The heart of a relationship is commitment. The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines commitment as “the state or an instance of being obligated or emotionally impelled”.
What shows we’re fully involved with a person is our commitment to that person. And the proof of commitment is consistency. Our relationship with God must be a consistent one otherwise, there is no proof of our commitment to Him.
From the beginning of time, it’s quite clear that God created man for fellowship. No wonder after He created man, from what it seems like, He would very often come fellowship with man “in the cool of the day” in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8). Also, Jesus speaks of abiding (remain – NIV) in Him in order for us to bear fruit as we cannot do that on our own. In other words, if we’re going to have a profitable relationship with God, we must “abide/remain” [John 15;4].
However, as with many horizontal relationships, showing our commitment by being consistent can be challenging. I mean, with all of the distractions in the world today. In fact, not only bad things serve as distractions; even the good things of life. For instance, before you got the job, you would pray in tongues for 5 hours; now you have the job, you barely spend 15minutes in prayer. Or before you got married, you dig deep into the scriptures daily but nowadays after marrying the wonderful man or woman and two kids after, it’s hard to even spend 10minutes meditating on the word of God.
But how do we become consistent? I must confess, I used to struggle with this a lot in the past and sometimes I still do but I have found what works for me and I’d love to share it with you. I call it the consistency system. It’s my personal blueprint for consistency with and at anything. By the grace of God, for those who know me, you can tell of the fruits of this in my life – hence people ask me how I do all the stuff I do and still be excellent at them to the glory of God.
The Consistency System is a practical blueprint to help you be consistent at anything, including your prayer life in just 4 easy steps.
1. Pick a set time:
You can never be consistent if you are not intentional about it. And the first way to be intentional is to pick a time of the day. Just like Genesis 3:8 insinuates “in the cool of the day”. Find your own “cool of the day”. For me, it’s 10:30pm and I set an alarm. No matter who I am talking to or what I am doing, I am off to spend time with God.
2. Make a plan:
For instance, set a schedule.
Yes, I know the Holy Spirit can move you past your schedule but this is a good start. Say 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour but for someone starting out, I’d say start with 20minutes. Put a schedule to the allotted time. E.g. 2 mins – Opening Prayer (thanksgiving and forgiveness of sins), 5mins of praise and worship, 10mins of reading and meditating on the word (this is key!), 3mins of closing prayer. When you have a schedule this laid out, it inspires you. And of course, the Holy Spirit can keep you for longer but this is a good start.
3. Get the help/resource you need:
In this case, a devotional.
I know you love to pick any parts of the Bible or follow a chart through the scriptures in your head but a devotional actually helps. All the thorough work of where to read, what to read, has been done for you. I love the Myles Munroe ones (someone who knows me well would know why lol). I have used Joyce Meyer’s before. Open Heavens of the RCCG is a good one too – I use that too.
4. Aim for 30 days:
Psychologists have told us it takes 30days to reprogramme our brain for the introduction of a new habit. So, do this same time every day, similar schedule for 30 days and you will discover you never have to struggle with it again and if you do, the guilt will make you go back to it.
It’s amazing how it works. I really do hope it works for you as well.
God bless you and thanks for reading.
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Dr Samuel Ekundayo | The Purpose Preacher
Website: www.SamuelEkundayo.com
Book me to speak at your event: SamuelEkundayo.com/Book-me.
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Till next time, stay blessed & spiritually woke!
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