Devotional time

[Sunbeam]

Does anyone have a devotional structure where they do things in a certain order?

 

[endure]

hey, Godbless you.
well no one has replied yet so i will.
just so you are not disheartened that your call was ignored that your question wasnt cared for. i hope you will take the time to read all of this, from this younger vessel in the Lord who honors you for your age and how you have probly served the Lord longer than i.

well, im not really one for structures or certain orders becuase i dont beleive God has a formula for anything he does.

like prayer for example. i do not beleive there is any FORMULA for prayer.
and i mean i do not beleive there are any STEPS to prayer.
its not so easy as baking a cake where you know all the certain ingredients and you know just how much to use and you put them together you WOOLAHH...you have a nice cake.
you cant go into a labratory and disect prayer, and see what its made of.
what i mean is that there is no such thing as
"JOHN DOE'S SEVEN STEPS OF PRAYER!"
"do this..plus this..plus this..plus 2 of these...and BOOM...YOUVE GOT A GREAT PRAYER!"
thats not how it works.
there is no guaranteed few steps...to an awesome prayer...
and i beleive the same goes for an awesome devotional or time alone with God.
you cant say
"praise for 5 mins.... worship for 10 mins...pray for 30 mins...read for 15 mins...and WOOLAH! GOD SHOWS UP!"

no that doesnt happen...
sorry this took so long, but this is what im trying to get too.
there are no steps... no formula, no specail secret keys...

THERE ARE ONLY PRINCIPLES, THAT WHEN UNDERSTOOD CAN BE PUT INTO USE AND YOU CAN WATCH THEM MAKE A DIFFRENCE.

and i beleive that some of those principles are these, there are many that as you ask the Lord to teach you he will show you.
but i just want to give you these simple ones, becuase these (dont work like a formula) but give you an understanding so you understand how to get results.

1. It is sometimes very hard to pray without already being in the presence of the Lord.
and what i mean by that is that it can be a burden and trial for us to really break through into the deeper place where prayer flows out like a river and we really break through into a place where God comes and uses our prayers to change our lives and others, if we just start out dry and begin to pray from scratch...
i beleive it is more effective to first take a time for praise and worship, take a time when it isnt about you receiving anything and begin to worship the Lord with your whole heart and really let your heart loose to worship him and GIVE instead of coming to receive, and that always stirs the heart of God and God moves in us when we do this...this is why we begin to cry and weep and cry out to God during worship sometimes.
but if we take a time to do that first, it opens the doors to the thrown room of heavon and he says "come! and ask what you will!" and it sets the stage for God to move, becuase we are already in that atmosphere of his presence.
i cannot truely explain for emphasize the need for an ATMOSPHERE OF HIS PRESENCE so God can move, enough, that is soo important!
that is why Elisha was called upon to seek the Lord, but elisha said
"first. go seek me minstrel who can worship the Lord...and then, God will answer you!"

but i have found that its like my praying is being frustrated when i havent already broke through into his presence with worship. and sometimes i feel convicted about coming to the Lord and asking anything from him, when i havent first given him something, given him praise and worship that is due his name.
the presence of the Lord creates a shelter away from the enemy, and that makes a safe environment where you have liberty in your spirit to ask of God and hear from God and feel God moving in your life.

2. i beleive it is better to get into his presence before we open the word.

i thank God that his word is alive and always able to change lives.
but i really beleive there are those times we want a deeper touch and revelation from God, and in those times, if we will first seek the Lord and spend some time just sitting under his presence and having him brood on our minds and hearts, then when we go to open up the word of God, God is all over us, and he begins to teach you the word himself, and hes right there and kinda says
"ohhh...well while im still here with you, let me show you something you didnt know"
and you will seem to read the bible with God there with you, opening it to you and teaching it to you himself, becuase you went to the lord in prayer and worshipped first, and that brought into a deep place of his presence and while your in his presence he is so free to speak to us.
" WOW....Jesus said the Spirit of truth the holyghost...will teach you all things, but it is his Spirit, not the skill of our minds in reading letters on a page, no matter even if they have a message in them"

it is a very powerful thing to raise up from prayer and while your still in that mood and spirit of prayer, you begin to read the word of God, and it seems the presence of the Lord that came from the prayers, is like a light that unveils the mysteries and hidden secrets of the word of God.
see God wants that book to be something that amases you and makes you cry and shout everytime you open it...but for it to be that real, it has to be read under the influence of the holyghost and the presence of the Lord. and that is why i believe it is best to set aside the bible reading untill after youve worshipped and prayed.

i know thats not much, but that is powerful understanding nontheless if you didnt already know all that.
but that is no formula, its only principles that give an understanding of how it works, so you know how to get results.

knowing this has caused me to always begin with a time of worship.
then go into prayer and supplication for my needs and other needs and whats heavy on my heart.
and then, open up my bible and read it under the influence of the Lord in my room and in my life and upon my heart and mind.


well i hope that helps.
praise God.