Happy Friday everyone. The weekend is upon us and life is looking pretty great. I even look like I’ll have time off this weekend to enjoy time with my family. It’s been a long time since I talked about my faith and my walk with God. And today I felt very inspired to share this with you. You see, I’ve been growing with God, and man does it feel good. The hope, the joy, the motivation that I can do all things through Christ. Let’s talk about it.
Growing With God in Prayer
This is the area that I have seen the most growth in. I have been praying a lot, just talking to God throughout the day. If someone asks for prayer throughout the day, I start praying. At work, I pray for the hotel and at home I pray for my loved ones. This is something I used to struggle with. I wanted to pray regularly but would sometimes go days where prayer never even entered my mind. And now, I don’t have to think about it. I just start praying. And even in that I’m growing. The Bible says that we are to bring our requests to God with thanksgiving. It’s so easy to focus on the things going wrong, or the things that I want. But I am trying to grow in thanksgiving prayer as well. If you look at your life, there is a lot to be thankful for. Maybe you’re in a season where this is hard to do. Keep going and crying out to God. God is near to the broken hearted. You just have to let him in.
Regular Church Attendance
I’ve been really thankful for this one. I have just exited a season where I had to work every Sunday morning because of how busy it was. But now I get to go to church again. There will be some Sundays I’ll have to miss, but I am thankful for this season of getting to go to church. Worshipping with my brothers and sisters in Christ can not be replaced. I’m reminded of during the pandemic where we had to watch services online. As much as I’m grateful for that, it was hard. And when I saw other churches opening up and the crowds worshipping together again, I remember feeling this complete sorrow that I couldn’t do that. And then I stepped into a church here and started to worship and I remember I was so moved that I started to cry. If you’re still looking for a church I encourage you to keep looking. Your church family is waiting for you.
Growing With God in Devotions
Now I will admit that this has always been a struggle. Sure, I have seasons where I am spending time daily with God in reading my Bible, praying and writing in my journal. And those times are wonderful; I never regret them or feel like my time was wasted. But, I just slowly fall off the wagon time and time again. But, I have a devotional book that is about spending time with God every day for a year and my husband and I will be doing that together. It’s supposed to start in September, so we will be starting that on Tuesday, September 1st. I’m very excited about this. Usually we watch TV till we’re ready to fall asleep, or till one of us falls asleep. This will be much better for us and I am excited to see what God does in our lives and in our marriage while we go on this journey together. If you’re married, do you enjoy doing devotions with your spouse?
Worship
So, I enjoy a good variety of music. My latest has been Celtic music and fantasy style music. It’s a lot of fun. But, I’m committing to listening to more worship music now. Driving somewhere? I’ll listen to worship music. Working – worship music if I need to listen to music. And when I’m blogging I love listening to music. Often I’ll listen to some sort of focus style music, but today I’m trying with worship music and I must say that things are going well. It’s also making me question just how out of touch I am with worship music because I haven’t recognized any of the songs on the playlist that I’m listening to. But, they’re catchy and I’m enjoying them. And there’s just a peace that settles on you when you’re listening to worship music, or singing along if you know the words. It’s just moving. Do you have a favorite worship song that when it comes on in church you just get excited? Maybe sing a little louder, with a smile on your face?
Growing With God and Loving it
I have to say, this season, which I hope just keeps going, is wonderful. Will that mean that I won’t have any hardships? Absolutely not. God warns us in the Bible that we will face trials and tribulations. But, he also promises to face them with us. He will never leave or forsake us. And that is the greatest encouragement of all. No matter what happens, God is right there beside us, waiting for us to turn to him and ask for his help. There is so much hope in that. We don’t need to have the faith that the apostles or prophets have to receive God. Last week we were encouraged in prayer at church and told that even in our unbelief we can turn to God. There was someone in the Bible who said “I believe but help me in my unbelief.” That’s powerful. Even if your faith is tiny, run to God, our loving Father. Anything can happen, if we try.
