4 Practical Ways to Make Room for God in Your Life

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been reflecting back on the word the Lord placed on my heart for the year: “awe.”

I have seen the Lord do dramatic things with this word in my life. My prayer for the year was not to be too busy, tired, or distracted to find myself in awe of the Lord each and every day. In order to do that, I’ve been working on making space in my day to day life for the Lord.

So, I thought I would share 4 practical tips to make room for God in your life. This is what I’ve been doing in order to allow myself to be in continued awe of the Lord and my hope is that they will help you in your walk of faith, too.

Let’s dive in!

De-Clutter & Donate

To a certain degree, we all know and understand that clutter can affect our ability to focus. When it comes to our faith, it’s important that we spend true and undistracted time with the Lord. If there is too much clutter around your home, on a subconscious level you aren’t going to be able to truly focus on God.

In fact, God actually calls us to “not love the world or the things of the world…for all that is in the world — the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions — is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (John 12:15–17)

Not only are we called to not be taken with the things of this world, but we are also called to be generous givers. I’m a big fan of donating anything that isn’t trash. The act of donating and practicing generosity also allows us to take part in what God is doing in our community.

When a rich man asks Jesus how he can inherit the kingdom of heaven, Jesus is very direct in his response: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Matthew 19:21)

The act of de-cluttering your home and donating it all to those in need is literally like saying to the Lord, “Okay God, I’m serious about my relationship with you. You are the only one who can fully satisfy me. I’m giving these things away and I am following you with my whole heart.”

Bonus Tip: Listen to worship music to remind yourself of the Lord’s goodness while you de-clutter.

Clean Up Your Diet

In order to make room for God in your life, it’s also important to clean up your diet.

The Bible doesn’t call us to eat all organic food, and it doesn’t call us to become teetotalers either. But scripture does tell us to glorify God with our bodies, which I think means fueling our bodies properly.

I’ve cut out alcohol (unless it’s a Friday or Saturday night) for the past month and cut out sugary snacks almost cold turkey. It hasn’t been easy, but I have noticed that my ability to focus has improved and I’m sleeping better which also makes it easier to wake up at 5 am to read my Bible.

As someone who had an eating disorder in my early 20s, I am always very mindful about jumping into a “fad” when it comes to food. However, it is possible to fuel your body well while still practicing the art of denying yourself.

I’ve always shied away from the idea of fasting, but the Bible is very clear about fasting and its ability to bring us closer to God. So, as a stepping stone, I have been intermittent fasting for 16 hours (7 pm — 11 am) one day each week. My goal is to eventually fast for a full 24 hours by the end of the year.

It’s important to note that the mindset with my fasting is not to lose weight or even to “feel better,” it is simply to glorify God with my body, practice self-denial, and lean on Him as opposed to something as simple as a morning bagel.

Like de-cluttering your home, fasting and fueling your body well is like saying, “Okay God. I trust you and even though I feel hungry, I am leaning on your sufficiency to get me through this fast. Although it is 8 pm on a Tuesday and I want my evening wine, I am denying myself in order to spend the quality time with you that I crave and that you deserve.”

Bonus Tip: Pray through your cravings. Most cravings go away in about 10–15 minutes, so why not journal it out with the Lord?

Practice the Sabbath

This is a big one for me. What a silly God we serve to think that we should take a day off every week when there are bills to be paid, errands to be run, and a never-ending to-do list to tackle! That’s how I used to look at the Sabbath. It was more of a “yea, right” attitude, which I’m coming to learn is based on pride.

I am a highly productive person and I take immense pride in what I’m able to get done in a day. I also burn out incredibly quickly because I never allow myself to take a break and breathe. There is a drill sergeant in my brain continually yelling, “GO! GO! GO!”

But again, this is my subtle way of trusting and relying on myself as opposed to trusting and relying on God.

God created the world in six days. Then He rested. The pattern that was established in creation was work then rest. However, the pattern that is established in the gospel is to rest then work.

Take the story of Mary and Martha for example. Martha is a Type A worker bee and yet Jesus actually rebukes her (gently and in love) when she complains about her sister Mary not helping her with the chores around the house.

“The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38–42)

The gods of the world (money, wealth, sex, fame, etc…) demand that we continually bow down to them and work, work, work. We are forever indebted to them and can never satisfy them.

The God of the universe only asks one thing: that we sit at His feet and worship.

Take one day off each week. It is not easy, but it is so worth it.

When we actually practice the Sabbath and keep it holy, it’s like saying, “Okay God. I have a lot of things I would still like to do, but I am choosing to trust you. I am going to sit here at your feet and worship and praise you and take the day to rest my body, mind, and soul all to your glory.”

Bonus Tip: Take a Sabbath from Social Media, too. Your mental and emotional health will thank you.

Read Your Bible

My last and final practical tip to help you make room for God in your life is to just spend time with the Lord. At first, it’s going to take some serious discipline to open your Bible and read it. It is a spiritual muscle that unfortunately goes un-used for so many of us.

I personally like to spend my time with the Lord in the early morning with a cup of coffee and the sunrise. I know other people prefer to have their quiet time in the evening. Whatever time of day suits you best, it’s imperative that you carve out that time and don’t allow anything to come between you and your time with Jesus.

I would recommend that you start with 10–15 minutes of prayer and reading a passage of scripture. Once you get into the habit and routine of reading your Bible every day, then you can start to extend your time in the word.

Bonus Tip: I like to read my Bible aloud and keep a log of questions in my journal that I can look into and research later.

By implementing these 4 practical ways to make room for God in your life, your faith will grow. If you are interested in take your faith a step further, then join me in my 21-Day Journal & Pray Challenge.