While there are extra holy moments with God, when we feel the divine presence closer than our breath, the reality is mundane most of the time. How can we keep our close feeling with God when ordinary times can leave us seemingly not even thinking about Him?

Where are you, Lord? I have whispered those words on more than one occasion throughout my spiritual journey, and I’m sure you also have. Experiencing a disconnection from the Lord can leave us wandering in a wilderness of doubt and questioning. But He never disconnects from us and longs to be close again.

I’ve realized that we will never hear God’s voice in the same way as someone else does, because, as poet Rainer Maria Rilke writes, God speaks to each of us as he makes us. Our intentional God knows every messy bit of our story more intimately than anyone ever has or will, lovingly familiar with our differences.

I want my faith to flourish like wildflowers, but I must be more intentional in cultivating the conditions for spiritual growth. However well-intentioned we are to practice our spiritual disciplines, sometimes we run into obstacles. Here are two of the most common ones, and some thoughts on how we can overcome them.

Consistent time with God is how we center our lives around Him, get regular direction, and grow closer to Him relationally. In fact, I would argue that consistency is more important than length of time or what you do. These are a few ideas for doing it more often - with no shame added.