Know God.
Definition
According to A.W. Tozer, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” The foundation of life as a Jesus follower is getting to know our creator God. To know God means to develop a proper awe of God and intimacy with Him.
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We serve a BIG God who created the entire universe yet… He loves each of us on an individual level. This changes everything and should cause us to be in awe of this loving, merciful, all-powerful God.
1 Peter 1:16 tells us that we are to be holy as God is Holy. As we start to understand the holiness of God, this should inspire us to be like Him and live a life of obedience as we trust that since He created the entire universe, He knows best and to obey Him is the wisest thing we can do.
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Our life with God doesn’t stop with having an awe of Him. This high view of God should drive us to aspire to be intimate with Him. Jesus' highest goal for our life is for us to develop intimacy with Him and to abide in Him as John 15 teaches us.
Intimacy with God is best cultivated through different spiritual practices designed to help us develop intimacy with God.
Practices/Tools to grow in this area:
How to Abide
Develop a personal “Quiet time” where we spend daily time doing the spiritual practices to develop intimacy with Jesus.
Bible Reading
The foundation of our daily time with God is spending time reading the Bible. The Bible is the main way God speaks to us and is our lamppost for life. Simply reading the Bible won’t develop intimacy with God, rather we must meditate on what the Bible says and apply it to our life. Our daily Bible reading isn’t about how much we read but rather simply about connecting with God.
Meditate
Slowly chewing on God’s word until it penetrates our hearts. This means that as we read the Bible, we are to ponder what we’re reading, asking questions to help us go deeper. There are four steps to Meditation:
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Read slowly and attentively because we are reading to encounter God
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As you are reading, see what sticks out to you. When something sticks out, slow down and zoom in. Focus on one word, phrase, verse, or section and think deeply about it. Ask what God might be trying to say to you. Why does this stick out to you? Try to think of multiple “revelations” from one phrase. Emphasize different words when reading. Chew on it.
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Then move on from thinking deeper about that part of scripture and ask yourself how you can apply this reflection. What can you do with this new revelation from the Bible? How does it change your life?
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The final step is to pray about what you’ve just meditated on. Ask God to let this seep deeply into your life and then rest in God. This looks like sitting in silence and trying to soak in what you just read.
Journaling
This is not done in order to figure out what is most important but rather what God is speaking specifically to you. One acronym you can use to journal about what God is speaking to you is: T.I.M.E.
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T stands for Truth. Write out what the Bible is saying in this section of Scripture.
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I stands for Insight. What insight are you getting from this section of scripture? Why does it stick out to you and matter to you? How does it directly impact your life right now?
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M stands for Mission. This is your application, what are you going to do with this new word from God? Choose one practical way to apply what you’ve just read…the real effectiveness in Bible reading comes from applying what you read to impact your daily life.
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E stands for Encounter. This is you writing out a prayer to God about what you just read.
Studying
Studying the Bible is looking to the Bible in a more academic approach to learn more about God.
As you’re reading the Bible a very helpful tool to go deeper is the Bible Project. These are videos that explain more about what you are reading.
If you are new to reading scripture, here is our recommendation of books to start with:
John (or any other Gospel)
Romans
James
Galatians/Ephesians/Colossians
Luke-Acts
If you are looking for a Bible reading plan to help you keep your reading consistent, check out this Bible Plan!
Prayer
Prayer is absolutely foundational to our daily time with God. Prayer is simply talking to God in order to develop greater intimacy with him. Prayer isn’t first and foremost about changing our circumstances but more about changing our hearts.
Ways to Pray
Work through the acronym: P.R.A.Y.
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P stands for Pause. Set a timer and sit in silence for 30 seconds, one minute, five minutes, whatever works for you. Try to empty your thoughts during this time and just be with God. If you catch your mind wandering, that is okay! Just bring those thoughts to God.
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R stands for Rejoice. Spend a few minutes thanking God for who He is and practicing gratitude by telling Him what you are thankful for.
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A stands for Ask. This is where you ask God to move in your life and offer up requests to him. Pray for the various needs and situations in your life right now.
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Y stands for Yield. This is where we confess sin to God and yield ourselves to God. This would also be a great time to pray over what you read in the Bible. End by sitting in silence for a little bit.
Write out a Prayer List
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Family/Friends
Work
Church
Countries/Missionaries
Mountains/Miracles
Vision for Future
Physical/Emotional Needs
Finances
Work through the Lord’s Prayer
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9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Silence & Solitude
Silent Prayer: Focusing attention on God through simply sharing presence.
Daily Office
Our life with God can’t start and end with our morning quiet time but must go throughout our entire day. A great way to think about God throughout the day is practicing the “Daily Office”.
The Daily Office is where you set aside a few times throughout the day to spend a few minutes in prayer. We recommend having a morning quiet time and then setting a reminder to pray through the P.R.A.Y. acronym at some point in the middle of the day, at noon if possible. Then praying through the Examen in the evening before bed.
Examen:
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Think over your day like a movie replaying in your head. Notice what you are noticing. What made you happy? What made you anxious? What made you angry?
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Thank God for those things which are obvious. But also thank Him for non-obvious things which we sometimes forget - random acts of kindness, being healthy, a positive song or meal. Relish and savor these moments in gratitude to God.
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Say sorry to God for moments that come into your mind as you review the day e.g., getting involved in gossip, reacting with a tone that was aggressive, lacking compassion in a situation, ignoring a need, not responding to a nudge. Receive His forgiveness afresh.
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Make a decision in your heart to live for Jesus tomorrow and ask for grace to see His presence more clearly.
Sabbath
Healthy life with Jesus is defined by a slowed-down spirituality. Our world is so hurried and the call of Jesus is to slow down. A practice that helps us slow down is the “Sabbath”.
Sabbathing is when we take one day a week to stop, rest, delight, and worship. We put all of our focus on God and enjoy His presence.
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This means to literally stop working, studying, or even thinking about work or school. We trust God that we can accomplish all that He wants us to in six days and stop on the seventh.
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We take time to rest from worry and striving. We slow down, sleep in, nap, and rest in God.
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This means to take pleasure in the good gifts of God. We take time on our Sabbath to “pleasure-stack” the things that bring us joy. This is very personalized to you and may look different for each person.
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On the Sabbath, we take extra time to be with God. We spend more time in prayer, slow down our Bible reading, and give God extra time.
A great way to get started with Sabbathing is to “build a Sabbath”. This looks like sitting down and planning out what day you will Sabbath and how you will stop, rest, delight, and worship. Write out a plan for how you will Sabbath and then practice that this week.
Questions to think/talk through:
What do you think God is like?
What is God’s highest priority for your life? Do you think God cares more about what you do for Him or being with Him?
How do you think you will become intimate with Jesus and develop a real relationship with Him?
How would you describe your relationship with God? Intimate or distant? Why?
Why do you think God cares about sin? Why should we listen to God? Why do you obey God?
How often do you think about God? When you think about God, what are you thinking about?
Why do you think Jesus had to die? Do you think it was fair God sent Jesus to die?
Is your life defined by slowing down or running fast? Do you think Jesus wants us to live a slowed-down life or a busy life?
Recommended Reading:
Divine Mentor by Wayne Cordeiro
Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer
Deeply Formed Life by Rich Villodas
Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster
Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer
30 Days to Understanding the Bible by Max Anders
The Practice of the Presence of God by Br. Lawrence
Scriptures to Study:
Genesis 1
Exodus 34:6
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
John 15
Psalm 63
2 Corinthians 3