For many teens it is hard to find free time. School, sports, friends, and many other things take up the little time we have. At times it seems hard to find even a little time for God. Far too often we look at our relationship with God as something meaningless or as something that can be put aside when we are "too busy" to maintain it. Why is this? Well, it means at the moment other things are more important to us than God and our relationship with Him. If you want to prioritize your life and make time for God, then read on and maybe you will learn a little that will help you while prioritizing.
1.What is the value of spending time with God?
Before we consider the value of spending time with God, we need to know what spending time with God really is. Prayer, study of the Bible, praise and worship all are considered spending time with God. Let's take a look at each thing we can do and let's see how it applies to our lives.
A. Prayer, it is a beautiful thing, because it is talking directly to God. It can bring us a lot closer to God. God loves to hear our prayers. Proverbs 15:8, "The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him." Prayer is such a powerful tool we have been blessed with. James 5:15, "And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven." It amazes me how easy it is to access God's forgiveness, when we humans find it so hard to forgive and seem to take so long to forgive. If we only realize the greatness of prayer, then we would all be able to appreciate it a little more than we have.
B. God has given us the Bible to read and gain wisdom about Him and how our lives should be lived. Romans 15:4, "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." As we see in these verses, the Bible was written to teach us and to help us teach others about God. If we really think about it, the messages in the Bible apply to every moment in our daily lives and will help us make the right decisions. Colossians 3:16, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom."
C. Psalm 22:23, "You who fear the LORD, praise him!" True worship and praise to God is one of the greatest experiences we can have. It should be a daily thing for us. Ephesians 5:19-20, "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." We should always be praising God, for this is one of the most uplifting ways to spend time with God.
2. When should we spend time with God?
Ephesians 6:18,"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." The answer is all the time. We can have a verse of the Bible going through our head while we do a chore. We can play sports and glorify Him through our actions and/or achievements. When we listen to Christian music, it at times seems to be just a form of entertainment, but it can be turned into a very worshipful time. The point of all this is making God the center of our lives and revolving our lives around Him. Just look at your life and try to realize how much time you really have that could be spent with God.
Even though it might be hard and take a while, making time to be with God is always worth it. God wants to spend time with you, don't you want to spend time with Him?
