“He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.”—Psalm 23:2 (NLT)

In January, I shared that for 2018, I was going to focus on the words, “Be Still.” I signed up and ran a 1/2 marathon yesterday, so obviously, I didn’t choose the words for physical stillness. My word choice was for me to still my mind during my quiet time with the Lord. 

I can not stress enough how important my morning quiet time is with the Lord. During this time, my biggest challenge has been to not respond to text messages or social media notifications. Initially, I tried putting my phone on silent and my iPad in sleep mode so that I am not responding to any pop-ups on them. I was using my Bible App to read scripture and my Evernote App for my prayers, so it was really hard to not click on a message when I would see it pop-up on it. 

For me, even putting my devices on silent or sleep mode, were still a distraction for me, especially when I could hear the vibrations of a text message. I inevitably would click on it and respond. Since I know this, why even tempt myself? So, I went back to using my hard copy Bible to look up scripture from my morning devotion that I read and printing a hard copy of my prayer list tucked at the front of my Bible. 

I obviously can not declutter my mind having the distractions of my electronic devices. How am I doing with this? I’d like to say I have been doing this 100% of the time. With my IPad, “Yes.” I keep that out of sight. My phone….not so much. I turn it on silent but I can still hear it vibrate from a text message. Or, I think, “I need to text this person before I forget.” Of course, when I do that, I have given into that temptation and when I finally sit down with my Bible, my mind starts to drift to other places. 

It is the same with my knitting. When I sit down to knit, my mind can wander and be a thousand different places, but when I finally focus on the task at hand, my mind will start to refocus. I have to do this same thing with my prayer time. I know that God gave me the words, “Be Still,” because He needed to reveal to me what clutters my mind during my quiet time with Him.

Sometimes God convicts us to remove things from our lives because He knows they are drawing us further from Him. Since I have made this morning time a priority, I have found that I have more time in the day to not only get everything done but also have extra time to sit and knit! 

Did any of you make New Years resolutions or choose a word to challenge you this year? If so, how are you doing with it? Don’t be discouraged if you aren’t sticking with it as you had hoped. Remember that you have a God that leads you to quiet waters and refreshes your soul. Tomorrow is a new day to try and stick with your goals for 2018.

Dear Lord,

As I bow my head this week, I thank You for Your words in Psalm 23:2 that I can find rest and peace in the presence of my Shepherd. Please reveal to me what distracts my mind from being able to experience this with You. I ask that You continue to lead me to people who need encouragement this week. It is in the mighty name of Jesus that I ask these thing. Amen!

If you are memorizing this month’s memory verse, “This is the day the Lord has made, let me rejoice and be glad in it.”—Psalm 118:24 are you making it a habit to repeat it each morning before you get out of bed?

If you are making any give away this month, please make sure you tweet @KnitPrayShare or share your projects on the Knit Pray Share Facebook page or Instagram using the hashtags #ThreadsWithRed #KnitPrayShare.