Conversations with God

Conversations with God

Are you ready to go deeper with God and meet with him daily? 

Have you ever developed a positive habit?

I hope you will join me on a quest to live out our faith daily and find our purpose and passion in God’s written word.

I’ve been a Christian for a long time but I began this journey into a deeper walk with God in December 2015 when my pastor challenged me to take my faith to the next level and spend dedicated time EVERY DAY with God. My schedule was extremely busy at this time. But he challenged me hard and I agreed to text him each morning and share a sentence or two about my devotions. This accountability helped me develop a positive habit.

It would be an honor for you to join me on a daily walk toward a dynamic relationship with God. It is my daily prayer that I can help you on your journey by providing a foundation of faith resulting in a more energized life filled with joy, purpose and meaning. Daily conversations with God will move you in the right direction.

Take the first step

The Journey to live out your faith daily begins with a prayer and a pledge. Use your own words but I encourage you to pray along this pattern:

Father, by faith I want to take a step forward toward a closer walk with you. I ask that you help me move beyond having a faith that is relegated to only certain aspects of my life. Move me toward a genuine faith that is fully integrated with all aspects of my life, personal and professional. Grant me the grace to grow my faith in You one day at a time. Amen!

In I Samuel 12, Jonathan made a pledge to David. Verse 16 says, “So Jonathan made this agreement with David and his family, and he asked the Lord to hold them responsible for keeping it.”

Once again, with God’s help, use your own words but I encourage you to make a pledge along this pattern: 

With God’s help, I commend myself to God to make progress daily toward a closer walk with Him. My walk will be strengthened as I take in a little of God’s Word daily, share my learnings with close Christian friends/family, and apply my biblical insights to daily living and decisions.

Dig In 

Now you are ready to take your next steps in this journey of Living Scripture Daily. Your journey encompasses three key elements:

1. Daily Time with God
2. Daily accountability with friends/family
3. Making better decisions Daily

Reminder: Doing this “daily” is a worthwhile goal but it is not an exercise in legalism. Doing it ‘daily’ is an aspiration, not a requirement. You may want to begin with a goal of 3 to 5 days a week and build it from there.

 

• Daily Time with God

• Once you have made the decision to spend time daily with God, I encourage you to follow the pattern of READ, REFLECT, and WRITE. You can follow the 3Rs in a 10-15-minute timeframe or up to an hour or more. I started out at 20 minutes and now spend 45-60 minutes daily.

• Read – Pick a Bible book and determine to read through it little by little each day. Switching between Psalms and Proverbs is a good approach. Also, the gospel of John is good as well as one of the shorter epistles of Paul. Don’t rush it. Take it slow and think more in terms of reading paragraphs or sections rather than reading chapters. Reading slowly through Bible books is better than just haphazardly picking verses.

• After you have read a section, now focus some time on Reflection. This is time to prayerfully ask God for wisdom and insight; ask and reflect on what the key message is? What does this teach us about mankind and/or what about the nature of God? Does it call us to act or think differently? What should we learn? Be prayerful and reflective.

• Finally, write something down. For many years I would read and reflect only. But it wasn’t until I disciplined myself to write daily, that the Word of God took on a deeper meaning than ever before. There are no rules about what to write. Just start writing, even if you feel you have nothing to say. Ask questions, make observations, write out applications, etc. I have found that writing opens me up to insights that I didn’t get by just reading and reflecting. This is a very powerful and impactful step

Daily Accountability Partner

• Who is a reliable Christian friend or family member that you can partner with? Ask them if you can text them after you have your daily time with God with just a sentence or two about what you wrote down.

• I followed this texting process with my Pastor in 2015 when I began and continued for 6 months until it was a habit. I expanded it to include my wife, a few close friends, and my men’s Bible Study group. Now I have a small but growing blog following.

Daily decisions and actions

• It is very easy to have a wonderful time alone with God in the morning and then not think of Him all day.

• Give yourself triggers or reminders throughout the day so that you can keep what you learned in the morning at the forefront of your mind throughout the day.
• Record actions or decisions you made that are related to what you are learning from God’s Word.

 

You are now ready to begin the journey of a lifetime. Together, let’s meet with God daily and God bless you as you Live out Scripture Daily!

Father, there is no higher calling or greater privilege than to spend time with You. Through Your Spirit, we can actually enter into Your holy place and kneel before Your throne of grace. I can envision You reaching out, taking my hand and raising me up with your words of love, encouragement and hope. May we meet you daily in our quiet time with You and then go through the day mindful of Your presence with us always. Amen!