FROM THE DAWGHOUSE
WHY WE NEED TIME WITH GOD EVERY DAY
Pastor Pete talks about DAWG a lot – Daily Appointment With God – and recently gave us a refresher course at Forge. It took me a while, but today I’m a big believer in DAWG! You should be also because it’s a serious matter.
Just ask the average Christian which is more important. Making money or spending time alone with God.
I bet almost every one of them will answer “spending time with God” without thinking twice. But watch how the average Christian lives out their life and notice where he or she really invests their time and energy. Money gets made, TV gets watched, the most up-to-date iPhone dominates our attention, magazines get read, music gets listened to, but God gets left out – except on Sundays if a family outing can’t be planned.
Truth be told, this is why I believe many church services can be “ho-hum”. Boring. See, public worship services tend to reflect the private worship practices of its parishioners. The reason Sunday church services can be “dead” is because many of those who attend have private devotional lives that are “dead”. The “quick fix” of injecting more upbeat music into our services may feel like it solves the problem, but it just covers a disease that’ll destroy us unless we seek God’s cure. An abundant life begins with a passion for God. Job 23:19 says “…I have esteemed the words of God’s mouth more than my necessary food.” Job was saying that to him, the most important thing was getting together with God and listening to God’s still, small voice on the inside.
Yet here we are, people who supposedly know and love the Lord, putting Him off, being too tired, too busy – almost as if we’re turning our faces away from Him. At the same time, we know that He’s the source of all the good that we seek and the abundance that He promises through the Word. Nowhere else can we get the things that come from daily time with Jesus. Nowhere!
Part of the problem is that we think time with God is drudgery instead of delight. I’ll admit that I have thought that on many occasions in my life. Then Pastor Pete kept dogging me with DAWG. So, I decided I’d give it a try…I mean a meaningful try. Each day I’d arrive at my work office at 6:15am, before the rooster crowed. I got my coffee. Opened my blinds to the darkness outside, and began to, well, ask God what he wanted me to do. There I was, a man who had been to church all his life. An Elder. A Sunday School teacher. Father. Husband. And totally lost. It was awkward. I hated it. I sat in silence every day for a few weeks simply saying, “Good morning God, here I am. Use me as you will.” Nothing. Then suddenly one morning I felt the Lord’s Spirit tell me to read some scripture, and I did. Another day He encouraged me to pray fervently. Then He began to tell me specifically who to pray for, or who I needed to call or visit. Most of all, He began to remind me daily that He Loved Me deeply. It was transforming.
Today, when I miss my Daily Appointment With God (which isn’t often), I feel a bit of emptiness that is jarring – a good thing. Since making my daily appointment with God a routine, I have never enjoyed reading the Bible like I do now, and my prayer time has become deeply personal and raw – a real overflowing of gladness and thanksgiving.
I pray this does not come across as boastful. It is not meant to be. It is simply a testament that you and I need that daily time alone with Jesus to give us direction, energy, and focus. Otherwise, we’ll just function daily in our flesh rather than the power of the Spirit. Even Jesus had to get up a great while before day, to get time with the Father – that’s how busy he was.
Make regular appointments with God, just like you would a doctor or counselor. I recommend first thing in the morning – the first thing you do. But if that simply won’t work for you, then write down when you can meet with God each day and keep the appointment. It’s less about establishing a habit, and more about remembering who you’re meeting with – Your Father, the creator of all things good.
You won’t be disappointed. As we learn in James 4:8, “Draw high unto God and He will draw high unto you.”
Your Brother in Christ,
Joe Bouch
FORGE Winter Springs
