Practical ideas for translating these things that your head knows well into practices that your schedule can handle:

Actually write devotional times into your schedule daily and begin to hold to them as ardently as you would a date with a friend or meeting with your boss.

Learn to meditate. And I don’t mean yoga.  During your devotional times, tune your heart to hear God’s prompting on verses that may speak to your needs some time later.  Make a note of that verse, mull it over, write it out on a small card (business card size works really well because it will fit both in your pocket and your car’s cup holder).  Take it around with you and peek at it throughout the day. Attempt to memorize it and let it become words that you turn over in your mind so often it’s like a favorite, catchy song.

Refuse to neglect time with the Lord on ANY day.  Do not let a day pass when you have not sat before the God who gave you that day to begin with and tell Him thanks for it, ask Him to take your burdens that have sprung out of it, and acknowledge His right to every minute of it.

Start small, but refuse to stay there.  If you currently spend little to no time alone with the Lord, be willing to do just a bit more.  Be content with growth.  Don’t shoot for the moon, just pick up one size heavier weight than what you’ve been carrying.  And when that becomes somewhat effortless, move to the next.  Don’t beat yourself up, just “work it out.”  (Philippians 2:12-13)

Don’t hand-pick Bible parts.  Be willing to read parts that no one’s ever taught you, be willing to read the Old Testament!, be willing to concede that the Lord can speak and work and guide you through every word on those pages.  If you don’t feel a “leading” toward one place or another, pick one!  It does not mean God doesn’t care if you read it!  Go for Psalms and see if you can relate, go for Proverbs and see what all advise you wished you’d had a week ago, go for John and see how cool it is that the God who came up with the idea for earwax and butterflies is also the God who let Himself be bottled up in a baby body just to be able to relate to you! You feel you lack reverence, read Exodus and watch Him part seas and open the earth’s floor, make dead branches bud fruit over night and leprosy appear instantly.  How can one not revere a God who can make the sun hide all day?

Learn to be quiet.  Pay attention to your day tomorrow.  How much time do you actually spend in absolute silence, no car radio, no phone conversations, no television, no kids.  I can hear you talking right now – “it’s never quiet!  How can I have quiet when it doesn’t exist in this house!” My challenge, pay attention to your day and I would almost be willing to bet my house that there are times you aren’t utilizing that aren’t, but could be quiet moments.  (Keep in mind, that earplugs might be necessary!)  Are you ever alone in the car?  Instant quiet.  Do people come into the kitchen with you when you cook dinner?  Perfect quiet, even a nice “white noise” background.  Shower?  Late night?  Early morning?  Grocery store?  I can go on, you know. The point, it is hard to hear a God who refuses to yell at you when you never let your life get quiet enough to listen to Him.

Approach your relationship with this great God like you would a relationship with a “difficult” friend, they require a little extra time, you have to stick it out and invest it in, try to never break a promise to them, don’t be afraid of a “quiet pause.”  (fyi:  your the difficult one in this scenario)

This incredible God that we serve, He is so worth it.  He is real and present, He is fun and attentive, He is creative and kind, He is concerned and wise, He is so smart and adventurous, He is deserving, He is due.