Most followers of Jesus have a desire to seek the Lord daily and to create rhythms in their life that draw them nearer to Him. Christians want to honor the Sabbath. They know they could be more generous than they are. They want to have a more vibrant prayer life. They wish they read their Bible more often and got more out of it when they did.
Deep down inside, men and women of faith desire for a greater intimacy with God… they just don’t always know how to cultivate it. They struggle to start and keep holy habits in their lives.
Things like Bible reading, prayer, fasting, solitude, honoring the sabbath, generosity, serving, and fellowship with other believers are the things we know we should be engaging in, but aren’t sure how to get started. Or when life gets busy or difficult or both, we aren’t sure how to maintain and deepen these practices.
If you are reading this and thinking, “How is this woman reading my mail right now?”, you aren’t alone! We all have room for growth when it comes to our practice of spiritual disciplines. No one truly masters them, but rather as we commit to them and explore how we practice them, we discover a continual open invitation from the Father to abide in Jesus and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit.
Below are some of the most common obstacles we face when committing to daily and weekly holy habits in our lives, and some practical and simple ways we can address and overcome them:
1. Demands: I have a lot going on, and I don’t have the energy or time to invest more.
Try this: Give the first minutes of your day to God. Life is busy, and you are probably juggling a lot on your plate right now. However demanding you schedule may be and how tired you may feel, make the decision to give your first to God.
Even if that means starting your day just 5 minutes earlier so you can read a scripture and pray while drinking your morning cup of coffee, make it happen. Make your first interaction of each day with the Lord. When you seek Him first each day, you will become more attuned to His voice and leading throughout the day, and He will provide you with the wisdom and power you need for whatever demands you are facing.
When you’ve developed the habit of spending your first minutes each day with the Lord, begin building from there. Extend your times of Bible reading and prayer by a few minutes. Look ahead on your calendar and mark a day you will honor the Sabbath and rest. Decide to schedule a prayer walk next week to combine your holy habits with your fitness goals. Get creative and let your first minutes develop into your best moments throughout your week.
2. Distractions: I am regularly interrupted or pulled away from focus by notifications on my phone, emails, or others needing something from me.
Try this: No screen time or phones around when you pray and read scripture. If you are like me, you usually have your phone on you. You probably have a smart watch like I do. I am constantly getting notifications, alerts, and text messages throughout my day. I bet you can relate!
Choose to create a device-free zone for when you read your Bible, pray, and journal. Leave your phone in another room. Take the smart watch off for a much less-distracted and much more peaceful environment.
Once you’ve created this device-free space for your daily time of Bible-reading and prayer, try it for a whole day when you honor the Sabbath. Choose to leave your phone in your purse or put it on silent when you are hanging out with friends and family. Create more time each day where you are less distracted and more present to the Holy Spirit and those around you.
3. Auto-pilot: I devote regular time to certain rhythms, but I haven’t deepened my understanding or tried new approaches in a long time.
Try this: Shake things up with a new Bible reading and prayer plan, approach, or journal. It’s important to keep things fresh, and to try and explore new ways to approach and get the most out of holy habits. There are literally thousands of Bible reading plans available on the free Bible app for you to choose from, and there are so many different ways to approach your times of prayer and Bible-reading.
At Seek First Resources, I’ve curated a whole library of free resources for you including recommended Bible reading plans, different Bible-reading and prayer methods, and tools to increase your knowledge of the Bible, prayer, and other spiritual disciplines. Make sure to subscribe to the Seek First email newsletter to receive a free weekly resource sent directly to your inbox.
I’ve also created the Seek First Journal to help you read the Bible, pray and journal daily. The journal is the perfect blend of form and freedom— providing you with the structure you need to capture how the Lord is speaking to you without being too prescriptive, allowing you the space to read the Bible and pray however you’d like. This 3-month journal includes over 90 daily reflections for your time of personal Bible reading and prayer, a dedicated section for sermon and small group notes for church, blank note pages, and helpful tools to help you discover new ways to read the Bible and pray. You can learn more and order your journal here.
4. Scheduling: I don’t have a regular time set on my calendar.
Try this: Schedule your holy habits for the month ahead. We schedule work meetings and date nights and school practices and when we are going to the gym. Why not schedule your spiritual growth? Block out on your calendar when you will read your Bible, pray and journal each day, and as much as possible keep it at the same time. Send yourself a calendar invite for the church services you will be attending. Add to your schedule when you will be at your church’s small group or serving that month in your community. Mark your Sabbath days on the calendar ahead of time.
What you schedule will become a priority and something you can look forward to and get excited about!
5. Support: I haven’t asked for accountability or practical help from friends, family or my spouse to prioritize certain rhythms.
Try this: Do a holy habit with a friend or your spouse. Seriously, who said all your holy habits have to be done on your own? Think about the holy habit in your life you would most like to commit to and then think about who you could practice it with. Do you want to pray more? Commit to a time each day when you will pray with your spouse for as little as 5 minutes. Do you want to read your Bible more consistently? Start a Bible reading plan on the Bible app (YouVersion) with a friend. Do you want to serve at church but not sure you can commit? Convince a friend to join you and serve together.
You are far more likely to stay consistent with a holy habit when you are doing it alone!