Spending time with God offers rewards in several areas of our lives, it’s not just spirituality I have learned. Grab a beverage and settle in for a walk through some of the benefits of spending time with God. You night be surprised!
Let’s start with the obvious area first, the spiritual realm. I mean of course, spending time with Christ would beef up our spiritual realm. Drawing near to God means becoming closer to Him, learning more about Him and shaping our lives to be like His. That is what you do when you are in love with someone, isn’t it? James 4:8 “Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded.” Here we are given a goal – to be close to God, and the means by which to do it. We need to clean our hearts. If we are children of God, we should be spending time regularly examining our hearts and lives. We need to make sure there isn’t anything that can come between God and us. Many things can find their way in between Christ and us, if we are not careful. And these things might not be “bad” things, but anything that comes between God and His child, must be dealt with.
One benefit of spending time with God is that we learn more about God’s word and what He wants for and from us. Psalms 119 alone gives us 20 ways that spending time in God’s word benefits us. Wow! Just that one chapter. Just like anything that we are intrigued about, the more we study it – the more intrigued we become. It’s a cycle, the more I know about God, the more I want to know. I often pray that I will be thirsty for His word, that God himself will give me an unquenchable thirst for Him. And He does! If I want to know how God wants me to live my life, I need to be spending time reading His word so that I can learn. There are many examples of people who spent time with God, Jesus even did. What does that say to us?
So a second benefit is that we will draw closer to God. John 15:25 says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit, apart from me you can do nothing.” If we want to live a power-filled life we need to be grafted into Christ. Imagine an apple tree. You want that apple tree to grow apples, but if the branch has been disconnected from the tree, you’re not going to get any fruit. In the same way, if we want our lives to be fruitful we need to be in God. We need to be in His word.
Psalms 23 tells us that God refreshes our soul. We can be refreshed by God without spending some time with Him. I don’t know about you, but I sure need my soul refreshed on a daily basis. God promises several times in His word to refresh our souls. He knows what we are going through down here on this crazy earth, He knows the trials and tribulations that drag at our souls and sap our energy. He knows that it is dangerous to be in that place so He has promised to renew us by His word.
Spending time with God also restores our joy.
Now let’s look at the mental health aspect of spending time with God.
It has been shown that spending time with God thickens part of the brain’s cortex. This part of the brain is a guardian against depression. This came from a study done by Columbia University. Spending time in prayer lowers our anxiety, a Baylor University study found. Going to the word of God when we are emotionally stressed provides us with rest and relief.
And last, let’s look at the physical realm of life.
Spending time with God has been shown to lower blood pressure. As little as 10 minutes allows us to re-center and recharge for the day ahead. An Oregon State University study found that regular attendance at religious attendance was linked to better health habits. Faith has also been shown to have beneficial effects on our immune function! Spending time with God brings clarity to our lives. It shows us how to live and be around other people. The Bible gives us many directions on how to treat other people and how to behave in many situations. It truly is our operators manual.
Spending time with God relaxes the body. When we begin to see that God is in control, we can stop trying so hard and just relax into doing the best we can, knowing that God will be there to fill in the gaps.
If you’ve been thinking about starting a Bible reading habit, I would highly recommend it, not just for the spiritual benefits, but for the mental and physical benefits as well. Check our my book, SEEK: a 28 Day Journey to Consistent Bible Study, if you are looking to start this new habit. I will walk you through day by day with easy action steps to lead you to this beneficial habit. Check it out at amazon.com/author/christinepleiman-66
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