I am a huge goal-setter. I love the beginning of the year because I have such marvelous intentions for the year ahead. Unfortunately, like most others, my goals often go awry sometime in the first quarter (or January, truth be told). Letting go of perfectionism helps, but lately, I've started praying into my goals in order to make sure that I'm working on what He finds important for the year, not just what I would like to accomplish. When I figure out what His intention is for my year, it's easier to make goals that push me that direction--and He's pretty good at lowering the bar for what I must do and raising it for what He will do. Part of that includes asking myself (in His presence) why I want to accomplish that goal.
For instance, a few years ago, a few of my friends decided they wanted to read through the Bible in a year. I had time to blog back then, so I said, "Sure!! and I'll blog about something every day too!!" January had 30--not bad! February had 20--not terrible! The rest of the months to August had 2 or 3--still better than my historic average, but not anywhere close to what it needed to be. I also didn't keep up with reading the Bible through the year. So why did I quit?
It is grueling, but that's not why.
Perfectionism is part of it, but that's not why either.
The answer to why I quit has to do with why I started it in the first place. I wanted to read through the Bible in a year because everybody else was doing it. It seemed like one of those "good for you" goals--like brushing your teeth or eating your vegetables. When it turned out that it wasn't as "good" for me as I thought--I didn't derive enough benefit from it in terms of my real goals--the fact that others were doing it was not enough to keep me going.
My real goal for reading the Bible is to know God better and hear Him for myself. Reading through the Bible in a year began to feel like a chore to be checked off rather than a time to commune and enjoy Him. The first time we read through the Bible together as a family was when I was a toddler, and it took us 3 years. What I wanted was to Know Him and rushing through it made it feel impersonal and overwhelming, rather than intimately connecting.
So if your goal is to get closer to a real God who really knows and loves you, there's a better way. To learn how to hear God for yourself follow these three (ridiculously easy) steps.
1. Ask God to speak to you and open your Bible: Believe that He will. Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice," so trust Him to open your ears. Use a plan of some kind so you're not playing Bible roulette, but any old place will do.
2. Journal: Open your Journal and write down the day, time, and the passage you're in. Read until something hits you between the eyes.
3. Start the dialogue: Write the part that hit you in your journal in a personalized way. If He is speaking to you, write it as if He is talking directly to you--even include your own name where it says "you"! Then write back to Him. Thank Him for what He will do or tell Him what will change in you because of what He said. If the passage captures your heart's cry to the Father, then write it like you would say it to your closest friend. You may find that the Holy Spirit will bring up the deepest cries of your heart in a passage--things you didn't even know you wanted or needed. Recognize that if He is driving you to pray that, He already has an answer planned for it so thank Him in advance for hearing your heart and providing all you need. Allow Him to shape your heart's desires and prayers as you go. He may show you better things to want than you started out with.
A baby Christian could do this and begin their journey with Him. An 80 year old intercessor that has followed Him all her life could still use this. It would probably even work for an unbeliever as long as they suspended their disbelief long enough to try it. It could be 5 minutes. It could be a conversation that lasts 5 hours. What is important is that you connect with Him and that's all that matters.
Try it out and let me know how it goes. If you like, you can even post your journal entry for others to see what it's like. I'm sure the encouragement will spread like wildfire.
Next time, I'll post what I'm trying this year for Bible reading. It's similar to this, but has a new twist I haven't tried before. So far I'm really enjoying it.
Praying that He will make Himself real to you in a fresh way...
