I like to read and pray early in the morning. I’ve been known to do some extreme things to warm up my little office next to the kitchen. Sometimes I get out of bed and immediately put on snow pants, or set my space heater to 90 degrees to take the edge off, but my connection with God can still feel like biting into a piece of chocolate straight from the refrigerator if I open my Bible right up and start reading cold.
How can we more naturally warm up our time with Him? It doesn’t mean that we need to go out and “do” a bunch of things for God before we approach Him, but I find when I give pause to reflect on Him before I begin reading, it does make that connection easier.
This is how I have been starting my time with God and it has been helpful. In her book Fervent, Priscilla Shirer lays out the acronym PRAY. It’s easy to remember
- P-Praise
- Here I will say three things that God is like, “God you are worthy, God you are powerful, God you are my everything.”
- R-Repent
- Here there may be something specific to confess or broken patterns that I fall into, “God, I repent of being proud in trying to hold things together on my own.”
- A-Ask
- Here I ask, specifically because I am about to read His Word or pray, “Lord, I ask you to speak truth into my life today.”
- Y-Yes
- “Whatever you want today, Lord, I say yes.” “Amen.”
That’s it. It’s nothing revolutionary in terms of depth, but it has been revolutionary in centering my heart. “This is who You are God, this is who I am as I come before You, I ask You to speak and I say yes as You do.”
Give it a try. Maybe it will help to prime the floodgates of your heart.
