Latest / Grace for My Home | Christian Women, Growing in Faith / 5 Tips for Having Meaningful Quiet Times with Jesus

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5 Tips for Having Meaningful Quiet Times with Jesus · Grace for My Home | Christian Women, Growing in Faith

• 1:15
  Audrey McCracken: Hello friends, welcome back to Grace for my Home.
• 1:17
  Audrey McCracken: I'm here this week to remind you that there is always enough grace for your home.
• 1:24
  Audrey McCracken: God loves you, he loves your children, he loves your home, he has good plans for you and he promises to supply everything we need to accomplish what he's asked of us.
• 1:36
  Audrey McCracken: So there is always enough grace.
• 1:38
  Audrey McCracken: There's enough grace today for you and for your family.
• 1:41
  Audrey McCracken: This week.
• 1:43
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• 1:45
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• 1:51
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• 2:03
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• 2:09
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• 2:13
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• 2:19
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• 2:34
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• 2:37
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• 2:45
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• 2:50
  Audrey McCracken: This week I want to talk with you about abiding in Christ and keeping that connection through daily quiet times.
• 3:00
  Audrey McCracken: At a very early age in my Christian walk, I had a pastor and I was sharing with him some of the struggles of being a new Christian and trying to figure this out, trying to do the right things, trying to grow in my faith, and some of the struggles I was having, and he encouraged me to daily spend time with Jesus.
• 3:29
  Audrey McCracken: He told me this is something that you need to do to keep up your spiritual health.
• 3:39
  Audrey McCracken: You have to talk to him, you have to read the word, you have to be with him because he is your strength and it really makes a lot of sense if you think about it.
• 3:54
  Audrey McCracken: You know we wouldn't go days without real food.
• 3:58
  Audrey McCracken: You know we wouldn't do that because our body needs it and we wouldn't be weak and eventually die unless we took in nourishment.
• 4:07
  Audrey McCracken: And we took in water.
• 4:09
  Audrey McCracken: And that's what it's like to spend time with Jesus.
• 4:13
  Audrey McCracken: It is taking in the nourishment that our spirit needs.
• 4:16
  Audrey McCracken: It is taking in the water that our souls crave.
• 4:21
  Audrey McCracken: You know, jesus is the bread of life and we need him.
• 4:24
  Audrey McCracken: We need to spend time with him if we're going to grow spiritually.
• 4:29
  Audrey McCracken: You know we, in and of ourselves, we're very weak creatures.
• 4:33
  Audrey McCracken: You know we don't have the wisdom that we need.
• 4:37
  Audrey McCracken: We don't have the wisdom that we need, we don't have the strength that we need.
• 4:40
  Audrey McCracken: You know we cannot obey God without God.
• 4:43
  Audrey McCracken: If we could, you know, if God, if it was just about obeying the commandments, if God, you know, gave people the commandments and they obeyed them, then Jesus wouldn't have had to come.
• 4:57
  Audrey McCracken: But he knew we couldn't do that.
• 5:00
  Audrey McCracken: You know, in our sinful nature and our broken self and our flesh, we cannot obey God.
• 5:08
  Audrey McCracken: We might, can do good things for a while, but our very nature is corrupt and that's why we needed a savior, and so the only way to grow is to spend time with him.
• 5:22
  Audrey McCracken: You know, when you come into a relationship and you find somebody and you want to get to know that person.
• 5:28
  Audrey McCracken: The only way for that relationship to grow and to be stronger and for you to really know that person is to spend time with them.
• 5:35
  Audrey McCracken: And that's how it was and still is.
• 5:38
  Audrey McCracken: When I came to the Lord, I needed to know this Savior, I needed to know him.
• 5:44
  Audrey McCracken: You know, paul said that's my one desire is that I would know him, and that has to be our one desire too is to know the Lord.
• 5:52
  Audrey McCracken: What is he like?
• 5:54
  Audrey McCracken: What is what does he like?
• 5:57
  Audrey McCracken: What kind of things does he not like?
• 6:00
  Audrey McCracken: You know, those are the kind of things that we find out when we spend time with him.
• 6:05
  Audrey McCracken: And when I say spend time with him, I mean time just you and the Lord, and prayer and reading his word and talking to him and fellowshipping with him.
• 6:15
  Audrey McCracken: That's how you get to know him.
• 6:17
  Audrey McCracken: Now Jesus said I am the vine, you are the branches.
• 6:21
  Audrey McCracken: If you abide in me, you will bear much fruit.
• 6:25
  Audrey McCracken: And that's his desire for us is for us to bear much fruit, is for us to be like him.
• 6:35
  Audrey McCracken: And the wonderful thing about spending time with Jesus and getting to know Jesus is it not only does it strengthen our relationship with him, which it most certainly does, but it helps us to not be deceived.
• 6:49
  Audrey McCracken: See, people will come and tell you what Jesus is like and what he's.
• 6:54
  Audrey McCracken: You know what he wants from us and what we're supposed to be doing as Christians.
• 6:58
  Audrey McCracken: And if we don't know the Lord for ourselves, then we can be quickly and easily led astray.
• 7:07
  Audrey McCracken: I mean, we can be led astray if we do know the Lord.
• 7:10
  Audrey McCracken: You know the Lord said that in time, if he didn't short the time, even the very elect would be deceived.
• 7:16
  Audrey McCracken: So I mean, deception isn't something that any of us are above.
• 7:19
  Audrey McCracken: None of us are above the risk of being deceived.
• 7:25
  Audrey McCracken: But knowing the Lord and knowing the things of God and knowing the word greatly increases our ability to detect things that aren't from God.
• 7:37
  Audrey McCracken: You know, sometimes people will come to you and they'll say crazy things.
• 7:40
  Audrey McCracken: And if you're not sure, if you're not, if you don't know the word, you know there's a temptation to even believe it, especially if that person has been serving the Lord longer than you.
• 7:49
  Audrey McCracken: But when you know the Lord and you've gotten in the word and you know what it says, and people bring things to you that are just off the wall or that just don't settle right, then you can have the confidence of knowing that's not true.
• 8:05
  Audrey McCracken: And so when we spend time with the Lord, we get to know what he's like, we get to know him, we get to fall in love with him and we get to, we get stronger in our faith, and we get stronger in our faith and we get more confident in our faith.
• 8:19
  Audrey McCracken: That's why it's so important we would not go days without eating natural food, and that's how it is with the Lord.
• 8:31
  Audrey McCracken: If we're going to grow spiritually, we have to draw near to Him, we have to spend time with Him, and those can be some of the most special and precious times, when we shut out the world and we say okay, lord, right now I'm giving you my attention, I'm giving you my undivided attention.
• 8:51
  Audrey McCracken: Reveal your word to me, and he will do that.
• 8:55
  Audrey McCracken: He will show you the things that you need to know to live your life the way he has asked you to, to be successful in your walk with him.
• 9:06
  Audrey McCracken: And let me tell you being successful in your walk with him, what that really means is just obeying him.
• 9:12
  Audrey McCracken: Obedience is the goal.
• 9:14
  Audrey McCracken: That is what success looks like in the kingdom of God is being obedient to him.
• 9:19
  Audrey McCracken: And so today, I want to share with you a few things that I have found helpful when it over the years, when it comes to spending time with the Lord, and please keep in mind that your time with the Lord will change throughout the years, and that's okay.
• 9:37
  Audrey McCracken: This is not a sprint, this is a marathon.
• 9:39
  Audrey McCracken: You know, this isn't a project.
• 9:42
  Audrey McCracken: Spending time with the Lord isn't something that you just commit to doing for a few months.
• 9:46
  Audrey McCracken: It should be a part of your life, something that is bedrock in your life.
• 9:51
  Audrey McCracken: That this is what I do through all seasons.
• 9:54
  Audrey McCracken: Now I will tell you that it changes during the seasons.
• 9:58
  Audrey McCracken: When I was a young mom, that looked a lot different than it does now.
• 10:03
  Audrey McCracken: Before I had children, my quiet times looked a lot different than they do now, and I'm sure five, six years from now it's going to look different.
• 10:14
  Audrey McCracken: Every season is different, but the important thing is to make that time with him a priority, and so I want to encourage you this week.
• 10:24
  Audrey McCracken: I want to give you a few ideas of things that you can do if you have not established quiet times.
• 10:31
  Audrey McCracken: If that's not something that you do, I want to encourage you to do so and give you some tips on how to do that If you do have quiet times and I hope that I'm preaching to the choir, I hope every one of you that's listening that this is something that you do.
• 10:43
  Audrey McCracken: But if you do, I want to encourage you to keep it up.
• 10:46
  Audrey McCracken: There are seasons when I'm dry and I come to the Lord and my quiet times are not flowing.
• 10:57
  Audrey McCracken: And I come to the Lord and my quiet times are not flowing, and you know I don't have any great thing that happens or any feeling or anything like that that happens during my quiet times.
• 11:06
  Audrey McCracken: But I know he's there and I'm not doing it for a feeling, right, I'm doing it because I want to get to know him, and so quiet times are one of those things that we do by faith.
• 11:17
  Audrey McCracken: And there's fruit, but it's not always immediately evident.
• 11:22
  Audrey McCracken: You're like that tree planted by the streams of water, and so when you have quiet times, it's like you're drawing on those streams of water.
• 11:31
  Audrey McCracken: You know you're planted, you're not going anywhere and you're trusting that he's speaking to me, he's feeding me, he's teaching me the way.
• 11:42
  Audrey McCracken: The first thing that I encourage you to do is to set aside a time and a place and say this is when I'm going to spend time with the Lord, and this is where I'm going to spend time with the Lord.
• 11:56
  Audrey McCracken: Spend time with the Lord, and this is where I'm going to spend time with the Lord.
• 12:38
  Audrey McCracken: A wise person told me years ago If you make an appointment with God, he will meet you there.
• 12:46
  Audrey McCracken: Think about that.
• 12:47
  Audrey McCracken: If you make an appointment with God, he will show up Because you've made him a priority, and so when you say I'm going to meet God here, he will be there.
• 13:03
  Audrey McCracken: And I have found that throughout the years, the mornings seem to be the best time for me, but that may not be the same for you.
• 13:12
  Audrey McCracken: So my quiet times, I like to start them in the morning, and I have a chair.
• 13:17
  Audrey McCracken: There's a chair in my bedroom, by a window, where I have my quiet times and I'm I know I'm going to meet the Lord here.
• 13:29
  Audrey McCracken: This is where I'm going to pray, this is where I'm going to have, this is where I'm going to read the Bible, and so set a place and set a time during the day that this is when and where I meet the Lord.
• 13:43
  Audrey McCracken: Number two is be prepared and have a plan.
• 13:52
  Audrey McCracken: Okay, if you don't have a plan in mind, if you just sit down in the chair and you don't really know what you're going to do and you haven't gathered your things and you haven't thought about what I need, about what I need, then you're not going to get very far and you'll spend half the time trying to figure out what you're going to do.
• 14:18
  Audrey McCracken: And so for me, it is helpful to have my things beside me, which would be my Bible, a devotional book, my journal, maybe a list of things I want to pray for, my prayer list.
• 14:32
  Audrey McCracken: I have those things right by my chair.
• 14:35
  Audrey McCracken: I'm actually sitting in this chair right now as I talk to you.
• 14:38
  Audrey McCracken: You know, right by my chair, stacks of books, things that I like to use during my devotional time.
• 14:44
  Audrey McCracken: I almost have like a little nest here, but I have a plan.
• 14:48
  Audrey McCracken: Now, how does my devotional usually work?
• 14:50
  Audrey McCracken: Please understand, I'm not telling you these things so you can say, well, I'm gonna do it just like her.
• 14:54
  Audrey McCracken: I'm just telling you it's good to think about these things because it makes them happen.
• 15:00
  Audrey McCracken: When you think about where and when and how I'm going to do this, it increases the odds of it happening, and so my little routine for quiet time and this changes up.
• 15:15
  Audrey McCracken: This is not written in stone anywhere, but what has helped me is to start off with a good devotional.
• 15:20
  Audrey McCracken: That was advice someone gave me years ago and I have found it to be good and true in my life, that if I can start off with a good devotional that sets the tone life, that if I can start off with a good devotional that sets the tone and then I move on to my Bible.
• 15:38
  Audrey McCracken: I have different ways of reading through the Bible or reading the Bible.
• 15:39
  Audrey McCracken: I go from a devotional to actually reading the word, reading the Bible, and then I pray.
• 15:44
  Audrey McCracken: Then, either at the end of all that or in between all that, I journal as I'm sitting and I'm thinking and I'm praying and I'm reading the Word.
• 15:56
  Audrey McCracken: A lot of times there'll be things I want to remember later, and so I have my pen, my paper close by and I'll jot those things down.
• 16:02
  Audrey McCracken: Sometimes it's just the things that I need to do.
• 16:05
  Audrey McCracken: See, nothing in the world can make you think of all the things that you need to do that you haven't done, like sitting down and trying to spend time with the Lord.
• 16:16
  Audrey McCracken: Everything in the world comes at your mind oh, I didn't do this, I didn't make that phone call, I didn't, I didn't pick this up, no-transcript with them, and I won't forget them.
• 16:42
  Audrey McCracken: You know it's kind of like, okay, I've written it down, now I won't forget it.
• 16:45
  Audrey McCracken: I times and that is very therapeutic for me, that's very healing for me when I can get my thoughts on paper and I can write down anything that I feel like the Lord is impressed on my heart, and so that's kinda how I do my quiet time.
• 17:05
  Audrey McCracken: I start with the devotional, I go to the Bible, I go to prayer and then a journal, either at the end or all through that process.
• 17:10
  Audrey McCracken: Now, throughout the Bible, I go to prayer and then I journal, either at the end or all through that process.
• 17:15
  Audrey McCracken: Now, throughout the years I have used all different kinds of devotionals.
• 17:19
  Audrey McCracken: I have some that I love so much that I just keep circling back through them and I'm going to put together, I'm going to compile a list of my favorites and I'm going to put that a link to that list in the show notes of this episode so that you can see the ones that I've used over the years and the ones that I would recommend and there are a lot out there that are just as good as the ones I'm going to recommend, but these are the ones that that I know are good because I've used them and, like I said, they're it's just to get me started, just a short devotional to get my mind set on the things of the Lord.
• 17:58
  Audrey McCracken: As far as the Bible reading, oh wow, there's so many different ways to read the Bible.
• 18:03
  Audrey McCracken: Sometimes I'll do a topic study where I have one topic like let's say that my topic is peace, that I'm really wanting to read scriptures on peace.
• 18:11
  Audrey McCracken: Well, I'll just search the Bible and read, read scriptures about peace.
• 18:16
  Audrey McCracken: If sometimes I will read a particular chapter, I'll say okay, this I think it was last summer I read through the gospels and that was helpful because each day when I sat down, I had a plan.
• 18:28
  Audrey McCracken: I wasn't just, you know, hoping that the Bible fell open at a good spot and because that's that feels like to me, that's that's hard for me.
• 18:36
  Audrey McCracken: I do better when I when I sit down, knowing that I have a certain place to go.
• 18:41
  Audrey McCracken: Right now I am doing a read through the Bible plan and it's supposed to be read through the Bible in a year.
• 18:48
  Audrey McCracken: It's going to take me a lot longer.
• 18:50
  Audrey McCracken: It's probably to take me a lot longer.
• 18:51
  Audrey McCracken: It's probably going to take me closer to two years.
• 18:52
  Audrey McCracken: But does it really matter?
• 18:53
  Audrey McCracken: You know, does it really matter.
• 18:54
  Audrey McCracken: And so right now I'm reading through the Bible with my little plan and, and that's been helpful.
• 19:05
  Audrey McCracken: And I deviate from that.
• 19:05
  Audrey McCracken: Guys, none of this is written in stone, you know, it's whatever the Lord speaks to you, it's however you learn.
• 19:08
  Audrey McCracken: Aren't you glad that we don't all have to be the same, that we don't all have to do it the same, you know, I just I love that freedom that we have in Christ to be ourselves and to know that he talks to us all in different ways, and that's okay, but that's.
• 19:25
  Audrey McCracken: Number two is just having is being prepared and having a plan.
• 19:32
  Audrey McCracken: Number three is limit the distractions.
• 19:37
  Audrey McCracken: Now, this is a big one for me.
• 19:38
  Audrey McCracken: I am easily distracted.
• 19:42
  Audrey McCracken: Ask anybody who knows me.
• 19:44
  Audrey McCracken: I'm easily distracted, and so I have to get rid of anything that is going to sabotage my time at the Lord.
• 19:53
  Audrey McCracken: My cell phone is a big one.
• 19:55
  Audrey McCracken: I want it near me in case, you know, like right now I have a son in Florida.
• 20:00
  Audrey McCracken: You know if he's texting or calling, I want to be able to see that.
• 20:03
  Audrey McCracken: But just having that phone there distracts me.
• 20:08
  Audrey McCracken: If it dings, if it rings, you know, if anything, then it just it completely derails my time with the Lord.
• 20:17
  Audrey McCracken: Now I know people that that's not a problem.
• 20:19
  Audrey McCracken: They can play worship music on their phone and have their devotion time and that's great.
• 20:24
  Audrey McCracken: But I'm not one of those.
• 20:25
  Audrey McCracken: I have to put the phone away.
• 20:26
  Audrey McCracken: You know I have to shut the door.
• 20:27
  Audrey McCracken: Sometimes I'll have to tell my kids I'm having devotion time.
• 20:32
  Audrey McCracken: You know I'm having quiet time.
• 20:34
  Audrey McCracken: Don't come in here, knock on the door unless it's an emergency.
• 20:37
  Audrey McCracken: And so I try my best to limit distractions.
• 20:42
  Audrey McCracken: I will tell you a funny story.
• 20:44
  Audrey McCracken: This week I was taking my son, david, who's been sick.
• 20:47
  Audrey McCracken: I was taking him back and forth to the doctor and we were talking about you know, I still encourage my sons to have quiet times, to have times where they read and pray.
• 20:57
  Audrey McCracken: And we were talking about that and he said something.
• 21:03
  Audrey McCracken: And he said Mama, you remember when we were little and we were homeschooling and you would tell us to go to our room and have, you know, 20, 30 minute quiet times.
• 21:12
  Audrey McCracken: And I used to do that our room and have, you know, 20, 30-minute quiet times.
• 21:13
  Audrey McCracken: And I used to do that.
• 21:14
  Audrey McCracken: I'd tell them, you know, go to your room.
• 21:15
  Audrey McCracken: I'd set a timer, I'd get them a snack.
• 21:18
  Audrey McCracken: I'd say go to your room, you know we're going to have a 30-minute quiet time.
• 21:21
  Audrey McCracken: You've got to read.
• 21:22
  Audrey McCracken: You can, you know, read whatever you want, but you've got to go to your own room and be quiet.
• 21:27
  Audrey McCracken: He said, mama, we never did that.
• 21:31
  Audrey McCracken: He said you would, you know, go in your room, but we would play and you know, we would go back and forth to each other's rooms and we would talk, and, and he said we never sat and read.
• 21:43
  Audrey McCracken: And I said, honey, quiet time wasn't about you.
• 21:46
  Audrey McCracken: Yes, I was trying to help you establish routines and learn how to sit and be still for a while, but it was really so Mama could have a few minutes of quiet herself.
• 22:02
  Audrey McCracken: I said so, don't worry, I knew things were going on.
• 22:06
  Audrey McCracken: I just was trying to have, you know, a 20-minute time for myself in the middle of the afternoon so that I could be nice for the rest of the day.
• 22:14
  Audrey McCracken: And so, you know, I just thought that was cute.
• 22:17
  Audrey McCracken: He thought they thought they were getting away with something, and I'm like, honey, it was.
• 22:20
  Audrey McCracken: It was all about me having quiet time, not you.
• 22:23
  Audrey McCracken: But you know those distractions, you know, and I know this is not for everybody.
• 22:29
  Audrey McCracken: Okay, you know, when you have toddlers, that's all that is is a distraction.
• 22:33
  Audrey McCracken: I mean, this is almost.
• 22:34
  Audrey McCracken: You know, there were times when it just felt impossible for me to have devotions, but I was still committed to it and at that time things looked a whole lot different than they do now.
• 22:45
  Audrey McCracken: You know I would, and I have a devotional guide to that.
• 22:50
  Audrey McCracken: I will once again, I'll share that in the notes.
• 22:54
  Audrey McCracken: I have a link to a devotional guide that I put together to help people who want to have a quiet time but struggle with establishing one, and I'll put a link to that devotional guide in the show notes.
• 23:09
  Audrey McCracken: But in that devotional guide what made me think of it was I have what I call fill in the pockets with Jesus and there were.
• 23:21
  Audrey McCracken: There was just no time when my boys were all under three years old and there was no time for me to have what I wanted to have as far as like a sit down devotional time.
• 23:33
  Audrey McCracken: I sat down time, I got one asleep, I had another one up and, and this went on from, you know, six, five, six o'clock in the morning until ten o'clock at night, and I remember thinking I mean I'm never going to be able to have a devotional again, I'm never going to be able to sit down and actually pray again.
• 23:51
  Audrey McCracken: And the Lord helped me to see that there were little pockets in the day, that they weren't enough.
• 24:01
  Audrey McCracken: They weren't enough to sit down and have a devotional, but when you put them all together they made up a substantial amount of time.
• 24:08
  Audrey McCracken: And so what I would do is I would take that time to read a scripture.
• 24:14
  Audrey McCracken: You know, I would get the app on my phone, a scripture a day.
• 24:17
  Audrey McCracken: And if it was just five minutes or while they were playing, you know, while they were playing at the park or in the backyard, and I would sit and watch them, I would pull up my scripture and I would meditate on that scripture.
• 24:29
  Audrey McCracken: And then, you know, there were times like when I had to run to the grocery store and I would pray during that time.
• 24:38
  Audrey McCracken: The shower was another place where I would pray.
• 24:41
  Audrey McCracken: In the shower and, guys, it never felt like enough.
• 24:45
  Audrey McCracken: But there's a, there's a principle, it's actually a scripture.
• 24:49
  Audrey McCracken: It says if we draw near to God, he will draw near to us.
• 24:52
  Audrey McCracken: And so I saw it as Lord, I'm drawing near to you.
• 24:56
  Audrey McCracken: You know it's not.
• 24:58
  Audrey McCracken: It's kind of like the widow's mite.
• 24:59
  Audrey McCracken: Right, I know it's not enough, I know you deserve so much more, but this is what I have and I give it to you.
• 25:06
  Audrey McCracken: And that's how I saw it.
• 25:09
  Audrey McCracken: I was filling the little pockets I had during the day with the Lord.
• 25:12
  Audrey McCracken: My husband one time asked me Audrey, why do you spend so long in the shower?
• 25:19
  Audrey McCracken: And I said, honey, that's the only place that I can be by myself, it's the only place that I don't have somebody pulling on me.
• 25:27
  Audrey McCracken: And I didn't realize I was doing it, but my thought about it.
• 25:29
  Audrey McCracken: I thought, yeah, I do take long showers.
• 25:31
  Audrey McCracken: It's because that was my prayer place, that's where I could be alone with the Lord, if it was just for 15 minutes.
• 25:37
  Audrey McCracken: And so you know, if this doesn't apply to you, if you're in a season that this just seems impossible, just ask the Lord to show you how to connect with him in an untraditional way.
• 25:50
  Audrey McCracken: And, like I said, when my boys got older, when they were seven, eight, I tried to have quiet times during the day where I would put them in their room with a snack and say, okay, this is your quiet time, but it was really my quiet time and I would get so frustrated some days.
• 26:08
  Audrey McCracken: Some days it just didn't matter how, didn't matter how I put, it didn't matter what kind of snack days, it just didn't matter how, didn't matter how I put, it didn't matter what kind of snack I gave them, doesn't matter what kind of time limit I gave them.
• 26:16
  Audrey McCracken: You know they just would not stay in their rooms and that's okay.
• 26:19
  Audrey McCracken: You know, you get through.
• 26:21
  Audrey McCracken: You get through and then you look back and you think, god, you were with me the whole time.
• 26:26
  Audrey McCracken: You know, even when I felt like I'm just doing such a bad job at this devotional thing, even when I felt like I'm just doing such a bad job at this devotional thing, he sees your heart and it matters.
• 26:37
  Audrey McCracken: It matters that you're straining towards him, because he gives grace when he sees that we're trying.
• 26:42
  Audrey McCracken: And the fourth thing I want to say about devotionals is ask the Holy Spirit to help you.
• 26:50
  Audrey McCracken: Devotionals is ask the Holy Spirit to help you.
• 26:51
  Audrey McCracken: When Jesus was getting ready to go back to heaven, when he was getting ready to leave, and he knew his time was coming, was coming, where he would be crucified, he drew his disciples to him at the last supper, at the Passover meal, and it talks about this in John 14 through 18.
• 27:12
  Audrey McCracken: He drew his disciples close to him and he started telling them I'm going to send the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit, he is going to teach you all things.
• 27:22
  Audrey McCracken: He is going to be your helper, he is your advocate and he will teach you all things.
• 27:27
  Audrey McCracken: Be your helper, he is your advocate and he will teach you all things.
• 27:34
  Audrey McCracken: And he will remind you of the things that I have said to you.
• 27:36
  Audrey McCracken: And we need the Holy Spirit and we can ask him when you go and you sit down to have your quiet time.
• 27:42
  Audrey McCracken: You know, maybe the Bible is very intimidating to you, maybe you're not sure how to pray.
• 27:46
  Audrey McCracken: You know, even the disciples said Lord, teach us how to pray.
• 27:49
  Audrey McCracken: But sit down and say Holy Spirit, here I am.
• 27:54
  Audrey McCracken: Jesus said you're here to guide me into all truth.
• 27:58
  Audrey McCracken: Show me what you want to say to me today.
• 28:02
  Audrey McCracken: And I believe he answers that prayer.
• 28:07
  Audrey McCracken: He'll open up the scriptures to us.
• 28:09
  Audrey McCracken: He will help us to understand them.
• 28:12
  Audrey McCracken: He will remind us of the things in God's word that we've stored up in our hearts when we need them.
• 28:19
  Audrey McCracken: That he will help us pray.
• 28:22
  Audrey McCracken: He'll show us how to pray.
• 28:23
  Audrey McCracken: He will help us.
• 28:24
  Audrey McCracken: Pray, he will help us.
• 28:25
  Audrey McCracken: And I think that that we're really missing out when we don't ask the Holy Spirit to do the very thing that Jesus sent him here on Earth to do, and that is to help us and to comfort us and to lead us and guide us into all truth.
• 28:40
  Audrey McCracken: So when you sit down to pray, to have time with the Lord, ask the Holy Spirit to help you.
• 28:46
  Audrey McCracken: And number five is don't be discouraged.
• 28:52
  Audrey McCracken: I do not hear from the Lord every time I sit down and have a devotional.
• 28:55
  Audrey McCracken: I do not feel something every time I sit down to have a devotional with the Lord, and if we're looking for a feeling, we might miss what God wants to say.
• 29:07
  Audrey McCracken: If we're looking for a feeling, we might miss what God wants to say.
• 29:09
  Audrey McCracken: Now, I love it when I feel Him near.
• 29:11
  Audrey McCracken: Don't get me wrong.
• 29:12
  Audrey McCracken: I'm not against it.
• 29:13
  Audrey McCracken: It's just I've learned that I can't always go by my feelings, either good or bad.
• 29:27
  Audrey McCracken: This past Sunday, my husband shared something in church and I'd never seen it put that way, but it was really helpful.
• 29:29
  Audrey McCracken: He was talking about emotions and feelings and how, how we are to deal with them, and he was saying think of them as like children, and you know when you're going on a road trip with children, you can't stuff them in the trunk.
• 29:44
  Audrey McCracken: You know, maybe they're screaming, maybe they're loud, maybe they're driving you up the wall, but you can't throw them in the trunk, no matter how much you may want to.
• 29:55
  Audrey McCracken: It's not a good idea, it's not going to end well, it's not right.
• 29:59
  Audrey McCracken: But at the same time, you can't put them in the driver's seat.
• 30:05
  Audrey McCracken: That's not a good idea either.
• 30:09
  Audrey McCracken: We need to listen to our emotions, we need to respect them and deal with them honestly, but we can't let them drive us and we can't let them run our lives and we can't stuff them.
• 30:28
  Audrey McCracken: And I just thought that was the best illustration.
• 30:31
  Audrey McCracken: And that's how that applies to so many areas, and it applies to devotions and quiet times too.
• 30:38
  Audrey McCracken: Just because you don't hear something or feel something every time you sit down to talk to the Lord doesn't mean that it's not doing something.
• 30:47
  Audrey McCracken: It's bringing nourishment to your soul.
• 30:50
  Audrey McCracken: It's bringing life to your spirit.
• 30:53
  Audrey McCracken: I do it by faith, by faith that I am feeding myself with the word.
• 31:00
  Audrey McCracken: I'm renewing my mind with the word, and it makes a difference because I'm faithful in it.
• 31:06
  Audrey McCracken: And it makes a difference because I'm faithful in it.
• 31:08
  Audrey McCracken: And so don't get discouraged.
• 31:10
  Audrey McCracken: If things don't go the way you think they're supposed to go, and if you don't have these wonderful experiences every time you sit down with your Bible and you sit down to pray, don't get discouraged, keep going.
• 31:29
  Audrey McCracken: Like I said before, this is not a sprint, it's a marathon, it's a way of life.
• 31:32
  Audrey McCracken: You're establishing something for a lifetime, not for days or weeks or months, but for years.
• 31:39
  Audrey McCracken: And it makes a difference because it's like you're planted.
• 31:43
  Audrey McCracken: You're that tree in Psalm 1 that is planted by the streams of water.
• 31:46
  Audrey McCracken: You're not moving because things seem dry right now.
• 31:47
  Audrey McCracken: You're that tree in Psalm 1 that is planted by the streams of water.
• 31:48
  Audrey McCracken: You're not moving because things seem dry right now.
• 31:50
  Audrey McCracken: You know that, even though the riverbed may look dry, that underneath there is streams that you can't see and maybe you don't feel them.
• 32:00
  Audrey McCracken: But you're in the right place and God is bringing you the grace you need, right where you are.
• 32:05
  Audrey McCracken: And as you keep going to him, as you draw near to him, he will draw near to you and you grow and you see where God's been faithful.
• 32:13
  Audrey McCracken: And there are times when you sit down, there have been times when I've thought Lord, I need to hear from you today.
• 32:19
  Audrey McCracken: I am struggling in this or I'm battling this and I need wisdom here.
• 32:24
  Audrey McCracken: And he'd bring the wisdom and it was just.
• 32:28
  Audrey McCracken: It's refreshing and it's wonderful.
• 32:30
  Audrey McCracken: But just because it's not always like that doesn't mean that it's not important.
• 32:37
  Audrey McCracken: So I encourage you, don't get discouraged, keep praying, keep praying.
• 32:42
  Audrey McCracken: And I can't encourage you enough to start having quiet times, to continue having quiet times if you already are, to take that time and set it apart and say this is my time with the Lord and I'm growing in him and I'm getting to know him and he is a priority in my life.
• 33:00
  Audrey McCracken: And at the same time, don't beat yourself up if it doesn't happen every day or you just can't seem to make it happen every day.
• 33:09
  Audrey McCracken: Do what you can.
• 33:11
  Audrey McCracken: Do what you can.
• 33:13
  Audrey McCracken: You know it may seem small.
• 33:15
  Audrey McCracken: This may seem small, and maybe it seems insignificant, but it's very powerful.
• 33:23
  Audrey McCracken: As I said before, I'm going to put some links in the show notes.
• 33:26
  Audrey McCracken: I'll put a link to my devotional guide.
• 33:29
  Audrey McCracken: It's called Draw Near to here and I will put that in the show notes.
• 33:34
  Audrey McCracken: I'll also put a link to my favorite devotionals and I hope they're a blessing to you.
• 33:40
  Audrey McCracken: I hope you'll check them out and see if they're a blessing to you.
• 33:44
  Audrey McCracken: Some of them.
• 33:44
  Audrey McCracken: One of them is the first devotional that I ever used.
• 33:49
  Audrey McCracken: When I became a Christian.
• 33:50
  Audrey McCracken: Somebody told me to go to the bookstore Back then we bought books at a bookstore and someone told me to go to a Christian bookstore and get a devotional and to start my quiet times with that each day.
• 34:02
  Audrey McCracken: And I did.
• 34:03
  Audrey McCracken: And that same book you can buy today on Amazon, and there's nothing magical about the book.
• 34:07
  Audrey McCracken: It's just a blessing to me because it reminds me of how faithful God has been through the years.
• 34:12
  Audrey McCracken: And there's some new ones and some old ones, but they're all.
• 34:15
  Audrey McCracken: I've read them all, and so I'll put a link to those in the show notes.
• 34:20
  Audrey McCracken: And don't forget to send me your questions.
• 34:22
  Audrey McCracken: If you have any questions you want me to address on the question and answer episode, then I'll do that.
• 34:29
  Audrey McCracken: And before you go, I'd like to say a prayer over you, father.
• 34:33
  Audrey McCracken: I thank you for these ladies and I believe that their desire is to know and love you and to serve you, and I pray that you would draw them to you by your Holy Spirit to pray and spend time with you every day.
• 34:47
  Audrey McCracken: I pray, lord, god, that their devotions would be sweet.
• 34:53
  Audrey McCracken: And, lord, that you would speak to them.
• 34:54
  Audrey McCracken: And, lord, god, that you would give them the confidence that you're answering their prayers, that you hear their prayers and that you care about them, and that the things that burden them, the things that concern them, or those things concern you too, because you care, and we thank you for it.
• 35:08
  Audrey McCracken: Father, we thank you for your faithfulness and we ask you, lord, to teach us faithfulness In Jesus' name, amen.