3 Simple Ways to Upgrade Your Time with Jesus
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. - Jesus, Matthew 6:6
I meet a lot of people who genuinely desire to know God intimately.
Yet many do not know how to do that. How do we come into the experiential knowledge of the One who created the heavens and the earth?
I’m growing in this, and want to grow in knowing Jesus more and more. Peter talks about us growing in the knowledge of God (see 2 Peter 3:18). Did you know that you can grow in your knowledge of God?
One thing to point out here that is essential is to understand that there is a difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge. Or what the writers of the Scriptures call revelation.
To put it more simply: You can know about God, but not know Him. You can understand lots of facts about Jesus but never have heard His loving tender voice.
This isn’t to say some have this and others do not. That is categorically wrong. Every person, because of Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished, can “draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:18)
Spiritual elitism has no place in the Kingdom.
No, all can know God. This is the Gospel. That which separated us has been washed, and now we have peace with God and have been brought “near”. (Ephesians 2:13)
So back to our conversation. I want to give you 3 simple ways you can upgrade your time with Jesus. And on that note—don’t dilute your morning prayers to just “doing your devotionals” or make it just a box to check off. It helps me to frame it by saying, “I’m going to spend time with Jesus” because He is in fact, already waiting for you to meet with Him (see Matthew 6:6).
Set a Time - This is key. Much like lunch or your kids’ soccer practice, time with God must be carved out in your schedule. For me, I find it super helpful to do this right away once I wake up. You may be a night person or your season of life may dictate you do this at different times. The point is to do your best to make it a consistent part of your daily practice to be with Jesus. In my opinion, the earlier the better. Jesus did this. It says He got up well before the sun to go and pray (see Mark 1:35). When you get up early, the world and the kids aren’t yet awake and need your attention. Your boss isn’t emailing you, the birds aren’t yet chirping, and that challenging leaf-blowing neighbor isn’t at it that early (hopefully). Set a time, schedule your time with Jesus, and then stick to it.
Set a Place - Jesus had a “certain” place He liked to pray, and we should too. For me, I have a chair. Every morning and evening, I make some coffee and sit in my chair to meet with God. There’s something about the routine of it, and familiarity, and the consistency that builds in your life of prayer. Make it yours. What do you want your Secret Place to look like? In my early years of getting to know God, I didn’t meet consistently, but I did have a place. It was a mountain that I would hike every week. As I would hike, I would talk with God (prayer). I didn’t know it, but during those years I was getting to know God, and now when I return to this place, it strikes a special chord in my heart because of the history I made with Him there.
I would add one tip here. The Bible says to go into your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is in the secret place (Matthew 6:6). Here are two important parts that I think should be mentioned here. First, when He says to “go into your room” that was for a first-century Jew, your innermost room in the house, most likely used for storage. But the point was that it was hidden and you were alone. Solitude is of the utmost importance here. It’s just you and God alone somewhere privately. The second part is the “…and shut your door”. This is silence. This feels hard if you have young kids or if you live in our digitally distracted world that is obsessed with noise, but it is possible. I love my Airpods for this reason specifically, and this is also why again it’s important to wake up early to minimize the noise. Try it sometime—and don’t forget your noise-canceling headphones!
Consistency - This is one we do not like in our instant gratification society, but being consistent is so important (Colossians 4:2). Notice I said “consistent”, not “perfect”. It’s important that this becomes a habit, and what starts as a discipline becomes a delight as you and King Jesus begin to meet. Just like every week my wife and I have a date night, and nothing can touch that, the same goes for our time with God. Make this your top priority—your most important meeting of the day. Start small if you’re new at this and make the goal obtainable and doable. Maybe in your current season of life, you have a newborn, and getting up at 5:30 am to pray isn’t doable. That’s ok, ask God to give you wisdom to know how to change your time with Him. It may look like starting at 15 minutes in the morning and building from there. That’s ok! Just start and be consistent and I promise you, this will become your favorite part of every day.
Being with God is all about getting to know Him on a personal level—and believe this or not—Him getting to know you too. It’s important to go easy on yourself as you start. You may miss a day here or there. That’s ok, just pick up where you left off. One of my favorite verses talks about guarding our steps on the way to the house of the Lord. (see Ecclesiastes 5:1) This means you want to set yourself up for success by doing things like prepping your coffee the night before, setting an alarm on your phone, and going to bed at a consistent hour. Build your life around your relationship with God, for all relationships require time for them to grow.
I can remember the first time God went from a point of theology to a real person for me. And I have never been the same since. I share these things in hopes that those who don’t yet know God personally can take some practical steps of getting to do so, and those who do know Him can grow in their relationship with the Creator of their souls.
Salem
