Spending Time With God

I remember the days of being a new Christian. I could spend hours at home in prayer and bible study. Sometimes I might turn on some worship music while I just sat and meditated on God's love. Other times, I would sit quietly with my pen and notebook waiting to hear from the Lord about a particular area.

And then...

I became a mom.

As a new mother, I remember being intensely frustrated with my prayer life. It seemed like every time I would get up when it was still dark to pray, I only had enough time to utter the words "Heavenly Father" before Noelle would let out a scream loud enough to wake the entire neighborhood!

I'd try to stay up late and pray, only for her to begin crying and wanting to nurse. By the time I'd gotten her to sleep, I'd be nearly sleep myself. I would be frustrated to the point of tears, longing for the former days when I could sit in the presence of God for hours on end.

Nevertheless, as the years have passed and as the children have multiplied, I have learned to adjust. Not only have I learned that God can hear my prayers and speak to me whether I am alone in his presence for hours, or whether I am with 2 small children and nursing a baby in his presence for 15 minutes.

Sure, sometimes I feel like I really need some substantial time alone with God. Those times do happen, occasionally. However, because I have little time I can control, I have had to learn how to spend time with God in a different way.

Many times I tell my girls to play in their room and don't come out until I come get them. I pray for 15-20min in my room with the baby. During that time, I usually praise God and "unload" anything I am worried about. I'll pray for hubby or intercede for someone who has been on my mind. I ask God to speak to me and give me direction. I spend a little time meditating on some scriptures related to something I have been praying about or in an area I feel weak in. I ask for grace for that day.

Then there are times when even this is not possible. Hence, God has helped me to learn how to create an atmosphere of praise and worship in the midst of my daily chaos.

How so?

I am no expert on this; however, at this point I have managed to develop a few of strategies.

#1. We have church at home. For example, I'm standing in the kitchen washing dishes and the kids are eating lunch. I break out in a praise like this:

"Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah! Lord, I thank you. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have any food to eat. If it wasn't for you we would have anywhere to live! Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!..."

I'll go one like this praising God aloud and then I might start to testify to the kids about things God has done for us.

"Hey! God had been so good to us! There was a time we didn't have any money to put gas in the car and God provided it...There was a time we were in a car accident and how God protected us...Let me tell you how he has healed us, kept us, blessed daddy on his job..."

Then we go back to praising God. The kids like this and they praise God with me.

#2. We utilize praise and worship music. I'll turn on some worship music in the midst of our cleaning or schooling etc, and begin to sing along. I'll sing along, "Oh Lord, your beautiful!.. There's nobody like you!..." I usually "get lost" in the praise and worship. The children either join in or just watch me.

#3. We have "praise breaks" throughout the day. I'll randomly tell them, "Come on let's give God some praise!" We begin to either sing a praise song from church and/or we praise God while we will jump up and down and dance for God. This is a light hearted and fun time. The children really get into this!

I realize that my children may not understand everything I am doing or saying during these times. But, my goal is to be able to stay in fellowship with God and for my children to learn how to fellowship with God by watching me do so.

Matthew 18:20 says,

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

James 4:8 says,

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.

I believe that as I draw close to God in the midst of the children and the work he has given me as a wife and mother, he is also drawing closer to me. As a result, my children and I can enjoy his presence together.

I was inspired as I listened to a preacher explain how their Christian home life and upbringing influenced their perception of God;

"People mock the church a lot today. But, we experienced something real...We watched our mothers prophesy at home. We watched the anointing flow in the kitchen. So this is real to us...that kind of presence(God's) let us know that He's not just in the church...It put a fear of God in us everywhere we went."

By fear the preacher meant a reverence for God. This is what I want for my children. I want them to experience the presence and the anointing of God at home and as a result, understand how awesome and powerful God really is. I want them to hear me pray and then see first hand how God answers those very prayers.

I want them to see that mama doesn't wait until Sunday to suddenly get all "emotional" and "pious" at church. But, that mama is praising, worshiping, and depending on God every day of the week.

I want them to know that this is real. That God is real. And that he is not just God on Sunday at church, but that his power and his presence is everywhere, all the time.

So, although I do miss those long hours alone in the presence of God, I realize that this season of my life affords me the opportunity to give my children a strong spiritual foundation by bringing them along with me into that presence, for their sake and mine!

Here are the links to 2 wonderful articles on this topic:

Help! Mommydom Leaves Me No Time For God!

By Example