APPENDIX A
DEVELOPING YOUR PERSONAL DEVOTIONAL LIFE
A Question of Time
Reading the Bible and personal prayer are not simply good things for Christians to do. They are the single most important tools we have for growing spiritually!
I don’t know of any way to really know God and learn how to live in the kingdom of God without spending some special time in regular personal prayer and Bible study. Could you expect to have a special relationship with your spouse or a friend if the communication between you consisted of hearing a lecture about them for an hour on Sunday! Of course you wouldn’t! Well then, one cannot expect to really know God without regular, two-way communication?
Reading the Bible
- Pick a specific time each day (preferably in the morning) and make a covenant with God that this is your time with Him. Do not be discouraged… it may seem like work at first, and expect Satan to discourage you, but you will grow to enjoy your time with God.
- Before you open your Bible, remind yourself that you are in the presence of the living God. You are about to open a love letter from God to mankind. Take a minute to ask God to reveal Himself to you through His book, and ask the Holy Spirit to bless this time of study and to teach you.
- If you have a difficult time waking up in the morning, make a cup of coffee or tea. Relax and enjoy God’s word for you!
- Begin by reading twenty – thirty verses a day from the Bible. The Gospel of John, Matthew, James, Romans, or Ephesians are good places to start.
- When reading, substitute your name in place of the person or people being spoken to. God is speaking to you. Underline important verses.
- Take time to meditate on a thought or concept which the Holy Spirit will place on your heart.
- Invest in an easy to understand study Bible (i.e. NIV Study Bible) and read the author’s comments when you do not understand a verse.
- In what specific way will your life be different today because of what you have just read?
- Get a good foundational Bible study course from your pastor or religious bookstore and begin to use it. Five Steps of Christian Growth – Campus Crusade, Studies in Christian Living - Navigators.
- Begin memorizing Bible verses that are important to you and set a goal for memorization. (The Navigators Bible Memorization System is excellent and available at most religious bookstores.)
Prayer
- I would suggest that your prayer time follow your time of Bible reading.
- It may help you to remember the “ACTS” principle of prayer: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. This will help you put God first and not your needs in your prayers. (See next page.)
- Use 3” x 5” index cards to help you remember your praise and prayer requests. Have one card for each general subject and write on the top these headings: Praise Items, Sick or Hurting People, Unsaved or Uncommitted, Church and Staff, Missions and Para Church People, Personal Needs, etc.
- Pray out loud. Hearing your own voice softly will help you concentrate on your thoughts.
- Where is the Jesus to whom you are praying? If you think of Him “way up there” He’ll be distant to you. The Bible says He lives in us and around us!
- Pray with excitement, expectation, and passion.
- Sing to Him. Some of the greatest praise is in song. There are excellent praise music tapes available to sing along with or just sing by yourself.
- Pray often during the day. When impure thoughts come, discouraging thoughts appear, or when good things happen to you just take a moment to thank Jesus or ask His help.
The ACTS Plan for Prayer:
Adoration
- Begin by praising God for a new day!
- Dwell on God’s presence in your life and His promises to you.
- Recall as many names for God and Jesus as you can remember and think about
their meaning:
- The Lamb – Our Shield
- Counselor – Shepherd
- Creator – Redeemer
- High Priest – The Rock
- Anointed One Bread of Life
- God Almighty – King of Kings, etc.
- Praise Him for all the good things in your life.
Confession
- One of the greatest barriers we have to a joy-filled relationship with God
is unconfessed, unrepentant sin. Repent means to “turn away from.”
- Confess each day’s sins specifically, preferably as soon as you are aware you have committed one, and then meditate for a moment on how, with God’s help, you can avoid repeating that sin.
- Confess and correct immediately any ill feelings, anger, or resentment against any person. Read Matthew 6:14, 15… you cannot fellowship with God when you are at odds with one of His children.
- Begin praying for that person’s good, that they will be happy, that they will grow closer to Jesus and that their ill feeling toward you will be gone forever.
- Believe that you have been forgiven as a child of God of every sin you have ever committed and will ever commit, the moment you committed your life to Jesus. We are not forgiven daily! It has been once and for all on the cross. Believe it! Live like it!
- Pray for your enemies (pray for their good).
Thanksgiving
- This is self-explanatory. Just thank Him for everything you can think of. Use your prayer cards.
Supplication
- Pray for others first, then yourself, in this general order: spouse, children, relatives, pastor, church staff and leadership, unsaved people you know, sick and hurting people, that God’s will be done today in your life, That you will be a blessing to someone today, pray for your ministry (if you don’t have one ask Him), for sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s leading.