Changing My Habits to Grow Closer to God

If you’ve been around here any length of time, you will know that listening to a daily devotional podcast is part of my morning quiet time.  I had fallen off listening to it daily, and I had fallen behind, but I’ve gotten back up to date. 

The hosts of that podcast, Tori and Chad Masters, have a Patreon; as part of that, there is also a Discord chat.  I was one of the first few to sign up for their Patreon a few years ago and have generally dipped in and out of the discord chat that they have, but I am trying to participate more.  The Master’s Fam is a fantastic group of people, and we have many inspiring conversations in the chats.

We have a praise and report chat where we ask for specific prayers, and then we can update with answered prayers.

We’ve had movie nights via Zoom; the first was the best Saturday night I’ve had in many years!  We were all watching the same film, and because of the computer web cameras and chat, it felt like we were all in the same room.  We talked about it for weeks afterwards.

Now that the busy period at work is over, I can be at church more Sundays, and it’s been so good to be back in the church for the Sunday service.  My manager has also been trying to give me the day off when my church has our coffee mornings.  

I'm also listening to my worship playlist as I prepare for my day, sometimes starting with an earworm song I’ve woken up singing.  

In October 2021, I got baptised, and it was such a fantastic experience that it still makes me smile now when I think about it.  I’m so happy I had the opportunity and that I made the choice to do it.  Jesus has met me in some incredible worship moments over the last few years, and getting baptised was one of the best decisions I’ve made in the previous few years.  

Since being baptised, a lot has changed for me.  A significant change is that I stopped watching secular TV.

The average American watches over five hours of television daily, or about 1,650 hours yearly. This means that most of us watch TV for at least an hour every day, and many of us watch over two hours of TV every day! This constant exposure to the news and dramas that play on the TV screen can make our lives more dramatic than they need to be, and we can lose sight of the good things in life by focusing too much on what isn’t right around us.

I’m beginning to make smarter choices about how I spend my time, and one weekend I searched for Christian films on Netflix and found a few that came up.  One was Overcoming, which I watched, and wow!! It was so inspiring, and after it had finished, I read Ephesians 1, which is mentioned in the film, and I found myself journaling in the margins of my Bible. 

Avoid Triggers

Some people find it helpful to avoid certain subjects that trigger them. I, for example, don’t like horror, psychological films or thrillers, so I don’t watch them. I also try not to watch dramatic TV shows because they are too much for me. As a believer, I’m trying to watch more wholesome ones instead of the more dramatic ones that I used to love. 

You can find out which shows have inappropriate content and avoid them. For example, let’s say that a show you watch on Netflix has a romantic subplot that includes an adulterous affair. You might not enjoy watching it anyway, so why continue? On Netflix, go into your settings and then select App Control to create a blacklist of shows you won’t be able to access from now on. Once you set up your blacklist, all those shows will be hidden. 

Other alternatives include other forms of media, such as books or movies, with wholesome content.  Pay attention to the age rating of things, especially films on Netflix; they also have age ratings for TV shows.

It’s also possible that an alternate media form might be a better fit for you. If you’re easily triggered by sexual content, it may help to avoid watching anything sexual at all. An alternate approach would be to pick up a book or read something online instead of watching videos on youtube, shows on Netflix, etcetera. 

Over the last few years, I've found that God was slowly removing secular content from my life.  He began when I started attending church regularly, with music in 2020 when I made a playlist of the songs we’d sing to help me learn the words.  Soon it was the only playlist I was listening to.  

Then in 2022, he removed my favourite drama shows which I noticed weren’t helping my anxiety.  They were making it worse, so why was I watching them?  I ended up cancelling all my secular TV streaming subscriptions because I wasn't watching them so that I could save some money.  

Towards the end of last year, He began leading me away from reading secular books.  This was a wrench because I’d come to love a particular author and wanted to read all of their books.  But I felt that God was drawing me away from them to spend more time with Him, in His word and learning from faith leaders instead.  

If the average American watches over five hours of television daily, or about 1,650 hours yearly, that’s a lot of time to do other things instead. 

What else could you do with the time you're not watching TV?

You can do many other things instead; one great activity is to read a good book. You might also enjoy listening to music, doing jigsaws, or being creative. Whatever you do, make sure it's healthy for your brain! I believe these are all part of my new lifestyle as a believer, as I live with mental health problems that God is helping me take care of. 

I have some excellent faith-based books to read, listen to worship music, or do puzzles. Sometimes it’s hard to find the time when everything else seems essential. The most helpful thing is having other things you can do as alternatives to the often mindless TV watching. 

I find that when I’m binge-watching something, I’m avoiding something.  Instead, I could sit in my thoughts with my journal and unpick what’s going on to help heal myself more.  Don’t get me wrong, I still binge-watch things, as that’s sometimes the best option in the moment, but it's become a bad habit for me.  It used to be helpful, and now I’m finding it difficult to stop it and confront my thoughts which would help me more.

How Can I Improve My Prayer Life?

By being quiet

Sitting still

Maybe drink tea

By just talking to God and Jesus

Listening

Writing down what they say

What Things Have I Been Doing?

• Watching YouTube videos on prayer

• Reading books on prayer

• I’ve started a prayer journal as I don’t yet have the luxury of having a War Room prayer closet.

• As I mentioned in my last blog post about prayer, I’m making time to pray throughout the day.  *link 

• I’m taking Sabbath Sundays.

• I'm trying to switch up some of the things I do, so I’m trying to reach for my Bible, journal, or book instead of watching another YouTube video in the evening now that the days are longer and the evenings are lighter.

What prayer isn’t.  Prayer should NOT be treated as an item on a to-do list that must be checked off, which is how I’ve been approaching it.  It’s time to sit and commune with God and Jesus without distractions.

When starting a new friendship or relationship with someone, you spend time getting to know each other.  He already knows me, but I need to get to know Him. Removing the worldly distractions that’s what I feel Him drawing me to do, to learn His character, to trust Him and shed off my old life and beliefs that are holding me back.  

I will only learn to trust God by getting to know Him.  I will only get to know Him by spending time in His word and praying.  

But, I must admit that I’ve not been reading my daily Bible the past few weeks because I’ve felt something else is much more important. 

That thing isn’t more important, but I think it is. The number one priority in my life should be spending time reading the Bible to learn who God is so I can learn to hear His voice amid all the thoughts swimming around in my head. 

The enemy distracts me by making me think that the other thing is more important because he doesn’t want me in God's word. The enemy doesn’t want me to grow closer to God because that means he’s losing me. He’s controlled my life for so long that I’m used to letting him rule it.  I'm still learning the difference between God’s voice and the devil and not letting the devil win.  

In Conclusion 

What makes me happy? What lifts my spirit? What gives me peace when I need it? My answer to those questions is Jesus. If anyone asks what Christianity means, I would say this: It’s not just a religion but a fantastic journey that Jesus has invited us on, where we learn how much He loves us (1 John 3:1).

By worshipping our Creator, we discover His greatness. We begin to understand that He made us for a purpose (Ephesians 2:10) and loves us unconditionally (John 3:16). This gives us peace when we need it most. Yet despite His unconditional love, as Christians, we sometimes struggle with fear and doubt - two opposite emotions which can feel similar in intensity.

Listening to worship music is also an excellent way for Christians like myself who want to change their mindset.  Music can shift my mood much quicker than anything else whenever I find myself in a mind funk.  I often listen to worship music while getting dressed, food prepping and before bedtime. 

Christian songs usually praise Jesus for all he has done in our lives or thank Him for providing hope when everything seems hopeless. So many positive messages in this type of music encourage me after listening to them!  

It’s an excellent opportunity to pray while listening to worship music, so I could do more of this going forward.  I’ve done it occasionally, but what’s to say that I can spend an hour or so just listening to worship music, focusing on God and praying to Him with no other distractions?  

I have to start prioritising spending more time reading and studying the Bible. I need to do better at knowing when I need to journal and not wasting time on mindless tasks, like watching things online just to pass the time.  It will mean I start to dig deeper into why I want to be distracted, asking myself what I am avoiding. 

Getting used to these new habits will take time, but I am committing to working on them over the next few months.  You’re welcome to comment below or DM me on Instagram and check in about how I'm doing with them.