Do you get tiered of the same old rutein in you times with God? Do your prayers seem to be fervant one day and repetitive the next? Do you feel like God is distant and uninvolved in your life? These are ALL things I have felt time and time again in my pursuit of God. Believe me. Their were days, and weeks that went by that I did not spend time with God because it almost made me sick how stagnent my time with him was. I failed to see his tranformation in my life so I saw it as a waste of time somtimes.... But I have good news if this is how you might be feeling.... The truth is that God is beckoning each of us into a deep relationship with Him that is fulfilling and transforming. He is near and is whispering for our attention! He is active in each of our lives. It is up to us to learn how to listen. When we learn how to do that, we give reign for the Holy Spirit to transform us on this exciting journey of faith! - - But how? I have tried what I know to try. I have wanted that so bad. But I keep falling into a rut of apathy. - - I have had the blessing of being introduced to some new spiritual practices or diciplines which ever you might call them.... Anyways it is so much fun to get to try different things that are not the usual ways of spending time with God. The whole point of these practices is to constantly keep the mind set that God is all around us moving and acting. With that mind set we begin to see God in new ways and to me shaped by that relationship. It is not to be more spiritual than another or to reach some state of self saticfaction. It is to take time to allow the Holy Spirit to tranform our lives in different ways. It is facinating to me how the Holy Spirit transforms us, but only to the point we allow him to. These practices give us ways to learn how to allow him to do just that. Anyways, I say this with caution because these practices are not meant to replace bible study and prayer. But coming from somone who has struggled with his "quiet times" with God, I am LOVING getting to know God in all these new ways! It is exciting and most of all transforming! I do not say this to sound more holy or to sound like I have reached a pinacle. I say this to encourage you. There is a book called Spiritual Dicipline Handbook. It is absolutly wonderful. Very Very Very practicle and easy to understand. There is literally hundreds of spiritual practices in this book. You have five different main catigories and then many sub catagories. The practices target the disire of God you are experencing. Our time with God does not have to be boring or repetitive. God is all around us. These practices are amazing. I encourage anyone that has felt the same negative feelings about their times with God to pray wbout purchasing this book or asking for it at Christmas. They sell the book at Borders. Maybe other places too. The author is Calhoun. Pray about it. Seek God's guidence. A exciting, transformationsal, real relationship with God awaits you and me. Lets choose to live for God and to truly know him and make him known.

I love each of you,
Jonathan
If you have any questions please feel free to message me.