It's amazing how picking a different time of day to read the Bible and pray has given me a renewed enthusiasm for it. I haven't yet started the 'quiet times in the car' plan, as I've taken a couple of days off uni, but I've made an effort to spend some relaxed time with God in the middle of the day. It's been good - I think part of the reason is that I'm not trying to read a huge number of chapters at a time, and I'm not pressuring myself to have 28 life-changing moments before breakfast, so to speak. At the moment I'm reading a chapter of Acts per day - given how low my enthusiasm has been for this, I thought it better not to make things harder by starting with Chronicles or Leviticus.
Another thing that's really helped has been writing my prayers down. I was chatting with a friend the other day and she said she finds it helpful to write her prayers, and since doing that she's been enjoying prayer a lot more. At the time I thought, "Good for you, but that's not for me," but I decided to give it a go anyway... and I recant my former scepticism, because it's been really great. One fear I had was that I would be less than honest, because I'm not sure I want people finding this when I'm dead (!) but decided, meh - I'll be dead anyway; what do I care? I'm sure it would be good for my family to know what life is like as a Christian, since they're somewhat baffled by me at the best of times! Also, although I am someone who keeps diaries occasionally but not with any real regularity or enthusiasm, I thought it would feel a bit weird to write prayers down in the same way I'd say them... but it's not. I should have known it would be fine, since I've become a bit of a fan of free writing in a uni context, and I'm a letter-writer from way back. (Yes, I mean real letters, on paper, with a pen. Remember those?) And, you know.... I keep a blog! It's not that much different and makes it feel more like a dialogue with a real person. Which it is, of course.
Another thing that's really helped has been writing my prayers down. I was chatting with a friend the other day and she said she finds it helpful to write her prayers, and since doing that she's been enjoying prayer a lot more. At the time I thought, "Good for you, but that's not for me," but I decided to give it a go anyway... and I recant my former scepticism, because it's been really great. One fear I had was that I would be less than honest, because I'm not sure I want people finding this when I'm dead (!) but decided, meh - I'll be dead anyway; what do I care? I'm sure it would be good for my family to know what life is like as a Christian, since they're somewhat baffled by me at the best of times! Also, although I am someone who keeps diaries occasionally but not with any real regularity or enthusiasm, I thought it would feel a bit weird to write prayers down in the same way I'd say them... but it's not. I should have known it would be fine, since I've become a bit of a fan of free writing in a uni context, and I'm a letter-writer from way back. (Yes, I mean real letters, on paper, with a pen. Remember those?) And, you know.... I keep a blog! It's not that much different and makes it feel more like a dialogue with a real person. Which it is, of course.
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