digging into devotions - a miniseries (June Burn)

This is part of a mini-series featuring profiles of PWs about their devotional life and how they spend quality time with God. 

June Burn
Michigan (originally South Africa)
2 grown kids, 4 grandkids

My ministry is praying for others and giving encouragement to those in need and also helping people in need - widows, young mothers, elderly, children - whoever God puts in my path!  Just being a disciple!

I discovered that to begin making time with the Lord was like beginning exercises - you start doing a little at a time.  Just 10 minutes to start with, and then gradually I became more and more interested in my quiet time so that now one hour is barely enough!.  This means going to bed earlier so I can get up earlier, but the incredible joy I receive makes it so worth it!

When I began, I had no clue what to do.  So I knelt down and asked God to lead me, and He very vividly brought to my mind 1 Corinthians 13.  Since I love journaling, I studied the chapter through verse by verse with all the cross references.  

These days I include several books that I enjoy reading just a paragraph or page at a time and I also choose a book in the Bible to study - I'm doing Genesis at this time and always a Psalm.

After reading, I have a journal where I "talk" to the Lord about what I have read, and I pray over it asking God that the theory I'm learning may be practiced in my life, which brings joy!  Then I have a separate journal where I go through a list of names of those people I'm praying for.

The only time I can do this is from 5-6 AM.  At the end of the day I literally say "Amen" because off and on throughout the day I often decide to meditate on the verses, and the portions I read from the various books. 

I find when I am battling with a negative thought that replacing it with meditating over my devotion drives that negative thought out the back door!

Share what you do to get personal time with God in a comment below!

 

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