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For the month of August we are taking a break from our usual schedule. Instead we invite you to be part of a challenge we hope will make an impact in your life and along the Silk Road.

For Day 3 of the Dying Out Loud Challenge, here are a few steps toward quality abiding time from one of our challenge participants:

1. Schedule my day (including my abiding time).

If you don’t intentionally fill your schedule it will get filled by other less-important things

2. Give Jesus the best part of my day.

Some people aren’t morning people and that’s okay. Give Jesus the best, most productive hours of the day.

3. Pick a comfortable spot

Not necessarily physical comfort, but a spot where you can be completely relaxed and free to express any emotions you may be feeling, without fear of disturbing someone else.

4. Create an environment that invites the Holy Spirit.

For me this includes a playlist of my favorite worship songs, my prayer journal (to write down anything God speaks to me), a pen and paper to write down any items that need to be on my to-do list that tend to pop into my head at the most inconvenient times (writing those things down gets them out of my head and onto paper, helping me focus on what’s most important), my Bible, and whatever devotional book I’m reading through at that time.

5. Have a plan.

I am somewhat distractable. Having a schedule for my abiding time greatly helps me focus. When I do find my mind wandering, it is easy to pick right back up where I was before the squirrel appeared (a reference to the movie UP). I follow the ACTS schedule: Adoration Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication.

6. Take time to listen.

This is the hardest part for me. I spend all this time talking but the most important thing I can do after casting all of my cares onto Jesus, is to listen for His instruction and direction.

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