Mount Hope Men’s Ministry
CHALLENGE #3 Pray, Read, Listen Each Day “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:1-2) NIV In the previous two challenges we practiced reading scripture and praying. Hopefully you have been able to carve out time in your schedule to exercise these basic disciplines. In this, the third challenge, we are going to combine challenge one with challenge two but add in a third discipline, listening to God. Let me first clarify what is meant by “listening” to God. With God all things are possible, so it is not impossible to hear God’s audible voice. However, for this exercise, we will participate in the most common way that God speaks to us. And that is through scripture. God, the Holy Spirit, reveals the truth of his word by conviction. That conviction may come while reading or while contemplating what you have just read. It’s important to first pray that God will speak to you while you read his word. When something begins to grab your attention, stop! and meditate on what you just read. This is a powerful work that the Holy Spirit does for believers. “But the Advocate, 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) NIV Some bible translations use the word “helper” instead of “advocate.” Rest assured that God has not left us alone to navigate scripture, or our lives, without his help. Challenge number three is where learn to lean on the Holy Spirit’s understanding and not our own. If we train ourselves to do this more and more, imagine the powerful impact it will have on our journey as followers of Jesus. “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”—the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. (1 Corinthians 2:9-10) NIV Tips & Helpful Advice: Before you read your Bible, pray! Pray for God, the Holy Spirit, to reveal specific things that you need to hear. My advice would be to focus on a single Gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John). Read small passages at a time (a few verses, or a paragraph). Pause. Don’t be in a hurry to keep reading. Stop and think about what you read. In your mind, ask God to show you how it applies to your spiritual life, even to your physical life. If nothing comes to mind right away, re-read the passage with hunger to understand the deeper meaning. Pray again. Press in. Be hungry for God to feed you his truth. Whatever you receive, be thankful. When you are done, say a closing prayer full of gratitude-giving thanks to God for the time you spend together in his word. Encouragement: Trust in God’s timing. His timing is perfect. Exercise your faith that God will reveal what HE wants you to know when the time is right. You are valuable to the God of all creation. You are valuable enough to him that he sacrificed his own son on a cross for you. But he also raised his son from the dead. He will certainly raise us also. In the meantime, we have work to do and we will be more effective in that work if we stay close to him. Stay close by staying in prayer, stay in his word, stay in the Holy Spirit. “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” (John 15:4) NIV
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Pray to God / Talk to God
5 Times Each Day If regular daily prayer is not your strong suit, don’t worry! This challenge is much easier than you may think. If you eat three meals per day, and you say a prayer of thanks before each meal, then three of your five daily prayers are covered. If you read your bible twice a day, and you pray before you read, then that’s two more. Now you have prayed five times in a single day. You see, this really is an easy challenge. Perhaps start with five prayers per day and try adding more. If you consider talking to God in your thoughts throughout the day, then your daily total becomes irrelevant. The point is to make the effort to talk to God and pray more and more. If you think God doesn’t hear your prayers, consider this: “But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoke.” (Matthew 12:36) So, if every empty word will be accounted for, how much more will our prayers be heard? Food for thought. “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” (Romans 12:12) “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:5-7) “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) Aside from praying over meals, and the fact that we are commanded to pray, let me offer some other reasons to pray:
If you want to add more depth to your prayers (highly recommended), and experience more spiritual growth, consider the kinds of prayers you offer to God. The following are some ways in which you can pray and really experience a closeness to God:
Finally, here are some quotes regarding the importance of prayer from some of the great preachers, teachers, and men of God, of the past couple centuries. “Work as if you were to live a hundred years, pray as if you were to die tomorrow.” (Benjamin Franklin) “The great people of the earth today are the people who pray, not those who talk about prayer.” (S.D. Gordon) “To get nations back on their feet, we must first get on our knees.” (Billy Graham) “Work, work, from morning until late at night. In fact, I have so much to do that I shall have to spend the first three hours in prayer.” (Martin Luther) “If the church is to be what it ought to be for the purposes of God, we must train it in the holy art of prayer.” (Charles Spurgeon) “The true believer can no more live without prayer, than without food day by day.” (George Whitefield) Read Scripture
for 30 Minutes Each Day In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, scripture records that: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” As we discussed at the first Saturday morning gathering at Mt Hope, we know that it is through our struggles that we grow. It is by being challenged that we confront our weaknesses and work toward becoming stronger. In this case, we are focused on becoming stronger men of God. Scripture is full of blessings and encouragement as well as commands and warnings. So, let’s not shy away from the more difficult passages, the ones that perhaps make us feel a little uncomfortable. Jesus taught things that were challenging and uncomfortable and so did the apostles as they established the first churches. My encouragement to you is to highlight and take special care to stop and think about those passages. Sometimes, a single verse may seem weighty. “How can anyone obey that command?” or perhaps “that verse doesn’t apply to me.” Whatever you read in scripture, particularly in the New Testament, I challenge you to anticipate the harder things. Be on the lookout for them. Then pray about it. Meditate on it. Discuss those passages with your challenge group. Below is a list of New Testament Books to read, although it is not necessarily a complete and comprehensive list, it will help point you to the parts that will certainly challenge you. Recommended Reading:
Tips & Helpful Advice:
Well, that’s it in a nutshell. The most difficult part of this challenge is setting aside the time to do it. One way to begin getting in the habit of reading your bible is to carry your bible with you everywhere you go – just like your wallet or cellphone. Powerful Quotes: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) “Some people like to read so many Bible chapters every day. I would not dissuade them from the practice, but I would rather lay my soul soak in half a dozen verses all day than rinse my hand in several chapters. Oh, to be bathed in a text of Scripture, and to let it be sucked up in your very soul, till it saturates your heart!” (Charles Spurgeon) “If you are ignorant of God’s Word, you will always be ignorant of God’s will.” (Billy Graham) |
Challenges |