Soul Care is a subject not often addressed in today's hurried, harried culture. How in the world are we, mere humans, supposed to go about caring for our God-breathed soul? 

Soul - being simply defined as the very center of our being that knows God and longs to be closer to him. Psalm 25:1 teaches us to pray: "To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul." But what can we do to lift up our soul, to unlock the treasures that God has stored there, and to share our deepest desires and love with the One who created us? 

Thomas Moore, in Care of the Soul, writes:

So, how can we give our soul a fully adequate meal everyday? How can we daily experience the long, slow process of digesting what our soul needs to live on? There is only one primary way that I know of and that is in regularly spending time with God and being continually in his Word. It is such an intense and rich method that it can't help but bring about renewal in the process of personal soul care. 

Let today be all about the freedom and permission to nurture your soul by private time spent with God, but do it in a way that makes sense to you. I've certainly experimented with what seems to work for me on any given day!

You see, my real name is Bored Easily Brazelton. I belong to the school of thought that says, "Variety is the spice of life" and that there is no right or wrong way of meeting with God and getting to know him. I love changing the location, style, conversational content, expected ritual, and obligatory order of my quiet time, because I have come to realize over the years that, for me, doing this greatly increases my ability to worship God and, therefore, lift up my soul.

Here are a few suggestions to do just that. Let your visit with God be...

A - Alive with Ambiance: It may work for you to take refuge in your favorite La-Z-Boy recliner, meditating on a new-found Scripture verse. You might choose to lounge on the floor in the front of your living room fireplace as you clear the day's busyness from your mind, or you may decide to sit in a straight-back chair at your kitchen table, intently reading your daily devotional while chomping on peanuts. It could be your thing to crawl into your unmade bed with instrumental music playing in the background, while you glorify God. You may want to speak to God in your son or daughter's bedroom, thinking of requests and praise from your child or teen's point of view. Never underestimate the power and joy of sharing a cup of coffee with Christ at a quiet sidewalk café or of inviting him to sit with you and watch the sun go down from the comfort of your bay window. Or you may be among the rare breed who actually opens your Bible and prays, while seated behind your workplace desk - before checking emails, voice messages, and instant messages!

I've climbed the hill behind my home in the rain to declare my love for God's people; I've sat in a local park on a winter's day bundled up in blankets arguing with my Lord; and I've gone to the beach to weep and journal about being the stumbler that I am. My all time favorite prayerful conversations, though, have been on my patio while sipping ice cold tea, nestled on a well-padded, swing chair for hours on summer Sundays, and engrossed in my Life Application Study Bible. Nothing has ever taken my soul deeper with the Lord than those unhurried, cherished times.

I draw the line at praying in the bathroom, although many good Christians have told me that the "lavatory" is the only place they have the privacy to pray. So much for my ambiance suggestion!

B - Based on the Bible: I disagree with letting our exercise time (jogging, swimming, biking, treadmill, kayaking, etc.) or our long commute to or from work be our only designated quiet time. I think alone time like that (which includes singing, talking to, or listening to God) is a perfect prelude to even more incredible prayerfulness, but I feel that it shortchanges God when we squeeze him into another activity that does not include reading his Word. He doesn't strike me as a type of God who says, "It's okay if you multi-task, on the go without Scripture."

Those who have an audio version of the Bible or those spiritual giants who have large portions of the Bible committed to memory can obviously disregard my unsophisticated opinion, being that I am an average sojourner!

C - Conversational in Content: I've been taught that it is a good idea to prepare my heart with praise and confession, so that gratitude and prayer requests can come spilling out. I never dictate to myself, though, which of those four basic expressions has to "be handled" first or last, or whether one conversational element can overshadow the others in a specific prayer session. If I am humbled by the mighty power of God or burdened with sadness over my sinful behavior, I allow that feeling to pour out without restraint. Whether I have my face to the floor beseeching God for a favor or am kneeling with my hands raised in joyful thanksgiving, I go with the reality of the moment, rather than with a set of "should's" and "supposed to's."

Another common, human response to God, but one that is not often mentioned in Christian circles, is anger at God. For that emotionally charged feeling, I rely on a fast and furious game of tetherball in my backyard - me against him. Of course, he's a patient and gracious opponent, and eventually, I calm down enough to join him on a walk and hear his gentle voice and persistent, faithful message that assures me that I can trust him.

And for those who believe that a quiet time must always begin with purifying their heart, so be it. I stand amazed at the inner beauty of those repentant sinners.

Bottom Line: What a privilege and joy to visit with our Creator and meditate on his Word - whenever, wherever, and however! May God greatly enrich your precious moments with him, as you strive to do everything in your power to care for and feed your soul, a soul that longs for nothing but intimacy with God.