Spiritual Discipline

After much contemplation and restlessness with trying to find a way to keep me interested in my time spent with God, and after a spot on for me sermon today from both my Pastor Jim and from women's group tonight from Vicky, I am coming back to my blog to start afresh and try this new way of life journaling.

I'm excited to get started with good habits and be transformed much more by God's Word and His increasing presence in my life! So here goes Day 1:

1) PRAYER: A.C.T.S.

.adoration.

Jesus, God, i so often marvely and thank you and talk about hosw amazing your creations are. about how beautiful your sky can be or how intricately detailed you have made our bodies work or even just how amazed i am at the color flowers can be, but I feel i am hardly touching on adoration enough and am missing a lot of who you are or what you are capable of. So, I want to try to think out of the box of how to adore you right now.... Your ability to change hearts by softly nudging our hearts. i have seen it happen a few times now and and starting to realize the gentleman you always are and remain to be yet how irresistable you always show up to be to anyone :)

.confession.

i don't know why i have never thought of this or sadly, been convicted to do. i know at the times i say something i regretted or have an ill thought i will tell you i'm sorry but i think it is good to reflect on the person i still am and need to work on and im not sure yet, but i think i am not doing this quite in the way i need to be. but for now i will start this way and know you will reveal to me more of what my heart needs to do in this confession time with you.

Lord of my life, I do need to confess that for sometime i have felt like my life has been very put together. to the point that i feel the same way with my walk with you. i feel as though because Bible studies are good and my friendships are firm and so forth that i am a "good christian", but i know i need to be humbled more and feel more of that i don't deserve your grace mentality so that i yearn to be more like you, and not so content with where i am. i know you know this but i have to admit outloud to you too that i have a hard time feeling bad for this and want to be sensitive to what you've done for me and to feel humbled (although im scared i will be embarrassed very soon! lol) i know you have shown me lots by my own convictions or observations of myself and I thank you for revealing those truths to me as well as doing them in a way that i am not embarrassed. i really want to be more raw with myself, i guess in the way confession is supposed to me, exposing the deep dark parts about ourselves - i totally love this and live by it, but am not reaching down deep enough. Father, help show me how to dig deep with my ownself as easily as it is for me to do with others. Thank you Jesus.

.thanksgiving.

Jesus, I shouldn't stop thanking you for what you are doing with my sister. I still can't believe it's all happening. Thank you for loving her and not letting go of her. I see now you have always been working on her and my parents since the days i started praying for them. i am enjoying learning how to have faith in you and just am soo thankful of how you love my family and that you care for them too - thank you God soo much

.supplication.

Jesus, I am sorry for always praying to you in just this section. but that's why im going to try this new way to get me less bored and more interactive with you. and to give you the praise and time you deserve.

I don't want to ask for anything tonight, nothing is pressing on my heart at the moment, I am just enjoying the things that are going on around me right now. I know there is ALWAYS something to pray for, especially for those less fortunate than me. but because I could be here all my life writing down things and people to pray for, I want to make a point to only pray for those things really on my heart or brought to my attention, i want to always be genuine and passionate and i guess purposeful in my prayers.

Thank you Jesus for how far you have taken me and for what you have left to show me.

2) MEDITATION: S.O.A.P.

.scripture.
i have no idea where to start, so I will go online now and find somewhere to get going....i like Our Daily Bread, here is the scripture for today: 1 Peter 4:7-11

.observation.

7The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.-----well this caught my eye about being earnest and discipline in prayers. i am intrigued by what this means. I guess for the things I am most earnest about happening i need to be disciplined in praying for. (i guess the 1 Thessalonians 5:17 principle needs to be applied-Pray without ceasing!) first i would like to do this, but if i pray every night about it i start to not be earnest or genuine about it because im just saying it to be saying it out of what feels like saying a special chant for magic to happen. i want my heart to flow out each time i pray, so i am not sure how to follow what God is saying in this verse. Father, would you reveal to me what this means? I know you will and look forward to changing that in my prayer life!

.application.

a way i can apply this, atleast for now, for what I know (i know there is a verse somewhere that says we are only accountable for what we know) is that I need to devote myself to consistently and earnestly praying for my sister right now. it is the biggest thing on my heart right now and based on this verse, it seems it is very important i stay disciplined to that. so for this week, as my homework for my devotional tonight is to pray for her every night-----keep me accountable to this and to not forget!!

.prayer.
i feel like i need to say this outloud, out of reverence for God and i just think it's good for me, going to pray now after I post this up!


that felt good to do this tonight! im excited to keep going. i need to be prepared to have to be disciplined thought just as Pastor Jim talked about today - just like making exercising a priority and habit, takes some discipline - btw so happy for http://biblos.com/ - I LOVEE it!