Make time for the Lord each and every day.
For example when praying: what if we spent less time talking and more time just being with God. … What if while studying scriptures we spent less time just reading and more time…
Paradoxically, helping God in His work of salvation may require that we slow down.
In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
Isaiah 30:15
I think we pay too little attention to the value of meditation, a principle of devotion. … Meditation is one of the … most sacred doors through which we pass into the presence of the Lord.
David O. McKay
God desires that we approach our time with Him with … heartfelt devotion. When we do so, our worship becomes an expression of our love for Him.
He yearns for us to commune with Him.
I love the word “commune.” As a verb in a spiritual context, commune refers to engaging deeply and intimately with a higher power or divine entity. It implies a state of profound connection. It often involves meditation, prayer, or quiet reflection, creating space for a two-way exchange between the individual and the divine. Unlike casual communication, communing suggests a heightened state of awareness and presence, fostering a sense of being heard or understood on a soul level. The act of communing can lead to spiritual insights or inner peace. The idea of communion often carries a sense of receiving wisdom, guidance, or solace.
The gospel of Jesus Christ gives us opportunities to return to Him often. These opportunities include daily prayers, scripture study, the sacrament ordinance, the Sabbath day, and temple worship. What if we were to take these sacred opportunities off our to-do lists and put them on our “non-doing” lists—meaning to approach them with the same mindfulness and focus with which Sister Wada approaches her calligraphy?
You may be thinking, “I do not have time for that.” I have often felt the same. But let me suggest that what may be needed is not necessarily more time but more awareness of and focus on God during the times we already set aside for Him.
For example, when praying, what if we were to spend less time talking and more time just being with God; and when we were to speak, to give more heartfelt and specific expressions of gratitude and love?
That takes practice because it is so natural for us to think we have to fill up prayer time with words.
When our focus is less on doing and more on strengthening our covenant connection with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, I testify that each of these sacred moments will be enriched, and we will receive the guidance needed in our personal lives. We, like Martha in the account in Luke, are often “careful and troubled about many things.” However, as we commune with the Lord each day, He will help us to know that which is most needful.
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As we concentrate our hearts and minds on Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and listen to the still, small voice of the Holy Ghost, we will have greater clarity about what is most needful, develop deeper compassion, and find rest and strength in Him. Paradoxically, helping God hasten His work of salvation and exaltation may require that we slow down. Being always in motion may be adding to the commotion in our lives and robbing us of the peace we seek.
I testify that as we return often to the Lord with full purpose of heart, we will in quietness and confidence come to know Him and feel His infinite covenantal love for us.
I have seen these effects as I have improved my time in prayer in the last seven months.
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