One of our Soul Shepherding ministries is to guide pastors, pastors’ wives, and other leaders and caregivers in the practice of solitude and silence with God. This Father’s Day a great gift to give God is the gift of you! This is one of the best gifts you could give God and probably one of the most important disciplines we could practice and that is to grow in our intimacy with God. To grow in your relationship with God, daily we need to give ourselves to God.  Daily seeking God is to seek Him humbly, to pray to Him, to love Him and be  determined to find out what He wants and what He has created us to do with our lives! Below are ways you can gift God this father’s day with the gift of yourself!

Prepare
Bring to your solitude whatever will help you to be with God in a personal, interactive way. Probably you’ll want your Bible, journal, and pen. If you’ll be outside you may need walking shoes, a chair, sun protection, jacket or blanket, and water. You may need a lunch or snacks or you might choose to fast. Also you could bring art supplies, a favorite devotional book, a musical instrument, or a worship CD.

Unplug
Plan to set aside a time and space for God in which you won’t be interrupted by other people, cell phones, e-mails, media, loud noises, etc. (You may need to make arrangements with family members or others.) You might go to a secluded nature spot or a quiet room.

Do nothing!
Begin your solitude by doing nothing for at least thirty minutes. Just be with God in the silence with no agenda. This will probably be difficult! It might help to take a prayer walk. You are training your body and soul to listen to the word of the Lord: “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). With practice you can live your daily life in Jesus’ easy yoke (Matt 11:25-30), free of hurry, worry, and selfish ambition.

Let go
You may be hoping to have a special time with God, hear a message from him, or to accomplish something important — release your desires to the Lord. You may be anxious about your work, a loved one, or a personal matter — put each concern into the Father’s hands. Ask Jesus to lead you in this this time and then be open to whatever he has for you, trusting that it is good even if it doesn’t feel good. You may feel refreshed by God or distress may surface. You may be encouraged or challenged.

Rest
What would you enjoy doing with God? He is your Best Friend and he likes being with you! Probably you don’t want to do a major Bible study or lots of reading. Set aside any concerns for loved ones or your ministry until the last part of your solitude. Instead of trying to accomplish projects, simply pray from your heart, perhaps meditating on a Psalm or Gospel story. If you’re tired you may need to take a nap. Go ahead —even Jesus took naps! This will help you to be refreshed and attentive to God.

Re-focus
In prayer everyone struggles with distracting thoughts — don’t feel bad about it. When your mind wanders offer the distraction to God or replace it with a prayer. Give thanks and praise to God or meditate on Scripture. It may help you to gently repeat phrase from the Bible, possibly breathing the words in and out as a Breath Prayer.

Open up
What’s been going on in your life lately? How are you feeling? Talk to God about your experiences and needs. You may want to journal your prayers and what God seems to be saying to you.

Instead of gifting God just today on Father’s Day, why not do the above steps on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, you might  be surprised that once you give God time like this and allow Him to work in your life,  how He might respond and how drastically your life might improve!
Happy Father’s Day!