A spiritual plan.

It is as critical to living as breathing, as necessary as water and air. And yet few Christians - pastors included - don't struggle with carving out a time-slot from our busy lives to spend time with the Lord through prayer and Bible study. Something always seems to get in the way, and even good things can keep us so busy that we gloss over the most important thing- our relationship with Jesus.

One of the few things that I recall from visiting my grandparents was their daily devotional time. I'll never forget watching my Grandma, white-head bowed over her Bible, pouring herself out over the Words of God.  She with her cup of hot water, and Grandpa with his grapefruit. Nothing between them but their open Bibles and open hearts. Perhaps it was easier because they were  retired, or perhaps not. But I hope to cultivate such a strong habit in my life that my children and my children's children want that daily devotional time, too. I hate to admit it, but it's hard for me  to accomplish.

My life is busy, as yours is as well- I have a husband, small children,  ministry, writing, and teaching. Family and friends and bills and dirty clothes and a thousand other things all demanding my time and attention. And I am almost never alone in this phase of life with small children in need of love and attention. So where do I begin? How do I create space in my day for the most important Person?

A professor of mine in seminary, Dr. David Earley, had an idea that I return to when my spiritual life begins to wane. He taught me that if I want to grow in my relationship with God, I need to have a plan. In his class, we practiced creating and using 2 to 4 week spiritual growth plans. I tried and failed, tried and failed, and I even failed some more, but even my failed plans took me further than I would  have been if I had no plan at all.

Dr. Earley suggested that we use our plan at first to increase the time we spend with The Lord. Where am I right now and where do I want to be in 2 weeks? How do I get there?  How much time do I spend with The Lord? How much time would I like to spend? What is a realistic increase for the next few weeks? Do I use a reading plan or a prayer model? These should be incorporated in the plan, he shared. And then we pulled out our calendars and scheduled the plan. A consistent time and place was the ideal means of making our plans stick, but that wasn't always practical. I tried getting up at 4am, and found out that didn't work at all. So I changed around meetings and work schedules, weaving in a little time here and there. When I finished a plan, I evaluated where it had taken me and then created a new one. I felt like most of my plans failed, but still my relationship with my God grew.

I believe God rewarded my efforts to know Him better, to hear His voice, and to love Him more.  The more time I spent with Him, the more I wanted to be with Him, whether sitting quietly in prayer or soaking up His Word. As I reflect on those early plans that I created, I realize I need to create another. It's time for me to re-evaluate my schedule, my priorities, and my time spent so that I can make course corrections that will keep me in step with the Holy Spirit.

How do you make your time with God a priority?