My family has not found a home church at this time, and I'm not in a youth group, so I am posting my question here on Holy Worlds. (It's like an online youth group!)

My question for you: How do you personally refocus on God? (Out of curiosity.) ^^

Thanks!

~Calen

Prayer. Find some books that offer practical tips on building a habit of prayer, and how to pray. I've found it very helpful in refocusing on God.

And Bible reading. Pray, read the Bible, repeat. Also, seeking out wholesome activities and entertainment, to keep from being corrupted by bad influences.

Thanks, Neil. ^^

You're right, it's amazing how powerful prayer is, isn't it? I've recently become familiar with praying out loud. Most often I speak softly by myself (alone in my room), but it feels more intimate. I am less distracted by my thoughts if I speak my prayers. It's awkward at first, but once you get past that it feels more like you're speaking directly to God.

Thank you, too, Jonathan.

I agree that the Bible is an amazing tool. I find it hard to believe that God left us a book that can be applied to every single thing in our lives. It truly is our Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.

I will admit though, some days I find it hard to find the right passage to bring me up, you know what I mean?

Most days Bible verses are naturally uplifting, but some days that feeling isn't there. That's when faith comes in.

I would have said the same thing.



I know what you mean. When I have down/doubtful days, Psalms really reboot me, but at other times when I'm searching, I come up a blank. Generally the more time I spend in the Word, the more faith infused I feel. The less time, my soul feels thirsty. I need to get into the Word more...

Oh another thing that helps me is reading some helpful non-fiction. Elizabeth George's "A Young Woman After God's Own Heart" series have really helped me out. (From what I've read, I've yet to read it all the way through!) Reading encouraging non-fiction alongside the Bible is a big help to me.

What a wonderful topic! As a family we cannot find a church. They are few and far between and all the nearby ones have smoking breaks and awful things going on which I couldn't begin to post here!

I find myself getting very lonely and out of touch with God at times and prayer and reading the bible is all I can find to bring myself closer to Him. Bush I agree, Psalms is what helps me through sometimes, David went through such hard times so his ones really help me. We have some youth meetings nearby but when I go I feel like I'm at a dating service.



Very wise Jon. Thanks for this.

I agree about praying out loud. I just started doing that recently--I'll just take a walk and talk. Probably people who can see me think I'm crazy, but whatever. It really does help your thoughts stay focused, like Calenmiriel said. It's also helpful to pray all the time--every day. Just say a few sentences out loud while you're working on schoolwork or something. Pray without ceasing doesn't have to mean getting down on your knees and praying--it could mean talking to God while you're biking down to the post office.

As for daily devotions, well--pray about those too. I mean, pray and ask God to give you something to read that touches your heart. (Though I don't advocate randomly flipping through the Bible 'till you find something that 'God told you.' Maybe he'll lead you to find something about 'love' or 'obedience'....then look it up in your concordance)

Just my two bits

eruheran

Same here Shawn, it's not something I do much, but sometimes I find when I'm trying to pray my mind wanders so I should do this I think.

As others have posted here; I refocus on God by simply praying. Personally, I have to pray where I will not be interrupted; where I can simply devote my whole heart and mind to praying. One of the things that I love to do is go on long walks around our property and pray aloud (which I believe others have mentioned, as well). Prayer is really just such an amazing thing. The importance of it cannot ever be stressed enough!

One other thing is a personal devotion time. Time spent in His Word on a daily basis is something that plays a significant role in helping me 'refocus on God.'

I saw that a few of you have been unable to find a good church near your homes, which is disappointing. My church broadcasts its services live over the internet, so if you ever find yourselves wanting to see and hear a church service, just follow the link and you will find a button saying "Watch Service LIVE." As an added bonus, you will frequently see me sitting in the background because I am in the choir.

Many have mentioned praying. I'll just add my two cents.
I don't set aside a specific time to pray. Often, I don't even stop what I'm doing. Whenever I see something, whenever I feel something, whenever I think something, I pray. "Talk to God" might be a better way of putting it. Do more than just acknowledge that God is always there and act on it.

I do the same thing, Kat. I talk to God all the time. Not always out loud, but definitely in my head.

I rarely do outloud, but that's just me and my hesitant tongue. My fingers and mind are quite another matter.

Read the Bible, pray, read some C.S. Lewis.... but the biggest one for me is listening to some worship music. It's best in a quiet dark place but if you've got head phones just shut your eyes and lean into the flow.

I do that too, Katty and Bush. But I've also found that softly praying out loud keeps me focused if I'm spending more time in prayer. I occasionally write my prayers down, too.

I agree with Riniel about worship music too. I love to lean back and just think about the words while the song plays, and sometimes I sing along quietly.

This does wonders for me too, Riniel. I lay in bed at night listening to Christian music on my ipod before bed. I've noticed it helps me a lot more than listening to soundtrack or secular music, ironically enough.

How did I ever forget about music? Oh yes, I love praise music. I believe we all do somewhere. Goodness. . . we should have a thread for praise music suggestions. Or is there one already?