Scriptures: Hebrews 4:14-16, Mark 1:35, Luke 5:16

God wants a relationship with us that is up close and personal. This personal relationship means we can talk to God, know more about Him, begin to understand His ways and follow Him in obedience with our lives. On a daily basis, that relationship begins with the time we spend with God. Some people call it a "devotional" or "quiet time", but the importance of reading God's Word, the Bible, and praying, and writing down what God is teaching us, is crucial to a vital, growing relationship with Him. In this message, Dr. Merritt talks about how to spend time with God daily, and the tremendous benefits that come as we draw near to Him Person-to-person.

"Time is important. If you are going to draw near to God, so you can hear from God you’ve got to schedule time to listen. I would encourage you to literally schedule this and to literally to make an appointment with God. Do you know why? If you don’t schedule time with God, then most times you won’t make time for God. How many times have you said to someone, 'We need to get together” or 'We need to go to lunch' or 'We need to go play golf', but then you never do? There is only one reason why you don’t. You didn’t schedule it! The easiest thing to get squeezed out of your schedule is this time with God.

"The primary way that God speaks today is the Bible. I don’t put God in a box and I’m not saying God can’t speak in other ways, but for 2,000 years His primary way has been through His word and 2,000 years from now it will still be through His word. If you are going to draw near to God you must read your Bible. There is no other way. You can pray all you want to and talk to God all you want to, but He will not speak to you unless He does it through His word." --Dr. Merritt

Keywords: up close, personal, God, know, relationship, understand, personal, Jesus, Christ, communication, prayer, Bible, reading, study, environment, place, morning, plan, principle, application, journal, record, thoughts, Scripture, illustrations, speak, benefit, prayer list, needs