Images of Broken Light

I am really writing this for myself, but if it helps anyone else, that will be an added bonus.

Tips for your daily devotional time with God.

1. Build time into your schedule for reading, preferably in the morning when your mind is fresh and rested. If, like me, you are a night owl, do it in the evening, as you will just hate doing it otherwise. Basically, make this as easy as possible for yourself and you will be more likely to keep it up. Which leads us on to…
2. Make it a habit - Keep going even if it seems hard to find the time to do it or you don’t seem to be getting anywhere - It is important that you spend this time wisely. Once you have persevered for a while it will become easier, as your mind will accept that this time is for you to be with God, and is not to be compromised.
3. There will be times when finding the time to do this, or the energy, will be difficult, but you should keep it up. The best way to do this is to not let yourself miss two days in a row. If you find you forgot, in the busyness of life, to speak with God today, resolve that you will not make it two days in a row, this will stop you straying off-track, and being absorbed into the daily grind.
4. Pick a solitary place where you can be alone with God. Too many distractions, and your mind will wander, and pretty soon your precious time with God will be squeezed out. I can speak from personal experience on this one - I think of everything except what I am supposed to be thinking. However, a random thought may be something that should be brought to your attention, so don’t be too strict on this one.
5. Make a list of requests in advance, for others as well as yourself. This will act as an aide-memoir to your wandering mind. It also makes you think in advance what you should be asking for, and will mean you spend less time thinking about what you want/need or what others need, and more time being open to God. It will also make you more sensitive to others’ needs.A potential way to do this is to read and meditate on a portion of Scripture, then spend time in prayer. However, if you want to rush into prayer, and end on reading Scripture, that can be quite useful as well. Remember that you are not there to get through so many verses a day, you are there to meet with God.
6. Most importantly, particularly if your time is in the morning, when you end your daily time with God, commit the day and yourself to Him. If you have it in the evening, then simply thank God for the day, and commit everything done that day to Him.

Hope this is helpful to you.