Recently I’ve been asking God for a lot. Like, all the time. I ask that baby might go to sleep, that he might feed nicely in public, that he might stay asleep long enough for me to get more than 3 words into a blog post… I ask for strength when the night has been short, for willpower to do some exercise, for calm when things are piling up. At numerous points throughout the day I’m throwing little one-liner prayers up to God.
But there are (at least) 2 problems with this. Firstly, I can go much longer than I should with only these one-liners. I can shout out short prayers one after the other all day long, but not spend any quality time with God. And secondly, I forget to say thank you. When God reaches out to me and offers me His hand, pulling me out of whatever muddle I’ve found myself in, I rush onto the next thing and don’t take a minute to say thank you.
God loves to hear from us, in any way we can manage. But I reckon He also loves to hear things other than our problems, and to be acknowledged when He helps us to resolve our problems, big or small. I think I’m better at remembering with the big things. When I saw that second blue line appear on the stick, and knew that I was pregnant again, I fell to my knees and wept in thanks to God – I knew He had stepped in and given us a miracle, and I often thank Him for our wonderful son. But these big moments are not the only moments that God spends with us. He is with us every second of every day.
When God gives us the strength we need, or works little miracles in our lives, why don’t we take a minute to stop and say thank you? If I’m honest, I simply forget. That problem that I so desperately needed His help with not 30 seconds ago is suddenly out of my mind. So I’ve decided to remind myself. As a little girl, I used to forget things frequently. So I started making lists, and leaving signs (if you open our breakfast cereal cupboard you’ll sometimes see a little sign up there that says “lunch in fridge” to remind one of us that we have lunch in the fridge that we need to take with us wherever we’re going that morning). The image at the top of this blog post is of a sign I’ve now stuck up in the nursery. Let’s be honest, that’s where I send up most of my urgent prayers! I’m hoping that a visible reminder to say thank you will help me to make it a habit. And that way I can start to talk to God about things other than problems.
Which leads me onto my second point – not spending enough quality time with God. It’s not that I think that because I sent up a few quick requests I don’t need to spend time with God, nor that I don’t want to spend time with God. I simply don’t prioritise it. Tidying the house, getting in a quick nap, catching up on some TV, or any one of a number of other tasks or bits of me-time so often takes priority. Or rather I make these a priority. I forget about the reward we experience by having time with God. I forget that it heals my soul in a way nothing else can.
I’m trying to teach my son that talking to God is important. Every night when I sing him his lullaby we thank God for a lovely day and for watching over my son that night. But I need to practise what I preach as well. And I think that this is about more than just building a habit. This is about recognising the importance of God-time over me-time or chores. And where better to start than His Word? So that’s the plan – kick starting more God-time by getting into my Bible more often.
The other way I love to spend time with God is by looking back at what He has done in the past, in terms of my own experiences of Him. I’ve got a little book where I write down big moments in my relationship with Him, or words or pictures from Him. I think I’ll aim to read what’s written there from time to time, and to add to it more often too.
I’m going to hazard a guess that many of my readers also struggle to get enough God-time. If you do, know that God loves every moment He gets with you, and a little time with God is better than none. But also remember that when you do give time to Him, you’ll receive back so much more. There is a calm and wonder that we receive when we delve into God’s mystery that nothing else in this world can match.
I think Psalm 63 says this much better than I do, so I will leave you with a few snippets:
My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you
I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
You satisfy me more than the richest feast. I will praise you with songs of joy.
I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night.
Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.
I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely.