5 Ways to Stay Connected to Jesus During a Crazy Week

It’s Thursday, and the weekend is in sight. Woohoo! Sunday’s coming and for me and other people of the Christian faith, that means attending some sort of Church service. If you’re like me, however, sometimes you feel kind of spiritually dry between those Sundays.

And, well, that just makes sense. If you only ate once a week, you’d feel gorged after meal time, but then your body would ache and hunger during the rest of the week. It’s not healthy physically, and it’s not healthy spiritually. We’ll never be consistent in our faith until we consistently draw close to Jesus throughout the week.

“Yeah, Adam, I know that… I hear you… But how?” I’m so glad you asked. But before I share some answers that have worked for me, let me just say, I get it. Most people who follow Jesus recognize on some level the need to connect to Jesus more frequently or for those connections to increase in quality. The problem is twofold: 1, We sometimes genuinely don’t know how. 2, We lack the willpower to follow through.

Some other time, we’ll talk about building disciplines, but for now, let me share with you 5 Ways You Can Stay Connected to Jesus During a Crazy Week:

1. Read Your Bible & Pray Daily.

Ok, you surely knew this would make the list, right? If I didn’t include it, I’m sure the emails and messages would fill up my inbox: “Adam, what about reading the Bible? What about praying?”. Yes, I agree it’s a basic component of faithfully following Jesus. But sometimes we forget the basics. Nothing has helped me draw closer to Jesus than at least somewhat consistently reading the Bible and praying to God about what I have read.

And really, there isn’t an excuse anymore to not get into the Word daily. I’m a huge fan of the YOUVERSION APP. With it’s Bible plans, social networking features, media, and audio Bible features, there is so much to make reading the Bible a rich, soul-nourishing experience.

There are a lot more ways out there to engage with the text and the Author of the Bible. Amazon’s Alexa will read the Bible to you, there are apps that will remind you. This is an area where you just need to start. Pick up the book of 1 John and read a chapter a day for 5 days. Pray about what you’ve read. You’ll begin to connect with the Lord in a fresh, new way.

2. Listen to “Christian” Music

I have mixed feelings about this. I think we have to be careful about labeling music “Christian” versus “secular”. Music doesn’t experience salvation. But in the “Christian” music field, I draw two distinctions: 1, Worship music. 2, Songs about the Christian life.

Let me explain what I mean. I would include as Worship Music songs that I would use or expect to see in a worship service. Songs like “10,000 Reasons”, “In Christ Alone”, etc. These songs can help you have a private worship service that can draw you closer to Jesus

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Songs about the Christian life to me would include lots of songs I hear on Christian radio, like “Chain Breaker” by Zach Williams, music by Need to Breathe. While I wouldn’t use these songs in a worship service, because they’re not songs directed to God, they do have an encouraging faith-based message. Listening to that, either in the background as I work, or jamming out in the car, I notice a difference in my outlook and attitude.

3. Connect to a Small Group or Bible Study

When my mom was growing up, she went to a Holiness church and had something like 7 services a week. That’s right, SEVEN! You were expected to go to the church every time the doors were open. When I was growing up in the late 80’s and early 90’s, the expectation was that you went to Sunday School, Sunday morning worship, Sunday evening worship, and Midweek service.

Today, instead of attending 2-3 hours of services a week at a local church, it’s considered a win if people attend 2-3 hours PER MONTH. This is a huge culture shift in the American Church. And while we can bemoan this or say it’s causing people to be stagnant in their faith (which I disagree with, at least partially), it’s not something we’re probably going to see change.

And while I don’t think the answer is for you to go to a building more hours a week, I do strongly believe in the importance of Christ followers gathering in small groups for encouragement, accountability, and to work together.

Some churches do Sunday School. Some churches do life groups, home groups, cell groups, small groups, missional communities, etc. The main difference in all of these? Marketing/branding. It’s not nearly as important what you call these as long as you participate.

We were not created to do life alone. The Christian journey is not a solo adventure. Get connected with other Christians and you’ll get closer to Jesus.

4. Say No

Say no to something so you can say yes to Jesus. 90% of your schedule is ultimately determined by you. If your life is too busy to connect with Christ, frankly, it ultimately comes down to the fact that you have said yes to way too many things. Saying no isn’t easy. It’s not fun. But it’s important.

You don’t need to watch that show on Netflix nearly as much as you need to spend 5 minutes with the One who refreshes your soul. Do you really need to watch the news more than you need to connect with Jesus?

Say no to the good so you can say yes to the great. And the greatest thing in our lives in our relationship with Jesus Christ.

5. Seek to Integrate Your Faith into Your Tasks

Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Everything we do, huh? Yep. Now, I’ll be the first to admit this can be tricky. It definitely takes some creativity. But when we have the mindset that there are “Christian” tasks and then there is the stuff that I simply have to do, we misunderstand God’s purpose behind our work. The Lord of the Church is still Lord of the marketplace.

Offer to pray for people you meet. Or pray for them privately. When you go to the grocery store, buy some extra food for a family in need. Ask the Lord how you can be more generous at the workplace. Sing to Jesus when you’re on the lawnmower.

I’m sure that there are many other ways you can connect with Jesus during a crazy week or season of life. But these are the 5 that most quickly come to mind. What helps you connect with Christ?