If there was one word to describe my motherhood journey so far it would be intense. We had 5 kids in 7 years and within that same time frame moved 6 times across the country. Basically some of the most stressful life events stacked on top of each other repeatedly for years. Even though those years had many lonely and stressful moments, I can look back now and see how God used (and still is using) that season to help me grow. Through those years God showed me and taught me practical ways to “lean on” Him to get through the loneliness and depend on him.
I’m sure we’ve all heard preachers or even friends tell us to “lean on” God through hard times, easy times, trying times, basically all the time, but how do we lean on someone who isn’t standing next to us? Today I want to share 6 practical ways I learned to “lean on” God throughout the day.
1. Pray
I know this one seems obvious, but many times prayer is the one we overlook. One way to lean on God is prioritize prayer in your day. Before your feet even hit the ground in the morning say a quick prayer. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Even something as simple as:
God, thank you for another day to serve you. Help me to show your love to those in my life today, to see ways I can bless those around me, and to have patience. Amen.
In this season of motherhood I rarely have time to eat a warm meal; let alone sit down and pray for long periods of time on a consistent basis. Even when we have a busy season, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pray. Small prayers are just as effective as big ones, and several little prayers add up to big prayers. Here are some ways I’ve found to integrate prayer more into the day:
- Tie certain prayers to an activity. For example, pray for family and our leaders during your commute or pray for your pastors while folding laundry.
- If praying for missionaries or certain organizations is important to you, print out a picture of their logo or hang their picture on your fridge and pray for them whenever you see it.
- Write prayer requests down somewhere you will see them often to remind you to pray for them. Make a prayer request list and write it at the bottom of your planner for the week or on a sticky note stuck to your computer. Set an alarm on your phone to alert you at a certain time with a list of prayer requests.
“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you”
Isaiah 26:3 (NIV)
Our peace is found by fixing our eyes and leaning on God! Put reminders where you’ll see them to remind you to pray and check in with God throughout your day.
2. Read the Bible
God’s word is our source in our walk with Him. We can’t lean on him without reading the Bible and getting His word down into our heart. Sometimes it can be difficult to have time to read the Bible for large amounts of time, especially as a mom, but here are some ways to read the Bible more throughout the day.
- Read the Bible or signup for devotionals on Youversion that you can do while you’re hiding (just kidding), I mean taking a bathroom break (insert mental picture of kid fingers trying to reach you through the crack under the door).
- Have an audio Bible playing while you’re making meals, playing with kids, running errands, or driving to work. Youversion and Dwell are both great options for audio Bibles.
- You can read the Bible out loud with your kids while they’re playing.
- Do age appropriate devotionals with your kids. I can’t tell you how many times God has encouraged and/or convicted me through my kid’s devotional for the day.
- Tape Bible verses up around your home, to your car visor, your work computer, or your bathroom mirror. Anywhere you will see them often.
- Memorize the Bible. If you don’t know where to start, simply Google verses of God’s promises or verses that pertain to whatever season you’re walking through, write them down or save them to your phone, and just start with to memorize one at a time.
Now if you have the time to study the Bible for larger amounts of time, that’s great! But in those seasons where it’s hard to get that time, 5 minutes here, 15 minutes here, and 10 minutes here really adds up! Just consistent bite-sized pieces throughout the day really make a difference in renewing our hearts and minds.
3. Play Praise & Worship Music
Music is another tool we can use to lean on God. Worship literally changes the spiritual atmosphere in our home. When we listen to or sing praise and worship, it refocuses our minds and hearts on God. It’s easy to praise during the good times, but when times get tough, it can be hard to get our eyes off of our problems enough to praise God. Just like the disciples on the boat in the storm; all they could see was the chaos around them. Chaotic and hopeless moments in our life are when we need to worship Him the most! When we worship Him, it puts Him above our circumstances and shows our dependence on Him. Worship says God, I don’t know what to do, but I know You’ve got everything in your hands, so I’m just going to stand and praise!
4. Talk to God About Everything
I talked earlier about praying throughout the day, but our communication with God doesn’t always have to be a formal prayer. God cares about every, single, little detail of your life. He wants a relationship with us. He wants us to invite Him into every aspect of our life.
In her book Love Centered Parenting, Crystal Paine talks about Hail Mary prayers throughout the day. When you’re driving and someone cuts you off, throw up a prayer for peace and a blessing over the person cutting you off. If you’ve reached the end of your rope with your child, send up a prayer saying God, I’ve reached the end of my patience, and right now I need you to help me. Help me to see my child the way you see them, and respond to them the way you would. God is there to help you! Reach out to Him in everything.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Philippians 4:6 (NIV)
Another small way to check in with God throughout the day is simply to give thanks. God thank you for that beautiful sunset, thank you for that precious moment my kids were playing so peacefully, thank you for the calmness of winter, thank you for hot water…the list could go on and on. I’m sure you’ve heard about an attitude of gratitude. Gratitude helps us keep our perspective on just how good God is and off of the trials in front of us. There are so many moments we can offer thanks and give God praise throughout our day and it’s another way we can lean on him.
5. Lean on the Holy Spirit
One day during homeschool, our son was really struggling to learn a fraction concept. I explained it every way I could think of. So I asked God to please help me see it in a way that would make sense to him. Another child asked me for a snack, and as I was fixing it, a totally off the wall way to explain the concept came to mind. I explained it to my son, and he understood the concept immediately! Our God is a God of infinite wisdom even in the small things. That’s why he gave us the Holy Spirit, to walk with us, and help us in everyday life. He’s there for us, even the small, minute details of our days. All we have to do is ask!
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
John 14:16-17 (NIV)
6. Read and Listen to Godly Influences
The last way we can “lean on” God is to read and listen to Godly influences. The more we get God’s word and wisdom in our hearts, the more we become like Him. Our lives these days are busy, so listening to Godly influences is a great way to keep our focus on God. Here are some examples of Godly influences to read or listen to:
- Listen to sermons. Many churches put their sermons on YouTube or their website; making it easy to listen to them throughout the week.
- Read blog posts or articles.
- Listen to podcasts from sound Christian influences. There are a lot of voices out there. Just make sure what they are saying is lining up with the Bible. Here are some of my favorites about motherhood and family:
- Read books or listen to audiobooks from Christian authors. Some of my favorite Christian authors are:
- Do a devotional.
- Youversion has thousands of free devotionals on the app. All you have to do is type what you’re looking for in the search bar. They have devotions for anxiety, motherhood, depression, marriage, and growing your faith to name a few.
- There are probably hundreds of devotionals on Amazon and at bookstores too. If you don’t know where to start, the Jesus Calling devotional by Sarah Young is a great one to start with.
My goal in sharing these ideas, is not to make make us feel like we aren’t doing enough. Rather, it’s to inspire you to “lean on” God in more ways throughout your day. Hopefully these ideas give you some creative ways to “lean on” Him, and they were an encouragement to you! If you have any resources or ideas on how to “lean on” God more, I would love for you to share them in the comments!
Have a wonderful week!