Welcome to Week 1 of A 2020 Prayer Life!
What follows is a series of daily meditations and exercises to help us develop our individual prayer lives. This represents a one-day-at-a-time process. Don't short-circuit the process by reading ahead. Simply read and do each day what is offered for that day.
What follows is a series of daily meditations and exercises to help us develop our individual prayer lives. This represents a one-day-at-a-time process. Don't short-circuit the process by reading ahead. Simply read and do each day what is offered for that day.
January 1
Our excellent goal for this year is to grow closer to God. In order to achieve that goal, we want to be deliberate in thinking about Him, focusing on Him, and spending time with Him. As a starting place, spend a few minutes right now talking to Him about the answers to each of these questions.
The questions are phrased in such a way as to help you talk with Him about them. They are not just questions for you to think about in your head. They are questions for conversation -- conversation with God.
Lord, do You want me to be closer to You than I am right now?
Do I want what You want?
What keeps me from wanting to be closer to You than I am?
What keeps me from being closer to You than I am?
What can I do to grow closer to You in 2020?
The questions are phrased in such a way as to help you talk with Him about them. They are not just questions for you to think about in your head. They are questions for conversation -- conversation with God.
Lord, do You want me to be closer to You than I am right now?
Do I want what You want?
What keeps me from wanting to be closer to You than I am?
What keeps me from being closer to You than I am?
What can I do to grow closer to You in 2020?
January 2
When in your life would you say that you were closest to God?
What helped you to be as close as you were during that time in your life?
Does this word from Jesus to the Church at Ephesus apply to you? "You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first." (Revelation 2:4-5 NIV)
What, for you, might be "the things you did at first"?
Talk to the Lord about the time when you remember being closest to Him. Tell Him what makes you feel thankful for that time. Ask Him if you "have forsaken the love you had at first." Ask Him what are "the things you did at first" that perhaps you should do again today, this month, this year.
What helped you to be as close as you were during that time in your life?
Does this word from Jesus to the Church at Ephesus apply to you? "You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first." (Revelation 2:4-5 NIV)
What, for you, might be "the things you did at first"?
Talk to the Lord about the time when you remember being closest to Him. Tell Him what makes you feel thankful for that time. Ask Him if you "have forsaken the love you had at first." Ask Him what are "the things you did at first" that perhaps you should do again today, this month, this year.
January 3
Most folks, when they embark on a trip now, use some sort of a GPS device. The first step in the journey, therefore, is to enter your intended destination in that device. It's only when you know where you're going that you can know what turns to take. The destination could be 2,000 miles away, yet still the GPS has to know what that destination is before it can even tell you whether to turn right or left out of your driveway.
Perhaps we should treat the beginning of the year like the beginning of a journey. Perhaps we ought to begin by identifying the destination. It is by knowing where you want to be at the end of the year that you know what steps to take today.
Spend some time in prayer just now talking with the Lord about your destinations for this year. Perhaps they are physical. Perhaps they are financial. Perhaps they are professional. Perhaps they are relational. "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:6 NKJV)
Finally, talk to the Lord about your spiritual destination for this year. Specifically, think in terms of your intended destination being "to be closer to the Lord." Talk to Him about the steps you should take, the turns you should make, in order to get there.
Perhaps we should treat the beginning of the year like the beginning of a journey. Perhaps we ought to begin by identifying the destination. It is by knowing where you want to be at the end of the year that you know what steps to take today.
Spend some time in prayer just now talking with the Lord about your destinations for this year. Perhaps they are physical. Perhaps they are financial. Perhaps they are professional. Perhaps they are relational. "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:6 NKJV)
Finally, talk to the Lord about your spiritual destination for this year. Specifically, think in terms of your intended destination being "to be closer to the Lord." Talk to Him about the steps you should take, the turns you should make, in order to get there.
January 4
Some things can be accomplished with just a burst of energy. A spurt of enthusiasm can get certain kinds of things done. But those achievements tend to be more sprints than marathons. In order to accomplish big things, however — in order to reach the goals that require consistent effort over a long time — we need something more than just bursts of energy and spurts of enthusiasm. We need discipline.
We thought and prayed yesterday about your destinations for the New Year. If any of your destinations for this year are ambitious ones, momentary excitement won’t get the job done. When B is a distance away, then to get from A to B requires stubborn commitment and sustained exertion. And these are the hallmarks of a disciplined person.
It is worth noting that, in English, “discipline” and “disciple” are cognates. If you and I are truly going to be disciples of Jesus during the year ahead, occasional spurts of enthusiasm won’t be enough. We’ll need commitment and perseverance.
In prayer, talk to the Lord about these questions.
When has an absence or lack of discipline kept me from attaining certain goals?
When has the presence or exercise of discipline helped me to attain certain goals?
What discipline is required in order for me to be Your disciple?
What discipline will be required of me to reach this year’s destinations?
We thought and prayed yesterday about your destinations for the New Year. If any of your destinations for this year are ambitious ones, momentary excitement won’t get the job done. When B is a distance away, then to get from A to B requires stubborn commitment and sustained exertion. And these are the hallmarks of a disciplined person.
It is worth noting that, in English, “discipline” and “disciple” are cognates. If you and I are truly going to be disciples of Jesus during the year ahead, occasional spurts of enthusiasm won’t be enough. We’ll need commitment and perseverance.
In prayer, talk to the Lord about these questions.
When has an absence or lack of discipline kept me from attaining certain goals?
When has the presence or exercise of discipline helped me to attain certain goals?
What discipline is required in order for me to be Your disciple?
What discipline will be required of me to reach this year’s destinations?
January 5
While the world talks about Christianity as a religion, the Bible works with a different category. What we are invited to have with God is not merely a religion, but rather we are invited into a relationship. God is revealed as Shepherd, Savior, Lord, Teacher, Redeemer, Friend, Husband, and, above all, Father. These are all relational terms.
We’ll explore the significance and the application of those and other terms for God in the weeks ahead. For the present, though, we simply want to acknowledge that they combine to affirm that what God wants with us is relationship. Indeed, in both the preaching of the prophets and the teachings of Jesus, we sense that merely religious people seem to be a disappointment to God. He wants a relationship.
Of course, relationships are the product of time spent together. Shared experiences are the building blocks of any relationship. And the relationship that is starved of time together is likely to be a relationship that suffers.
Meanwhile, in our relationship with God, the word we use to refer to time spent with Him is “prayer.” Prayer, therefore, is the essence of the relationship, and thus the heart of Christianity. Perhaps that is why an author of a generation or two ago wrote that "the worst sin is prayerlessness."
Now talk with the Lord about these things in prayer.
Lord, my human relationships fall all along a spectrum. Strangers, acquaintances, superficial friends, dear friends, loved ones. Where on that spectrum is my relationship with You?
Lord, to what extent have I lived as though prayer is a way of spending time with You -- just as I might spend time with the people nearest and dearest to me? Or to what extent have I lived as though prayer is something else, something less?
We’ll explore the significance and the application of those and other terms for God in the weeks ahead. For the present, though, we simply want to acknowledge that they combine to affirm that what God wants with us is relationship. Indeed, in both the preaching of the prophets and the teachings of Jesus, we sense that merely religious people seem to be a disappointment to God. He wants a relationship.
Of course, relationships are the product of time spent together. Shared experiences are the building blocks of any relationship. And the relationship that is starved of time together is likely to be a relationship that suffers.
Meanwhile, in our relationship with God, the word we use to refer to time spent with Him is “prayer.” Prayer, therefore, is the essence of the relationship, and thus the heart of Christianity. Perhaps that is why an author of a generation or two ago wrote that "the worst sin is prayerlessness."
Now talk with the Lord about these things in prayer.
Lord, my human relationships fall all along a spectrum. Strangers, acquaintances, superficial friends, dear friends, loved ones. Where on that spectrum is my relationship with You?
Lord, to what extent have I lived as though prayer is a way of spending time with You -- just as I might spend time with the people nearest and dearest to me? Or to what extent have I lived as though prayer is something else, something less?
January 6
Consider again these assertions that we made yesterday.
First, we observed that the testimony of Scripture reveals a God who wants a relationship with us.
Second, we acknowledged that any relationship is comprised of time spent together.
Third, we recognized that time spent with God is called prayer.
See, then, the implication of those assertions when taken together. God wants you to pray! The Lord wants you to spend time talking with Him. And this is prayer, not as some religious obligation, not as a ritual box-checking, but as the living out of a personal relationship.
Answer these questions, then, with Him.
Lord, to what extent has my praying been more “religious obligation” or more “personal relationship”?
Lord, to what extent do I pray with the confidence that You are happy when I talk to You?
First, we observed that the testimony of Scripture reveals a God who wants a relationship with us.
Second, we acknowledged that any relationship is comprised of time spent together.
Third, we recognized that time spent with God is called prayer.
See, then, the implication of those assertions when taken together. God wants you to pray! The Lord wants you to spend time talking with Him. And this is prayer, not as some religious obligation, not as a ritual box-checking, but as the living out of a personal relationship.
Answer these questions, then, with Him.
Lord, to what extent has my praying been more “religious obligation” or more “personal relationship”?
Lord, to what extent do I pray with the confidence that You are happy when I talk to You?
January 7
As we come to the conclusion of Week 1, think and pray about this advice from the 16th-century Protestant Reformer, John Calvin:
“The proper thing is for us always to think of God and pray without ceasing. If we are not able to achieve this, we can at least set special times for prayer each day. At these designated moments we can focus entirely on God. Here are some natural opportunities:
“The proper thing is for us always to think of God and pray without ceasing. If we are not able to achieve this, we can at least set special times for prayer each day. At these designated moments we can focus entirely on God. Here are some natural opportunities:
- When we wake in the morning
- Before we begin our work
- Before and after meals
- When we go to bed