Woman to Woman: When God Feels Far Away

At times, we feel distant from God, not because we are "mad at Him" or think He is punishing us; but because life's hard wears us down. During such times, it is not easy to connect with God in the way we need or desire. Today I share three ways to recapture your communion with God.

Recapturing Your Communion with God

When the spiritual desert feels never ending or you simply feel distant from God, remember you are not alone. We all travel these dry and hard places at times; it is not an indication of failure on your part.

More importantly, remember God promised never to leave or forsake you, (Deuteronomy 31:8)

Recently my devotional reading and prayer time felt dry; I struggled to focus and failed to remember what I read or make application.

My mind wandered in prayer and my Bible memory work slipped. Desperately needing a refreshing reset, I ended up making things harder leading to even more discouragement!

I felt God calling me to place of stillness and simplicity, less doing, more being.

Be Still

Sometimes the best advice is the simple advice; "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm46:10) I shared a great mindfulness technique for enhancing a time of stillness with Psalm 46:10 in a recent post.

We rarely simply "sit" with God enjoying His presence; no praying, reading, praising or time constrictions. Just "BEING". Time spent in comfortable silence with God reminds us He cares not for performance; He desires fellowship with us.

Break Your Routine

When I struggle connecting with God, most often my devotional time feels stuck. A creature of habit, I tend towards doing the same thing every day. But refreshment often comes from something new.

Shake up your routine; do your daily Bible reading aloud, it's powerful hearing your own voice read scripture. Or listen to the Bible read by someone else.

Instead of reading a lengthy passage, simply read a few verses or a psalm, and meditate on those verses throughout your day.

Do your devotionals in a new location; go outside, or on a walk. Even changing the room or area of your home makes a big difference.

Perhaps pick a psalm or chapter to focus on for an entire week, you may be surprised what you see through repetition.

Instead of a comprehensive prayer time over a long list, pray simply for the first thing that comes to mind.

Relax any achievement standards for your quiet time and shatter the norm.

Boldly Praise

We all know the power of gratitude, but even gratitude journals, joy lists, and counting blessings gets stale sometimes.

Plus, I can get stuck in a gratitude binge that ends up being more self-focused; thanking God for things that pertain only to me.

Grab a list of the attributes of God and choose one per day, intentionally praising God for who He is not just for what He's done.

When we intentionally focus on the magnitude of God's attributes, we are drawn into Him, seeing Him, experiencing Him in new ways. Our focus shifts from ourselves, our burdens, and our perspective to the Holy One in our midst!

Be Hopeful

We all encounter times where God feels far away, we feel distracted, and our world feels chaotic. But rather than putting our heads down and plodding through with the same old methods, beating ourselves into shape and performing for God; be willing to sit down, be still and seek refreshment in new ways.

Stop striving and allow God to furnish streams in the desert and unleash the Living Water of his Word into all your dry places.

Reflection:

Which one of the areas above resonated with you the most?

What one simple change can you make today to shift a little closer to God?