If you were to take a quick inventory of your life right now, where would say your relationship is with God? Is it close or distant? Is it strong or strained? Have hard trials hardened your heart? Is busyness making you too busy to spend that precious time with Him? Long story short, in this moment of your life, would you like to discover how to go deeper in Him in spite of all the odds and obstacles?

Now, let me start by saying this. You probably don’t need someone showing you how to necessarily discover how to go deeper in Him. Yet, in this day and time, I believe the reason why you clicked onto this post is because you wholeheartedly want to know how to either draw closer to Him like never before or get back to that burning desire and passion that you once had before life was interrupted!

I get it!

Honestly, with the busyness of life these days, distractions, and trials of life, it can sometimes be tough to settle down and do it. Actually, I believe there are more distractions in our generation than probably any other generation before us. Everything and everyone is begging for our time and attention from our spouse, children, jobs, housework, church work, social media alerts, deadlines, and the like. And all of these are GREAT things that are our responsibility to attend to. Yet, here’s the truth, sis.

*We cannot let the trials or busyness of life draw us further away from God.

In reality, God longs to spend time with us. Yet, the devil is constantly cooking up ways for us to get further away from our heavenly Father. Actually, when trials strike our lives, that's the time to run to God, not away from Him. Reason being is because He is the One who can ultimately walk us through them with comfort, strength, provision, and peace. So we can’t let the enemy have power over us! Remember, his purpose is to steal, kill, and to destroy. And now it’s to distract us from the most important relationship we have, sis.

So be on guard! Protect your time with God against the enemy’s wicked schemes. First Peter 5:8 warns us to, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.” We are all in this together, my sister (which brings me back to the point of this post).

I don’t doubt for a second that you don’t want to spend more time with God. However, I do believe strongly that we need to be more intentional about fighting for that time spent with Him daily.

I’m reminded of the Christian song, “Give Me You” by Shana Wilson. In the lyrics, she sings, “Give me you, everything else can wait.” Yes!!! Everything else can wait! The work will be there, the laundry will get washed, the food will get cooked, but our time with the Lord must take first place. Remember the story of Mary and Martha. 😉

And don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that you need to neglect anything. No, no, no. However, I am saying, let the main thing, be the main thing. Have your priorities in order. And know that there is nothing more important than your personal relationship and time spent with God.

I’ll tell you, the further you are away from time spent talking to Him in prayer, listening for direction and encouragement through His precious Holy Spirit, and His Word, the more you’ll begin to see yourself slipping back into your old sinful ways, thoughts, and actions. Have you ever noticed that? It’s totally true and biblical.

Jesus tells us in John 15:5, “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” So you see, the further we are away, the less fruitful we are. But the closer we are, the more Christ-like we’ll become. The more joy, love, peace, self-control and humility we’ll have; the more wisdom and insight on how to live the Christian life or how to handle unexpected tests and trials that come our way.

Time spent with God should not be compromised, by either of us. It’s so important to our spiritual growth and enduring strength and faith.  That’s why today, as you read this post, I’m asking, “How is your relationship with God, sis?”

With that being asked, I want to share with you a few practical suggestions of how to intentionally go deeper in Him. Ready?

  • Turn everything off and pray. Whether that looks like sitting still in His presence on the sofa, in your bed, or car. Be still before Him. #Sit #Talk #Listen
  • Close the laptop. Walk away from the computer. Stop working. Fight the craftiness of the enemy by becoming a workaholic. Also, silence your phone. Remove the distractions around you, because if you’re not careful, these things and actions can affect your relationship with your family, friends, and most importantly, God. #qualitytimekiller
  • Close the door. In other words, go into your bedroom, close the door, and walk the floor and just pray. Talk to God. Let Him talk to you. It’s like taking a walk with Him (and it’s taking place right in your bedroom). Jesus said in Matthew 6:6, “But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”
  • The famous prayer closet. This is a great place for intimacy with God. If you need to cry, feel overwhelmed with life, uncertain, scared, feeling lonely, need direction, go into your prayer closet and have your way. God is waiting to meet you there. And it doesn’t have to be fancy. It can be messy or clean. The point is that you are away and alone with God.

Jesus was actually our greatest example of showing us how to steal away to be alone with the Father when He was distressed, needed to be comforted (after John the Baptist death…see Matthew 14:10-23), or just needed to be alone with Him. We should learn from His amazing example and follow it.

  • Fall on your face before the Lord. In other words, get on your knees, lay prostrate before Him, or sit at His feet. Whatever that lowly, humble position of prayer looks like for you, go for it. It’s a sign of surrender, mercy, humility, honor, worship, adoration, intimacy, but it’s also a position of gaining divine provision from the Lord.

Genesis 17:1-3 says, “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘I am El-Shaddai-‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. I will make a covenant with you, by which I guarantee to give you countless descendants. At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, ‘This is my covenant with you. I will make you the father of a multitude of nations!’” Wow!!! #promise #provision #humility

  • Put on some praise and worship music and have a praise party in your car or home (my personal favorite)! Dance, sing, shout, cry, etc. It’s amazing how much joy you get out of praising our heavenly Father or just worshipping Him through the gift of music.
  • Journal – Buy a journal or break out the one you have and just write. Write out your prayers, your heart, ideas, dreams, and aspirations and see where God’s will is in all of it. It’s actually pretty cool to go back to see what He has done, but it’s also a great way to be alone and intimate with Him through pen and paper.
  • Lastly, get into His Word. We cannot effectively navigate through this Christian life without our roadmap. We need the Bible to guide us. That timeless written manuscript is His Word to It’s living, active, powerful, and life-changing. It shows us who God is and what He did for us through the sacrifice of His precious Son, Jesus Christ. It gives us provision and shows us how to be. We sooooo cannot neglect spending time in God’s Word. So as hard as it may be to be still, devote and invest in your relationship with God in prayer and His Word. It will be life-giving!

We can do this! We can go deeper in God…TODAY. It just takes determination, persistence, intentionality, action, and passionate devotion. I encourage you to not let another day go by without pressing in and drawing closer to God. Fight for that time. Fight the distractions. Fight for balance. Make time to go deeper. Now, you know how.

Remember, Jesus is coming back soon! And those who endure unto the end shall be saved. So let’s be ready from the Inside Out!

~Courtnaye

QUESTION: Do you want to go deeper in God today, sis? Also, have distractions, busyness, or trials caused a bit of a disconnection for you, lately? Let me know here. Also, if you need prayer today, let me know here or you can email me directly to join you in prayer on it @ insideoutwithcourtnaye@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you and praying for you.

ALSO, just want to encourage you to grab my NEW book, “IDENTIFIED: Knowing Who You Are in Christ & Moving Forward in Your Purpose!” ORDER IT TODAY right here on Amazon.com! And if you already have it and have read it, please give me a REVIEW on Amazon.com. Thanks so much in advance.

*Tune in every Monday at 7:30am for new posts, “Like” my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/InsideOutWCourtnaye), and follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/InOutwCourtnaye. Also, share this blog with friends, family, co-workers, or your women’s group or ministry. I’d love to stay connected and help more women grow in the Lord! Thanks again and may God be with you!