Table of contents
Bible verses about focusing on God
Are you focusing in your prayer life? Is focusing on the Lord a struggle for you? Is there something holding you back from the Lord? Do you remember the times when you used to be on fire for God?
Do you remember the days when you looked forward to worshiping the Lord? Are you easily distracted in worship?
Are you losing the fight that you once had and if so are you willing to fight for God? If you don’t fight for more of Him you’re going to lose Him.
Once you start losing the presence of God you have to fight. It’s time to make war!
Quotes
- “What consumes your mind controls your life.”
- “Don’t focus on your adversaries. Focus on God’s possibilities.”
- “True faith is keeping your eyes on God when the world around you is falling apart.”
- “Instead of thinking about how hard the test is, we can instead focus on asking the Lord to enlarge our understanding.” Crystal McDowell
- “The more you focus on yourself, the more distracted you will be from the proper path. The more you know Him and commune with Him, the more the Spirit will make you like Him. The more you are like Him, the better you will understand His utter sufficiency for all of life’s difficulties. And that is the only way to know real satisfaction.” John MacArthur
Are you focusing in worship?
You can yell like a lion and not say one thing to God. You can scream and pray boldly, but your prayer still won’t touch Heaven. Examine yourself! Are you just throwing words around or are you focusing? God looks at the heart. There are people who can ramble and say repetitive things and not think about God once. Does your heart align with the words that come out of your mouth?
Are you looking to God or are you praying to Him while your mind is on other things? You have to fight this. This doesn’t only apply to worship, but this also applies to all religious activities. We can serve at church while our hearts are away from the Lord. I’ve struggled with this. Sometimes you have to sit in prayer for an hour until your heart is aligned with Him. You have to wait for His presence. God I just want you. God I need you!
God help me focus I can’t live like this! We have to be desperate for God and if we are not desperate for Him that is a problem. Fight for more focus on Him! Not fiances, not family, not the ministry, but Him. Understand what I am saying. There is a time that we pray for these things, but worship is not about blessings. Worship is about God alone. It’s all about Him.
We have to get to a point where we can’t breath until we are so focused on Him and His presence. Do you want God? The one thing that you want in your life that you can’t live without, is it God? We must learn to treasure Him.
1. Matthew 15:8 “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”
2. Jeremiah 29:13 “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
3. Jeremiah 24:7 “I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.”
4. Psalm 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.”
5. John 17:3 “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
When you’re focused on God you will not focus on anything else.
Many of us struggle with so many things and many of us are being weighed down by the trials of life. If you would just focus on God you would understand that these things are just so little compared to Him. Why do you think God tells us to be still? When we are not still our mind is going to be filled with so much noise from the trials around us. Sometimes you have to run and be alone with the Lord and be still before Him. Allow Him to calm your fears and worries.
God is who He says He is. He is our shelter, our provider, our healer, our strength, etc. When you’re so focused on God in the midst of trials that shows a heart that trusts in the Lord. Nothing in Hell can scare a heart that trusts in the Lord, but you must focus on God. There are many times in your life when you sit and worry, but instead why aren’t you praying? I believe this is one of the main reasons why people struggle with depression. We dwell on the negative and we let these thoughts simmer into our soul instead of seeking our God. The best antidote for worry is worship.
There are many Christians who died for their faith. Many martyrs were burned at the stake. They died while singing hymns to the Lord. Most people would scream in pain and forsake God. Take a moment to imagine them burning, but instead of worrying they worshiped the Lord.
6. Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep the mind that is dependent on You in perfect peace, for it is trusting in You.”
7. Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.”
8. Psalm 112:7 “They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD.”
9. Psalm 57:7 “My heart is confident in you, O God; my heart is confident. No wonder I can sing your praises!”
10. Psalm 91:14-15 “Because he has focused his love on me, I will deliver him. I will protect him because he knows my name. When he calls out to me, I will answer him. I will be with him in his distress. I will deliver him, and I will honor him.”
In this life and in America especially there are so many things that seek to distract you.
There are distractions everywhere. I believe one of the reasons that men are not being men and women are not acting like women is because of these distractions. Everything seeks to slow us down and keep us preoccupied. This world turns our heart away from God. That is why when many people worship their words don’t align with their heart.
We are so worried about video games that they take up a good majority of our life. Many are so trapped by their phones that they have no time to worship. The first thing people do is wake up and they go immediately to their phones and they check their text messages and their social media accounts and they don’t think about God once. We are so distracted by everything else and we forget God. We forget what is in front of us.
Jesus said it is hard for the rich to enter into Heaven. In America we’re rich. In some countries we are millionaires. All these lights, electronics, and luxuries are meant to distract us. I barely watch TV because I know how dangerous it is. It makes my love for the Lord grow cold because it can be so addicting. When you’re driving you’re not going to be focused on what is behind you because that is extremely dangerous. In the same way it is extremely dangerous to focus on the things of the world.
You will be hindered. You will not seek the Lord with all your heart because you have to keep on looking back. I encourage you to forget the past, sign off on your social media accounts, turn off the TV, and stop hanging around those that are hindering you. Fix your eyes on Christ. Allow Him to lead you more and more to Him. You can’t do God’s will while you are continually looking back.
11. Psalm 123:2 “We keep looking to the LORD our God for his mercy, just as servants keep their eyes on their master, as a slave girl watches her mistress for the slightest signal.”
12. Colossians 3:1 “Therefore, if you have been raised with the Messiah, keep focusing on the things that are above, where the Messiah is seated at the right hand of God.”
13. Philippians 3:13-14 “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.”
Think about Christ.
What are your thoughts being filled with? Is it Christ? We have to make war with our thoughts. Our mind loves to dwell on everything, but God and remain there. When my mind dwells on something besides the Lord for a long period of time I can become weary. Let’s pray for help with keeping our mind focused on Christ.
Let’s pray that God helps us to notice when our mind drifts off to something else. Let’s fight with our thoughts. I learned that preaching the gospel to yourself is a great way to keep your mind on Christ. Sometimes we have to take a moment to just praise Him and give Him thanks. A moment of genuine worship lasts a lifetime. It gets your focusing straight.
I also love listening to worship music throughout the day. I want my heart to beat for the Lord. I want to enjoy Him. If you struggle with this cry out for help. Help my thoughts to be filled with you and give me advice to help me my Lord.
14. Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
15. Hebrews 3:1 “Therefore, holy brothers, partners in a heavenly calling, keep your focus on Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession.”
When you’re not focused on God you will make mistakes.
God constantly tells His people to remember my words because our hearts are bent on going our own way. When you’re focused on the Lord you will be focused on His Word.
When you start to lose focus you stop making war with sin, your discernment will be off, you’re slow to do God’s will, you become impatient, etc.
Many times we see Christians start dating ungodly people because they take their focus off of God. Satan will seek to tempt you. Just do it one time, God doesn’t care, God is taking too long, etc.
We must be on guard and be strong in the Lord, but how can we be strong in the Lord if we are not focused on the Lord? Get into the Word daily and be a doer not a hearer. How can you know God’s instructions if you are not in His Word?
16. Proverbs 5:1-2 “My son, stay focused; listen to the wisdom I have gained; give attention to what I have learned about life So you may be able to make sensible judgments and speak with knowledge.”
17. Proverbs 4:25-27 “Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. Watch the path of your feet And all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil.”
18. 1 Peter 5:8 “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”
19. Psalm 119:6 “Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.”
Don’t give up!
Stop trusting your circumstances. In my life I watched how God used pain to glorify His name and to answer other prayers. Just trust in Him. He will not forsake you. Never! Be still and wait on Him. God is always faithful. Put your focus back on Him.
20. Jonah 2:7 “When I had lost all hope, I turned my thoughts once more to the Lord. And my earnest prayer went to you in your holy Temple.”
21. Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
Pray for more focus on the Lord. I also encourage you to take extra steps to help you focus such as eat healthy, get more sleep, and refrain from alcohol. Sometimes fasting is needed. We hate the thought of fasting, but fasting has been such a blessing in my life.
Starving the flesh gets your focusing straight. Some people don’t know the Lord so never neglect Him. Cherish Him. Cherish every moment because every second in His presence is a blessing.
biblereasons.com
“There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired.” -F. Scott Fitzgerald
Staying focused on God in today’s ever changing world is not easy. Life happens so fast in the 21st Century that if your cell phone is 12 months old it’s out of date!
Did you know this hectic rush of life we experience isn’t unique to our generation? Surprising, because how many times have you heard about “the good old days,” when life was slower and more simple?
While the above quote sounds like something our parents and grandparents probably didn’t experience, that is actually from the book, The Great Gatsby by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald, published in 1925.
Even in the 1920’s, people’s lives were hurried, distracted and hectic.
Still, I’m fairly convinced that there have never been as many distractions in the life of a person as we have now. So how do we stay focused on God in the daily grind while so many things are competing for our attention?
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Staying Focused on God
1. Begin the day with God
I know it sounds simple enough and it’s going to be one of the first suggestions you’ll find in any article like this, but that’s for good reason.
If you or I are going to stay focused on God, we have got to include the things of God in our daily lives!
You’ve probably heard that when something is repeated twice in the Bible it’s something to pay attention to, right? How about something that’s repeated 10 times in one teaching? That’s how many times Jesus used the word “abide” or “remain” in John 15:1-11!
Jesus said in John 15:4, “Abide in me.” He repeated that in 2 other ways in John 15:5-7 while also providing a stark warning and a vast promise:
“Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
Staying focused on God requires abiding in Him. I know your mornings are rushed, but if you create the discipline to spend the first minutes of your day reading the Word of God and talking to Him about the day ahead, you will have a greater focus on Him throughout the day.
If you don’t know where to start, try reading John 15:1-11 each morning for a week. It won’t take long and the passage is crazy profound.
2. Remain in prayer
Do you want to create and develop the habit of a prayerful life? 1 Thessalonians 5:17 makes one simple yet bold command: “pray without ceasing.”
This is a habit worth developing and isn’t as difficult as you might think.
When you see or hear a news report that bothers you, pray for the people and the situation. When you come across someone that annoys you or tries your patience, silently pray for them. When you hear of someone facing some problem, large or small…pray for them.
We had a friend that taught her children about staying focused on God by offering up a quick prayer every time they heard the sirens of a police car, ambulance or fire truck.
God doesn’t need our eloquent, long-winded pious sounding discourses, laced with “thees, thous” and “almighties.” He wants your heart, and often in prayer that sounds as simple as “God, help!“
3. Limit the distractions
In the post 3 Ways to Having More Faith, I wrote that we have to keep a clear space between us and God. You can’t keep your eyes on what you can’t see, physically or spiritually.
In Joshua 3:4, the people of Israel are commanded to keep a distance of 2,000 cubits between them and the ark of the covenant. That’s about a half of a mile and the purpose was so the people of Israel would always be able to see the ark in all types of terrain that they were traveling through.
In our spiritual lives, when we fill the spaces with all kinds of conveniences and distractions, it becomes very difficult and even impossible sometimes to see where the Lord is leading us.
We can overcome this by limiting the distractions, the busyness and our own lack of discipline by making a conscious effort to keep our Lord in the number one spot in our lives.
4. Serve God
In Matthew 6:24, Jesus teaches, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
You’ve heard that verse. You’ve probably also heard the term mammon in place of money at the end of it.
Though “mammon” was a word that primarily represented money and possessions, it was also used to refer to lusts of all types.
If you’re serving God with your resources of time, energy, talents, and with your money, then staying focused on God will naturally follow.
5. Remove sin from your life
This could have been the first point in the list.
What I mean by this is to remove the habitual, continuous sinful habits and patterns from your life.
Hebrews 12:1 says, “Since we are surrounded by so many examples of faith, we must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially sin that distracts us.”
If there is something, someone, some place or anything in your life that leads you away from God in any way, or that keeps you out of prayer, away from fellowship with other believers or distracts you from reading your Bible, you have one option: remove that thing from your life.
Staying focused on God or growing in your spiritual, prayer, or Christian life in any way with any habitual sin in your life is next to impossible. Kill the sin or it will kill you spiritually, physically, or both.
Kill sin or it will kill you spiritually, physically, or both.Click To Tweet
Running the Marathon
It’s been said countless times that life is a marathon, not a sprint. When staying focused on God, this becomes especially evident.
Hebrews 12:1 tells us that “We must run the race that lies ahead of us and never give up,” and the next verse tells us how to do that: “We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2).
Taking these 5 steps and making them daily habits will deepen your spiritual life and they will help when staying focused on God.
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Sometimes we get consumed with worry and fear when we find ourselves in tough situations. We focus on our own desires, our problems, our short comings, and even become focused on other people‘s blessings instead of our own. We focus on everything and everyone else, instead of focusing on God, the one person who can actually help us.
Follow these 7 Daily Habits to Stay Focused on God:
1. Don’t Depend on You
We live in a world where trust must be earned and seems to be in short supply. But Solomon, the famous king who wrote Proverbs, knew that trust is exactly where we must start:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5)
Most of us have faced disappointments, which have taught us that we can only depend upon ourselves. But living the life God has called us to means unlearning that lesson. Instead, we’re meant to rest in God’s understanding.
We may know in our minds that He possesses all wisdom:
“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” Romans 11:33
But sometimes trusting Him completely like that can be tough. So, each day we must consciously lay aside our own plans and expectations—and surrender to His plans.
What if we don’t feel like we can trust Him like that? That’s where step 2 comes in…
2. Cry out to God
Surrendering to God begins with our lips and our thoughts. We need more than a commitment to depend on Him; we need to cry out to Him to show that dependence.
“in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:6)
When we pray, we admit that His ways are higher than ours. We show that we’re leaving our troubles and burdens and dreams in His capable hands. In fact, the Bible promises that when we reach out to Him in prayer, He hears us:
“Evening, morning, and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. ” (Psalm 55:17)
We handed the keys of our lives to Him, and we know that He’s able to lead us. But in order for that to work, we have to…
3. Run from Evil
So much in this world can clutter up our relationship with God. John, the writer of the fourth gospel, describes them as the desires of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride in our lives (1 John 2:16). In other words, our blessings can easily become our stumbling blocks when we think of them as what we deserve or what we need to be happy.
Instead, life works best when we remember the true source of our blessings—God—and focus on the things that please Him:
“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.” (Proverbs 3:7)
Sometimes, the only way to live the life God wants us to live is by separating ourselves from the bad influences that keep dragging us down. That works the best when we start pursuing something else in their place:
“Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:22)
Is that easy? Not at all. Fleeing from the evil desires that pull at us means spending a lot of time crying out to God and leaning on Him. But our Creator promises to honor our commitment to Him when we shun evil:
“This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” (Proverbs 3:8)
When we pursue Him, we find life—abundant life. Running from evil and pursuing God doesn’t come naturally to most of us. Instead, it means we have to make a serious change:
4. Put God First in Your Life
It’s easiest to put ourselves first. When something good happens, we want to congratulate ourselves with a reward. When something bad happens, we want to console ourselves or find someone to blame. In other words, we often have a “me-centric” starting place.
And when it comes to money, the struggle is even harder. But Solomon, who had quite a bit of wealth himself, knew that his money didn’t belong to him:
“Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.” (Proverbs 3:9–10)
If we can trust God with the first of our wealth, we’re truly showing how much we depend on Him. Handing over the first part of our paycheck takes a huge amount of faith, after all. But doing so means being God-centric.
To get there, though, make sure you…
5. Check Yourself by God’s Word
Let’s be honest. We aren’t so good at evaluating ourselves. We will go to great lengths to excuse our behavior, our actions, and our sins. Who needs a defense attorney when we can pretty much find a reason for any bad thing we do? The prophet Jeremiah captures this very well:
“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
If we’re ever going to truly trust in God and flee evil, we have to know exactly where we stand. We have to find an objective measure that tells us the truth. And that truth comes from God and His Word.
Of course, that doesn’t mean we’ll always like what we see or how we see it:
“My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke” (Proverbs 3:11)
That’s right. Sometimes it takes something bad happening or seeing ourselves in a bad light before we finally admit that we need to change. And the more we’re in the Bible, the more likely this is to happen.
“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11)
When we have Scripture planted firmly in our hearts, God will often use that to deal with us.
6. Listen to the Holy Spirit
When Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to the church, He told His disciples that this Counselor would be their spiritual compass or GPS:
“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26)
As we go through our day, this same Holy Spirit guides us, too. That means we don’t have to go it alone or hope we’re getting it right. No, the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth and protects us:
“Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.” (2 Timothy 1:14)
After all, the gift of the Holy Spirit to us believers reminds us that we can truly…
7. Rest in God’s Love
When we face a difficult world each day, we can sometimes wonder if God even cares. Why do bad things happen? Where is God when I need Him? Solomon reminds us that God never takes a break or leaves us to fend for ourselves:
“because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.” (Proverbs 3:12)
Even in the midst of turmoil, God sticks with us and uses those challenges to shape us. When we understand that, our perspective completely flips. No longer do we see our setbacks as failures; we see them as moments when God, as our loving Father, works on us.
And that’s exactly why we can trust in the Lord with all our hearts. He cares for us each and every day. He gives us what we need to thrive. He pours blessing after blessing upon us.
Of course, following each of these daily steps isn’t easy. That’s why Jesus said we have to deny ourselves and follow Him (Matthew 16:24). Trusting God takes a whole-hearted commitment from dawn till dusk. But we’re never alone in it:
“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20b)
theprayingwoman.com
Do you ever struggle to keep your focus on God?
I’m at Satisfaction Through Christ today, where I’m sharing a very recent personal experience. You see, I find that it’s the trivial things that can be most distracting to a godly perspective.
Here’s an excerpt:
My husband has been working on getting our yard cleaned up, bless him, and he asked for some help weeding. It’s a pretty big yard, and we neglect it at times for various reasons…not the least of which is my aversion to the yard.
Help with weeding was definitely a reasonable request.
But it’s not what I wanted to be doing bright and early on a weekday morning. And I was just a little bit irritated with him over it.
I’m so thankful that God used this experience to remind me of an important truth!
Read about it here, just a click away!
adivineencounter.com
