Our new Proverbs 31 Ministries devotional book: Encouragement for Today: Devotions For Everyday Living just released and I am so excited to be giving away 3 copies of it today!
It includes several devotions by me and a bunch more from my dear friends and team mates at P31. Here’s a little bit more about what is inside
Pull away from the things that are pulling on you and find lasting encouragement for today.
For twenty years our P31 team has equipped and encouraged millions of women around the world to live in the power of God’s truths that apply to our everyday lives. Written by women from every walk of life, in Encouragement for Today you will find inspiration to live authentically and fully grounded in the Word of God.
Sharing from the realities of everyday life including highs and lows, humorous stories and tender moments, you’ll enjoy 100 daily devotions woven together with wit and wisdom. Pull away from all that is pulling on you and find lasting Encouragement for Today!
What do YOU like to do or where do you like to go to pull away from all that pulls on you and spend some time with God?
Leave a comment below sharing your answer! Three winners will receive a free copy of our new book. {If you are reading this via email, PLEASE CLICK HERE to visit my blog and leave a comment under this post.}
I am so excited about this new devotional!! My quiet time with the Lord usually begins after I drop the kids off at school each day. I grab my cup of coffee, Bible, and journal. As I’m getting the coffee ready, I listen to Klove… I think it helps prepare my heart to “enter into His gates with praise”. I love to journal what God lays on my heart during our times together, then re-read those thoughts throughout the day or the days ahead. What I’m most in AWE over, is God’s perfect timing~ about everything!! It never fails that He will lead me to a certain passage of scripture, certain blog, or inspirational and encouraging facebook post that was EXACTLY what I *needed* to hear/read!! He does the same with the music I hear on Klove, too! Pulling away from ALL the outside “world” in my own quiet time with the Lord is AWESOME, and I look forward to it everyday!! If something happens and I’ve had to miss “our time”, I can certainly feel it 🙁 I have to be so careful to PLAN to spend time with God in another creative way that day (like praise & prayers in the car) or bedtime devotional time. Its like anything else~ you have to MAKE time for things that are important to you!! But, I’ve learned, once you MAKE it a habit, it becomes so much easier to incorporate into your daily routine and you MISS it when you don’t do it!! 🙂
I am going thru a bad storm looking for my place and encouragement to get thru this. I have NO friends or anyone to confide in, my spouse could not care less about me at this point. I am in search of my quiet place and time, and hopefully it doesn’t continue at 3am in the morning, however if that’s the time and place GOD speaks to my heart Nd hears my crys I will NOT miss it!
I get up early every morning just to have a few spare moments to myself before leaving for work. I sit in one of my favorite chairs that face out a bay window where I can see my wild bird feeder. I have a morning devotion book entitled “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young. It always seems that I am being fed the information that I will be needing for that day or the following OR, as in this morning; the Holy Spirit chastend me (because He loves me) that I neede to redirect my thinking and action on some complaining I was doing. It is so good to be unconditionally loved. And to think, I have been wallowing in the pit for the past two weeks. This devotional time brings me into God’s presence. “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you before you were born, I set you apart! Jeremiah 1:5
Every morning I go to the laundry room and start a load of laundry, then stop by my computer and read the Proverbs 31 devotion for the day. Later when everyone is gone for the day, I meet with God at my kitchen table. I’m always amazed but not surprised at how God speaks so personally to me. Many times the devotion and my Bible time will be speaking the same things, which is just confirmation of what I need to do or hear.
I like to sit out on our deck ,surrounded by God’s beautiful creation. I put on some praise and worship songs and just sit and soak in God’s presence.
I love to take my Bible or Bible study book and sit on my front porch early in the morning. It’s very quiet, but we have bird feeders and bird houses and I thoroughly enjoy watching the birds eat, take baths, drink, build nests. It’s very peaceful and I can ‘feel’ God all around me – it’s a great way to start my day! Now if I can just add the Encouragement for Today book that I win today, it will be that much better! 😉
First thing in the morning, I bring my coffee and my laptop out on my back patio. I have a small lake right behind my house and I watch the sun glistening off the water while I drink my coffee and read my online devotions.
My favorite escape to pull away and be with God is out in nature (the lake, woods etc.) I enjoy being under a large protecting tree – while a refreshing rain (not hard 🙂 ) rain comes.
I carved out some space in the spare bedroom that I can go each morning to spend some quiet time with God. Reading my bible and devotional books, I find the words seeping into my heart at just the right time when I need to hear them. This is the best part of my day.
I like to go to the beach and just watch the ocean. This is my way of getting away from it all. Reading the Bible and praying there makes God seem so close. Big issue–I live many hours from the nearest beach. I struggle with Pulling away when it is my family (husband & kids) that many times I need to pull away from.
I like to talk to God in the shower. Its just me and Him. It is quiet and no one can bother me. I also like to sit outside in my lawnchair. Just me and God and the squirrels and the birds. God speaks wherever I am though.
🙂
When I start feeling overwhelmed I like to just stop what I am doing and find something around me that shows me God is still with me. It may be something as simple as a cloud in the sky in the shape of something that makes me happy. A smile on a strangers face says to me “God is near”. If I am around a computer I do searches on encouragement. I love to read inspiring quotes on google images. Another thing I love to do to spend time with God is listen to encouraging music. Mandisa is my favorite on so many levels. Her music could have been written by me. She has overcome so much and she just beams with positivity! Music reminds me that God is with me! Thanks for all the encouragement you girls do for us out here doing life together!
I love to spend a little quite time each morning out on my swing, a cup of coffee and my bible. I look forward to seeing what God has to say to me each day. And on very special occasions I love sitting on the beach when its not so crowded, focusing on His beauty. How peaceful! God bless you!
Jenny
I like to go out on my porch and sometimes I pray – sometimes, I just sit there and listen to see what God might be trying to say to me. Be still and listen.
When I’m able to get away, a state park is the best place to get out in the woods and away from phones, tv, jobs, etc. and spend time in prayer and meditate on His Word.
When we give God some “still” time, I am learning that He will and is ready to speak to us. We just have to be ready to listen.
I like to go sit at the beach and be still. In those moments I feel closest to God.
The shower is a special place for God and I to meet. No one can usually here what is going on, so if I need to cry or get mad I can let those feelings flow (pun intended:).
My time is when everyone is asleep and the house is quiet. I can just sit and read my bible and pray about the things that are burdening my heart and ask the Lord to help me to release all anxiety.
This looks like a great devotion. I have a friend that I am trying to help through a dark time and I would love to share this with her.
My favorite place would be to be near a stream or the ocean. That’s where I would love to be especially when I am spending time with God. REalistically, my place at home is on my couch…opposite a window that has a beautiful view or looking at my picture that has the ocean in teh background with a hammock on a porch in the front with one of my favorite (yet hard to do) verses “Be Still and KNOW I am God.”
MY CAR AFTER I DROP MY DAUGHTER OFF AT WORK I GO THUR A DRIVE THUR GET A HOT DRINK. THEN I PULL SOMEWHERE DIFFERENT EVERYDAY AND I SET THERE AND PRAY AND LOOK AT THE AREA THE PEOPLE THE SUN ,RAIN .ECT… I READ MY BIBLE THERE ALSO. BECAUSE IT QUITE AND NO ONE CAN BOTHER ME OR MY TIME WITH GOD AND I DO NEED THIS TIME EVERDAY
This past week I have found God to be where ever you need him. seek his presence and He is there. Right at this moment 1:30 they will be pulling the plug on the life support to my dear close cousin Sissy. As I have been with family members supporting and encouraging them with Gods help I have had to seek his peace in all different places of the hospital, garage, car, and outside, bathroom whereever and he has come to me. Praise God!
i like to meditate on the word, verses/scriptures – and take some time acknowledging all the good in my life. gratitude & meditation. simply the best.
p.s. Renee Swopes you are joy!
I like to read devotionals… I have been slacking lately and the email that brought me hwre was a great wake up reminder. I Thank You
Every morning I her up before my husband and dog. I curl up on the sofa with my bible and the days P31 devotion. I read, highlight my bible, and pray for clarity and guidance for the day.
I like to go sit by a river and enjoy his creation and listen to the steady steam on the flowing water:)
The town I grew up in had a river running alongside it, Meg. I do miss that. That steadiness, that constant movement, is a powerful reminder of God’s presence and faithfulness to me. What a gift to have a river nearby…
For me, my way of getting away from everything trying to pull me is to PRAY wherever I am – at my desk at work, in the car while I’m driving, at home in a quiet area. I also like to have Christian worship music playing when I need to be near to God to bring me into his presence.
If the weather is nice outside, i like to pull away to my deck in back yard… The trees, birds singing, just me and Jesus…. Or if it’s not ideal weather, I like to go in my prayer closet, literally my closet. I once put a chair in there to sit on but it gets covers up with clothes. So I like to sit on floor with my back against the door. This keeps anyone from opening it since there is ok lock on it. I’ve spent many special moments with Jesus in that closet… From standing and screaming to sitting and whispering to flat on my face soaking the carpet with tears… It’s good to be alone with God 😉
We have a chapel at our church where i can go and be pulled back!
I like to spend a week end at Mepkin Abbey in Monck’s Corner, SC. It’s located on an old plantation with beautiful gardens. The monks there are so hospitable to their guests and invite them to be a part of all of the services if they wish. The peace and quite that I receive while I am there allows me to recharge myself and renew my connection with God.
The busy-ness of life – any other tasks! Love spending time in His Word, and when I make time for that, it helps me keep the right perspective throughout the day! Would love to win a copy of this book! 😉
I like to go to the beach and just watch the ocean and get refreshed in God’s glory. If I can’t go to the beach. I like to get up early in the morning and sit on my porch and spend time with the Lord in silence and just look in awe at all the amazing things he created and remind myself he is in control and I am in his hands.
I envy your access to the beach, Karen! I am reminded of His power and how He is never-ending when I watch the waves and view the horizon. How blessed you are!
When I like to get away and get close to God I like to go and walk along the outskirts of the cemetary. We live near it. I like to look at the flowers and ponder on life.
I just like to sit back, relax, meditate and pray to our Lord and give him all thanks and praise and ask for continued blessings upon my family, friends, others and me!!
It doesn’t matter really where I go because God simply meets me there when I draw near to Him! He continually pours His mercy and grace on me despite myself. I may not have the perfect “routine” of quiet time, but when I read His word I receive the pure spiritual nourishment that I must have to grow.
Everyone leaves the house around 8:00 am. I grab a cup of coffee and my dogs and go upstairs in my chaise lounge and read my bible and devotions and pray. But I long for a weekend getaway to just be with God, to pray and read his word with no distractions.
I like to go to a real quiet place. Just me and God. No distractions. I usually find that in, what looks like a pit. It is very beautiful. Me and nature.
I like to be at home in the quiet. No TV on. No music playing. Just me and my Father in Heaven and His Holy Word. If I need to cry, He lets me and then comforts me. If I am angry, He takes me to task if it is unjustified. No matter what the outcome it is time well spent in the presence of The One who truly loves me.
When I need to pull away from the things that are pulling me, I love to discuss the joys of happiness that I have my health with my best girlfriend over some good coffee. We also have our walks and talk about ways in which we can have fun by going out to dinners often and visiting new restaurants or even sharing recipes for new healthy dishes. These moments shared with my best girlfriend is what keeps me from being pulled under. We discuss how grateful we are to still be friends after so many years and how God just continuously keeps us under HIS care in spite of the trials and tribulations we may face.
I actually like to take a shower and I imagine that I am washing away all of the stress and at the same time I talk to God.
Same here 🙂 Though I take a shower in the morning, taking a shower actually works the best when I’m down, depressed, or just need to talk with God.
i love going to my sunroom. to sit and relax…enjoy the simple clean room and breathe 🙂
A great book that is very timely. We can all use more encouragement.
I also love to walk outside with Him too and appreciate all He has made.
I love to wake up early in the morning and just be quiet with God. I have not done this enough but God has been pressing it on my heart lately so I have a new committment to spend at least 10 minutes alone with God a day. 🙂
I love to go outside and take a walk and see all that God has made.
I like to pray and cry out to the Lord. He is my strength and my shield. My everlasting JOY!! I talk with God throughout the whole day wherever I am. God has been revealing things about myself that I was trying to pin on everyone else around me, but I was talking too much to really listen to Him telling me that the problem was within me. The criticism, the anger, the disappointment, my unrealistic expectations of others, etc. He has my attention now and with His help I will overcome. We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus our Lord!!!
Where ever you are God is with you and for many that is any place they feel his peace, comfort, spirit, guidance. I pray everyday no matter where I am whether at home, work, outside, church, with friends, in the car whether it is a silent prayer or talking to the Lord. I have learned to Let Go and Let God he is in
control. I read the devotions of Proverbs 31 ministries. No matter what we are facing in life I know he is always with us.
I like to wake up to a new day and thank him for another day of life, cup of coffee, say a prayer, read devotion and begin my day with God. I love to find peace in the outdoors near the Ocean, mountains, a nice walk in quiet spirit with the one who holds everyone and everything in his hands.
Jesus our Lord and Savior
I like to curl up on the couch with the Lord,
I like to go into my “happy” place with God and design jewelry for hours on as I get a design in my head, (I know I didn’t do it) and then revelation comes and dreaming of my own business some day, right now, really; and I really get into others as I read and see, and feeling the same or have experience the same as I, and learning from other “Wisdom-lead” women….going the distance(s) and believing His Word, knowing, and amazed most of the time, that It will always stand; sometimes I get to a point of “nah, not for me” and then it hits me, Stand on His Promises, then to stumble on to the Proverbs 31 series of messages, I have found another “happy” place….I know I’m at work, but come break time, I’m in front of the system, searching and getting that “extra” umph….crying at times, smiling a lot, and WOWing —God is truly Amazing! He’s my strong tower, my vindicator, and I can go on….other resources are here for me, and those four walls in the church will not be the only place I can share and live—I, now, have a “passport” and can go anywhere!
The plan is to grow.
I love going on women’s retreats and other women’s events. I feel like I can really get away from the chaos of my life and get peace and time alone to really enjoy being a woman of God and spend time in his overflowing love. I really hope to one day find the discipline to have a “Scheduled” quiet time routine. For now P31 and the resources I find through it has been my stable stand-in to make sure I can daily find a connection with God. He has fed me and grown me in my deepest times of need through all P31 is doing 🙂
Every morning I start out in my home office, reading the devotion from Proverbs 31 ministries and then I have my quiet time with God and my cup of coffee. I so look forward to this time every day and it starts my day off right..