Bible Christianity is not a CREED (a set of beliefs), but a PERSON – the Lord Jesus Christ. When we received the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we received Him as a real Person into our heart and life, and although there are many things to learn about the Lord and the Christian life, we must never forget there is a personal relationship to be enjoyed and maintained.
Personal relationships are maintained by communication – by each party sharing from his heart. The deeper the sharing, the deeper and stronger will be the relationship. Every Christian needs a relationship with God. This is accomplished through a “Daily Walk” with his Lord, and it enables him to enjoy all that God has in store. This is also the battleground where victory or defeat in your Christian life will be decided!!!
I. WHAT ARE THE VITAL REQUIREMENTS OF A GOOD DAILY WALK?
A. Look up 2 Peter 3:18. God’s will for you as a young Christian is to G__
B. Just as there are a number of essential requirements for physical growth, there are some for spiritual growth. This study will deal with two vital things you need for a daily walk with the Lord.
II. WHEN SHOULD I WALK WITH GOD?
A. Our walk with the Lord needs to be constant.
1. Look up Joshua 1:8. God’s command was that His Word would not D__
2. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 we learn we should pray without C__
B. Nevertheless, in our busy schedules of daily life, it is necessary for a Christian to set aside a DEFINITE TIME EACH DAY for a devotional walk with the Lord.
- Look up Daniel 6:10. How many times did Daniel pray each day?
- Look up Acts 17:11. What did the Berean Christians do each day?
- There is no prescribed time for your daily devotions – the important thing is that you set time aside.
My Commitment to God
Having considered my family, my duties, and my usual activities in the light of God’s clear command, I now promise the Lord that I will set aside the following time each day for the purpose of Bible study and prayer: (time each day =
Signed:
• It may be early in the morning…
• It may be after the family has left for the day…
• It may be during an undisturbed lunch break…
• It may be when the family has gone to bed…
YOU SET A TIME — THEN STICK WITH IT!!
III. HOW SHOULD I WALK WITH GOD?
Now that you have set aside a definite time for devotions, remember that good habits are hard to form. Ask the Lord to help you keep this one vital appointment. If you fail, don’t quit, rather determine to start again.
A. Plan ahead for success by:
1. Getting a good night’s rest so you wake up refreshed. You cannot stay up late at night and feel like having a good Quiet Time early the next morning.
2. Selecting a special place – a place that is convenient, has a pleasant atmosphere, and has good lighting. Using the same location each day will help you build a successful pattern.
3. Approaching your Quiet Time with an attitude of expectancy. You can expect God to show you activities you either need to start or stop and attitudes you need either to develop or change. God will teach you much about Himself.
B. Discipline yourself to accomplish a daily Quiet Time.
Look up 1 Timothy 4:7. God says we are to exercise ourselves unto G__
The word “exercise” is translated from the Greek word gumnazo, from which we also get our words gymnasium and gymnastics. Our U.S.A. gymnastics team is a vividexample of disciplined training. In like manner a Christian is to discipline (train, exercise) himself to become godly.
IV. HOW DO I USE THE QUIET TIME SECTION OF MY SPIRITUAL JOURNAL?
A. Begin your Quiet Time with prayer.
This will be a brief prayer for understanding as you prepare to read God’s Word. The Psalmist said, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law” (Psalm 119:18).
B. Read the Scriptures.
Use a Bible reading schedule. It will pace you to read through the entire Bible. If you don’t, your Bible reading may become hit and-miss. A free Bible reading schedule is available for you on the tract rack at the church.
C. Record insights and make personal application.
Think about the meaning of what you read. Seek answers to such questions as:
• Who is speaking? To whom is he speaking?
• What is he speaking about? What is taking place?
• When is this taking place?
• Where is this taking place?
• Why is this happening? Why is he saying this?
• Write out a scriptural insight from your reading.
This may be something new you learned or something God impressed upon your heart. This insight doesn’t need to come from the entire passage you read; it might just come from one verse or a phrase within a verse. There is space provided to record this in your Spiritual Journal. Writing an insight down helps solidify it in your own thinking.
The discipline of journaling is becoming well known in the Christian community. To help you make a personal application, put on your spiritual eyeglasses and ask these questions (they can be remembered by the acrostic SPECTACLES).
Did God reveal any …
S ins to confess?
P romises to claim?
E xamples to follow?
C ommands to obey?
T ruths to rejoice in?
A verse to memorize?
C hallenges to face?
L essons about God?
E rrors to avoid?
S upplications (prayers) to utter?
As you write out your application, make it personal, specific, and measurable. Write a brief prayer sentence from this insight.
D. Spend time in prayer.
Ask God to guide you throughout the day and to provide opportunities for you to apply what you have learned during your Quiet Time.
E. Review your memory verses.
Memorizing a verse from the Bible each week is an excellent way to grow spiritually. At the end of your Quiet Time review your verses from previous weeks.
V. SOME RULES FOR BIBLE STUDY.
A. Begin with a short prayer asking the Lord to teach you. Look up and write out Psalm 119:18.
This can be a model prayer for you.
B. Take every word on its primary, literal meaning – unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
Remember, God means what He says and says
what He means.
“When the plain sense makes common sense, seek no other sense, or it all becomes nonsense.”
C. Mark your Bible. Underline key verses. Write down other references in the margins.
D. Scripture always interprets Scripture (2 Corinthians 2:13) Always interpret an obscure passage in the light of a clear passage.
E. You MUST resolve to obey the Word of God as you read it and study it (John 15:14).
F. Treat the Bible as a personal letter from God. Read it expectantly – as a lover reads a love letter (Jeremiah 31:3).
G. When you cannot understand a passage of Scripture, remember you have pastors, teachers, and a discipler who care for you and who delight in teaching the Word of God. Call them, listen to them, and then check the Scriptures to see if what they say is so.
VI. SOME TEACHING ON PRAYER
A. What is prayer?
1. Look up Matthew 6:5-7. In your own words, tell what prayer is not. Prayer is not
2. Look up Matthew 7:7a.
The word “pray” simply means “to A_
B. To whom do we pray?
Look up John 15:16; John 16:23; and Luke 11:2. To whom should we pray?
Note: Nowhere does the Bible teach us to repeat Luke 11:2-4. It is not the Lord’s prayer. (He never prayed it — it is a “model” prayer.)
C. In whose name do we pray?
Look up John 14:14 and John 16:24. We pray in the name of J__
D. What things may we ask for?
Matthew 6:11________________
James 1:5_________________
2 Thessalonians 3:1_____________
Acts 4:29__________________
Psalm 34:4_________________
Psalm 119:18_______________
Psalm 119:133_______________
VII. A GOOD PATTERN IN PRAYER
There are many other things we can pray for; the above are some examples. As a general rule include the following in your prayer:
A doration – Adore God (pray verses of adoration)*
C onfession – Confess your sins to God
T hanksgiving – Thank God for His blessings
S upplication – Pray for (1) others and their needs, (2) yourself and your needs* 1 Chronicles 29:11-14; Jeremiah 32:17-19; Revelation 4:11; Revelation 5:12-13
A. Adoration – Praising God for Who He is (Psalm 34:1) “I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
A wonderful way to begin a time of prayer is by expressing praise to God! In a prayer of adoration, you express your deep feelings toward God in response to His love, wisdom, presence, power, knowledge, grace, holiness, greatness, and His other divine attributes. This kind of prayer will always be an occasion for joy.
Remember that our adoration must be reserved for God, not for projects, ministries, or works done in His name. When you are in His will, the desire to praise Him will come naturally. Memorize choice passages on praising God and use them as you adore Him (1 Chronicles 29:11-14; Exodus 15:11; Isaiah 6:3; Jeremiah 32:17-19; Revelation 4:11; 5:12-13).
B. Confession – Agreeing with God about your sin (1 John 1:9) “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
When you trusted Jesus Christ as Savior, a special relationship was established between you and God. He became your heavenly Father, and you became His adopted child. That relationship is eternal.
However, through our self-centered and sinful decisions in life we strain the quality of that relationship and fellowship with God is broken. It is confession that restores the privilege of that wonderful fellowship.
Both sin and righteousness are the result of personal decisions, so confession that is based upon genuine repentance will be proven by a change in your daily life. For this reason, your greatest spiritual victories will normally come as the result of this honest, cleansing kind of prayer. Your confession and repentance need to be specific.
C. Thanksgiving – Expressing gratitude to God for what He has done
(1 Thessalonians 5:18) “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
The average Christian probably spends too much time asking and too little time thanking. Paul’s admonition to “give thanks in Illustrate this heavenly Father/(us) relationship by the parent/child relationship that we are familiar with. A child is born into a family.
Nothing can sever that relationship. Your father will always be your father though fellowship with your father can be broken and you no longer enjoy that relationship.
everything” reflects the maturity of his Christian life. He had been shipwrecked, beaten, hungry, severely criticized, and imprisoned – yet, he could honestly write those words. Why? Because his heart was filled with gratitude! He expressed it like this:
(Philippians 3:7-8) “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. {8} Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,”
Prayer provides the opportunity to express our deepest emotions and feelings to God. How long has it been since your heart was overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude?
D. Supplication – Praying for the needs of others
(1 Timothy 2:1) “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;”
(1 Samuel 12:23) “Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:”
When Christ enters our lives, it becomes our spontaneous desire to seek God’s blessings for those around us. This is called “supplication” or “intercession.” It would probably be safe to say that the most consistent intercessory praying which we do focuses on the spiritual needs of relatives, friends, and neighbors.
Many of those we intercede for are lost. Others are Christians living beneath the resources and privileges freely available to God’s children. In each of these instances, intercessory prayer is a ministry of love. Through intercession, any Christian can be mightily used of God to affect the cause of evangelism worldwide. Whatever our physical condition, we can all be a part of God’s powerful army of prayer.
E. Keep an on-going prayer list.
1. Keep a prayer list with your Bible on which to write down any definite requests you have – special family needs, church needs, and the special requests other Christians may share with you.
2. Don’t forget to write down the answers as they come.