Photography by Donna Harris :: Remember the Year

Kickstarting a personal worship plan typically happens at the start of every new year. And I do this quite well the first month of the year. The rub is the remaining eleven months!  Here are FOUR things I do to keep me in the habit of daily personal worship. Surely I can manage four things!

Personal worship is the daily time you spend devoting your attention exclusively to the glory of Christ and receiving the satisfaction he gives. That is why it is sometimes called “Devotions”.  ~Randy Pope

1.  Decide on a time: There is no right or wrong time but whatever time you decide on, do schedule it on your calendar and set a reminder alarm if necessary. You will be more consistent if you view your time with God as an appointment to be kept on your daily schedule. I’ve become a “morning person” after years of practice and have found that morning devotions {personal worship} strengthens me prior to the stress of the day. Try to find a morning time if you can. You’ll probably need a minimum of 20 minutes. I found this article about how to become a “morning person” by  Michael Hyatt very helpful. Check it out.

2.  Decide on a plan: It is important to have a plan for daily reading of the Bible. And there are hundreds of options to choose from so take time to discover what works for you and stick with it for the year. For me, reading the Bible in a year has always been a challenge, therefore, my new plan is to not to continue with my old plan which was the, “Reading the Bible in a Year for Three Years” plan.  Check out YouVersion for a reading plan that fits your style. I’ve been using “Eat this Book”…I do hunger for more!  You may find that you need a daily reminder, if so sign up for email prompts from Bible Gateway. This year I chose “Table Talk Devotions“  for the purpose of reading “on the fly” while waiting for an appointment or waiting for the crossing arms at the railroad track to raise. It’s refreshing to receive an email that compels me to step away from the harried pace. With a smart phone or tablet, you can access any of these plans with ease and flexibility to fit your rhythm of life.

3.  Use a translation you can understand:  My vote is to use the English Standard Version.  “nuff said.”

4.  You Do What You Want To Do:   “You do what you want to do”…words of wisdom that my husband shared with our children over the years and continues to say today. I do what I want to do…I have time to work out, to play, to eat, to watch TV, to be on the internet, to write this post…I do what I want to do. Is God Lord over what I do? Have I committed to spending time with the One who gave His life for me? Where would I be without His grace, forgiveness and freedom from addictions? (I hate to think of the options.)  To borrow from Nike…Just Do It! Make the commitment to spend time in God’s Book for 21 days. If you miss a day just start over. You will be more than encouraged after 21 days of personal worship!