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by: Amanda Frittz
About 2 months ago I wrote an article about where I was at with my faith. In that article, I basically admitted I had a hard time staying consistent with my devotion. To read the full article you can go here. Now two months later I can humbly admit while I did not do everything I listed that first month. I am for the most part doing it now!
What Have I Learned?
Honestly, it’s easy for me to not desire to put time into God when I’m not in the habit of doing it. It’s like exercising at first it’s a hassle to get up and do every day but once you get in the routine of doing it you start craving it. Likewise, the first month of setting out to read my bible every day just didn’t happen. I would read, but not every day. My reading schedule probably looked more like 3 times a week. That’s totally okay! I didn’t beat myself down, I just kept reading the bible at an amount that didn’t seem overwhelming to me.
After about 2-3 weeks of reading the bible a few times throughout the week, I began to feel like I could take on more. So, I began reading 4-5 times a week and for longer time periods. Currently, I’m at 5-6 days a week and reading about 20-30 minutes a day. I feel really good about this amount and don’t plan on upping it anytime soon, but I encourage you to find your ideal daily dose of the bible!
What Stuck?
If you read the original article you know I gave myself a list of goals and reading my bible was only one of them. Well, some goals stuck and some drifted off or I did other variations of what I originally intended. For example, I did write notes about what I was reading and learning, but I decided to read the bible from cover to cover so I didn’t feel the need to write down what I wanted to learn next. Also, I said I wanted to listen to one podcast a week but I soon realized I’m obsessed with podcasts and have been listening to 5+ podcasts a week, to see my favorite Christian podcasts click here.
What I’m still struggling with
I opened up last time about my lack of having a good prayer life. I have put effort into praying intentionally and not just being robotic, however, I still feel I’m not prioritizing praying.
My relationship seems to consist more of soaking up knowledge right now, and less of me coming to God. So this next month I want to be more intentional about having a balance. I don’t want to just be learning about God I also want to be in conversation with him.
Something that stuck out to me while reading the book of Exodus is that God tells Moses that he knows his name. That got me thinking, do I reach out to God enough for him to know my name? I think so… but I don’t think I’ve put as much of an emphasis on talking to God this last month as I have on learning about him and trying to do things that would honor him.
I’ve also realized that finding joy in doing what’s right doesn’t always come automatically. For example, I have a desire to want to be as forgiving as God because I know he wants that of me, but it’s not easy or very enjoyable to do that yet. My friend and I are reading the book You Are What You Love and it has been so eye-opening, and honestly quite relieving. It talks about the idea that love is a formed habit and you aren’t always going to enjoy something right away – you first have to rewire your brain to that habit. So, I’m literally having to retrain my brain to not hold grudges or to not keep an argument going and that’s hard. The good news is with time and practice it will get easier and those new habits won’t seem so hard.
This Months Goals
This next month I want to focus on relationships. That includes with my spouse, friends, strangers, and most importantly God.
1) Reach out to one friend a day and check up on them
2) Ask my husband more meaningful questions
3) 5-10 uninterrupted minutes a day praying to God
Let me know how your walk with God is going down in the comments!
Hello Amanda! Praise God! My relationship with the Lord has been amazing! I recently lost my pet cat to sickness, and i know it’s for the best because it’s up to the Lord who stays and who goes. and mourning was an emotion that was new to me. But nonetheless, he’s been comforting me and revealing to me that i have been focusing on the wrong things and how life is short and I have no time to be playing any games and how much i need to pray to Him and for others to Him. He’s been watering me so much, and I’ve been recently been trying to pray without ceasing in my day by glorifying God a lot in my prayers (for He is worthy) and when I wake up. I try to pray when I have a task and when i feel like something is bothering me I pray to Him immediately. and i also just started the habit of listening to podcasts on youtube like Dale Patridge and praise God and thanks for recommending him on one of your videos because I’m discovering a lot of things about myself that were not pleasing to God. and i thank God for also showing me your youtube as well because I currently go to a church that teaches some things that i would think is contrary to the Word.(but i pray for them too) Stay strong in the faith sister! May the Lord bless you and your family.
Author
Thank you so much for taking the time to write me this! I am sorry for the loss of your cat, as an animal person myself I totally get how much of family they become. I am so happy to hear that you’ve been finding comfort in the Lord and trusting his timing. Praise God that my blog was able to lead you closer to God and help find other podcasters that are doing the same. All the glory goes to him for doing the work through us! Amen, that’s amazing. Thank you so much for sharing with me! I will pray for you and guidance on if you should stay or find a new church.