Time Alone with God Using the Bible and Prayer

One of the baseline habits that helps us become more like Jesus is spending time alone with God using the Bible and prayer. When you include the practice of journaling the fruit of these times alone with God, the results are even more life-changing. To maximize the life-changing potential of engaging in this habit, you need the following:

Bible: Get a Bible that’s easy to understand. A New International Version (NIV) is a good place to start. You can get one at any bookstore. You can also order one online.

Paper and Pen: I use a spiral-bound notebook to make daily journal entries. You can pick one up at any store that sells office or school supplies.

Plan: You’ll find your consistency in spending time in the Bible grows if you’re following a pre-determined reading plan. At a minimum, I’d encourage you to pick a book of the Bible a read it straight through over several days or even weeks.

Place: Chose a place to meet with God each day that will enable you to focus on what you’re reading with minimal—if not zero—interruptions.

Time: Pick a time of day that works for you that you can keep consistently. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the morning (me) or in the evening (my wife), the key is to pick a time slot you can stick to almost 100% of the time.

Journaling Pattern: The purpose of your journal is to keep a running record of what God is saying to you during your time alone with Him in the Bible. There’s no right or wrong way to keep a spiritual journal. The key, once again, is consistency. Utilizing an easy to follow pattern helps you be consistent. As you can see from my “Best-of-the-Week” entries, I tend to use a four-step pattern most of the time.

• Step 1 – Write Out The Key Verse. I’ll note the date I’m journaling and the scope of the passages I read that day at the top of the page. Then I pick one key verse that jumped out at me the strongest during my reading and write it out on my page to begin my journaling for that day. The reason I write it out is it makes it easier to look back and review my past entries if the verse is already written on the page.
  
• Step 2 – What’s God Showing Me Today? I’ll usually write a paragraph on the main observations I have from that day’s reading. I want to capture the big idea that flows from the key verse or passage that spoke the loudest to me.
  
• Step 3 – How Do I Apply This? I want to capture on paper what it would look like if my life was being lived according to this passage of scripture. I especially want to document any specific steps I believe God is asking me to take as a result of my time in His word.
  
• Step 4 – Write A Prayer. It may sound strange, but I like to write out a prayer, usually just one paragraph, that expresses the desire of my heart that day to live by the truth God revealed to me through His word that morning. Writing it out serves to slow me down and focus me on what I truly want to see happen in my life as a result of my time alone with God.
  

Life-on-Life Relationships: Finally, plan to share with the people you meet with for spiritual encouragement what God is teaching you in your time alone with Him. This might be someone in your small group, someone you’re mentoring, or someone who’s mentoring you. There’s an added catalyst for consistency when someone is expecting you to share with them the fruit of your time alone with God. I have found the experience to be mutually beneficial.

Hint: If you don’t know where to begin, try reading a chapter a day from the book of Proverbs that corresponds with today’s date. In other words, if it’s June 25th, read Proverbs 25. Since there are 31 chapters in Proverbs, you’ll have a chapter for every day of the month. But watch out! Doing this has been known to change the way people live their lives.

Turning Wrong into Good

When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Praise be to the LORD, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal's wrongdoing down on his own head." 1 Samuel 25:39

BACKGROUND
1 Samuel 25 recounts David’s dealings with a man named Nabal. The Bible describes him as “surly and mean in his dealings” (25:3). Though David and his fighting men had treated Nabal’s shepherds with honor and respect, Nabal refused to offer David and his men some food and water in their time of need. In response to this news, “David said to his men, ‘Put on your swords!’” (25:13). David was bent on retaliation. Had it not been for the intervention of Abigail, Nabal’s wife, David and his men would have insured that “not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak” (25:34). As it turned out, David backed off and God took care of Nabal (25:37-38). This inspired David’s reaction in 25:39. I encourage you to read the whole chapter for the full impact.

JOURNAL ENTRY
Usually when we are wronged by someone—at least in our eyes—we do what David did. We scheme a way to get revenge (maybe aggressively, maybe passively). Fortunately, the LORD goes before us to prevent this. We, then, have a decision to make: Do we entrust the wrongdoing to the LORD, or do we press on in our flesh to appease our sinful nature? If we would stay our hand, we would see the hand of God at work. First in us, then on behalf of us—maybe in ways we never thought about.
I certainly feel as though some have wronged me in some very specific ways. However, in each case, I need to let that go. It cannot be undone; I cannot go back and do it differently. But I can leave it in God’s hands and move on. And that’s what I will do. No more bringing it up. No more holding it against people. No more wishing for God to do something to show them. Today, I leave each issue in God’s hands (1 Peter 5:7) and let go of them.

PRAYER
Heavenly Father, sometimes I think and act like You are too small. Help me to trust you in all things; to trust that even what others “may have meant” for harm, You mean for good—and good that reaches far beyond good for just me (Genesis 50:19-21). Indeed, my “good” may be simply knowing that You are using me to bring Your good to hundreds—1,000’s of others.

Let's put away our swords this week and make room for God to show Himself strong in us...then on our behalf.

What Would Help You?

I want this blog to be as helpful as possible, so I need your input. Use the "comments" to submit your questions, needs, frustrations, etc.
I'm just beginning to populate the site with basic information on Life-on-Life Discipleship: Modeling and Reproducing the Relationships and Habits that Help Us Become More Like Jesus.
Give feedback and check back. Thanks!