  Love to all.