Bible Study Seven Day Challenge

THE CHALLENGE         Read the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17)
                                       and Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount
                                       Matthew Chapters 5, 6, and 7).

 

Challenge Levels:

 

Level 1   Simple and Doable

 

□       Read the above passages slowly today in one sitting.   Doing so will help you get the big picture of what you will be doing this week.  It can take 15 minutes give or take. Read the translation that makes the scripture most understandable to you.  I suggest the NLT (New Living Translation)

□       Read my blogs each day this week for further help in making this “work” for you.

 

Level 2   Moderate Intensity and Doable

 

□       Do Level 1 and . . .

□       As you do jot down your thoughts in the form of a prayer as you read, marking each entry by date and scripture reference.    Do this on your bible app or with a notebook.  

 

(NOTE:  Three free bible apps include NIV 50^th Anniversary edition, Bible Gateway, and YouVersion, all of which I use at different times.  I also have the Life Application Bible, NLT edition, Faith Life Study Bible, and the Glo Bible.   I am using the NIV 5Oth edition for my personal prayer/bible study time because I could figure it out most easily!)

 

Level 3   Higher Intensity but still Doable! 

 

□       Do Level one each of the seven days before proceeding to the verse by verse prayer/study

□       Today, jot down things that God leads you notice, questions you have and ways that you see Jesus clarifying any of the 10 commandments.   Spend time on verses that you have taken for granted in the past.  Mediate on certain verses taking time to listen and to think

□       Use a different translation each day.   Alternate among word for word translation and thought for though paraphrases.   I like the NLT, NIV, and ESV translations and The Message and Living Bible paraphrases.   You can access these and many more for free by going to www.biblegateway.com

□       Beginning on Day three use a commentary (stick with just reading the passages and let them speak to you today and tomorrow)    A commentary is a series of comments that scholars add to bottom or margins of some bibles to help you better understand what you are reading.   If you have a study bible, you have these kinds of study notes in your bible.  If you do not have a study bible, go to www.biblegateway.com and click on the box with the title “study this” and then select from among the study options.  DANGER:   Do not get in the habit of reading the study notes as a substitute for reading the scripture itself

            If you use the NIV 50^th Anniversary Bible App I suggest purchasing the Zondervan bible             commentary. It’s really, really good

 

 

□       Most importantly, meditate, chew on what you’ve read, allow time to think, process, and let the bible speak to your heart.  Let it is the two edged sword which can cut through all the life stuff that separates from God

 

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Getting Good at Prayer Isn't the Point Part 6 of 6

 

Increasing Your Want-To (3)

Marching orders
One of the early members of AA talked about a tradition their little group had of spending a few moments listening to see if God had anything for them to do that day. It was rarely anything dramatic, most often a small act of service. Write a note of encouragement. Go back and correct a mistake at work from yesterday. Straighten your room. Pay a bill.  

I thought this was a good practice, because it's so easy for us to focus only on God's big callings. It is so easy to get caught up in what=I want to do that I lose willingness to say yes to God's call.  

So I take a little time during prayer to just listen, see if there are any small tasks that come to mind, and practice saying yes.  

I have found that, when it comes to prayer, experimenting with different "hows" helps me "want to" pray more.  

Prayer is such a mystery to me that I'm not sure my prayer life is better now than when I began many years ago. But maybe that's not the point. I believe in prayer now in ways that I did not understand then.  

And to believe is to begin to pray.*

          *excerpted and paraphrased from John Ortberg’s insights for Christianity Today, July 6, 2015. 


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Ways of Praying Part 5 of 6

 

Increasing Your Want-To (2)

Prayers in God's world
It took me too many years to pay attention to where I pray. People sometimes speak of a "prayer closet," but I don't tend to want to spend much time in a closet. Then I noticed that Jesus often prayed in places of great beauty or barrenness: on a mountain, or in a garden, or on a lake, or in the wilderness.

So I pray outside much more often than I used to. I will even leave my office at church to take a walk outside for a few minutes to pray during the work day. Somehow God seems closer to me when I'm closer to what he made.  

 

Looking in the Mirror
Some have this the prayer examen; it's a kind of "fearless moral inventory" that I take at the end of the day for that particular sin which is most damaging for my own spiritual life.

For me, at least in this season I’m in, it's the sin of self-love. I'll ask God for help. Then I walk through my day, one scene at a time, identifying moments when I engaged in behaviors displeasing to God and reflected my own tendency to put myself ahead of God and other people.

I remember a meeting where a coworker made a sarcastic comment. Instead of confronting it appropriately, I ignored it, because it was easier for me to avoid than to muster the courage that confronting would have required. I remember telling my wife that I was late because of the traffic, when the real reason was I simply didn't want to interrupt what I was doing enough to make it on time.

Oddly enough, I find myself looking forward to this prayer—because it helps me catch myself more quickly during the day, and has the power to lead me (at least a little) toward my best self.  

 

Intercession
Several years ago a teacher who had a huge impact on my friends and me passed away. At his funeral, his son showed me the Greek New Testament where, decades ago, he'd written the name of myself, then my wife, then our three children to pray for us each week. It was profoundly moving.

So I started a similar list in the back of my (English) Bible. I have the names of numbers of friends and colleagues—and their families—written down for each day of the week. There's something about the thought that I carry on the same tradition as Dr. Hawthorne that helps make this prayer moving for me.*  

Tomorrow’s post will explore one final way of praying that can increase your want-to.*

 

            *excerpted and paraphrased from John Ortberg’s insights for Christianity Today, July 6, 2015. 

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Ways of Praying Part 4 of 6

                                                   Increasing Your Want-To (1)

 Gratitude
The apostle Paul, who knew something about "all circumstances," once wrote, "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Contemporary social science research continually underscores the tremendous power that the practice of gratitude carries for human flourishing.  

 

One of the most powerful ways to influence others for Christ is to be the most grateful person in whatever circle of people God has placed you.   So I have begun a practice of regularly writing down five items for which I'm grateful, and then thanking God for them.

 

I find it helps me to make them items that are small and humble. If I'm successful at something, I might feel pleasure in it, but dwelling on it (for me) quickly moves toward ego boosting.  

 

To be helpful, these items don't need to be dramatic but they need to be real enough to produce a surge of joy and thanksgiving in my spirit. It may be a conversation I had with one of my children. It might be the taste of Peet's coffee early in the morning. It might be the sight of Baxter the dog romping in a field; or a good two-iron shot on a golf course. (If you're out in a thunderstorm grab a two-iron, for as Lee Trevino once said, "Even God can't hit a two-iron.")  

 

Then I connect the dots and remember that these are gifts from God, and reflect on how good God is. I find that I naturally want to do this.  

 

Mental hygiene prayer
This is a form of prayer that I've adapted from cognitive therapy. I have done this for the last couple of years—often several times a day. It follows an ABCDE outline:  

 

Antecedent—a circumstance that troubles me. For instance, I get an email complaining about something I’ve done. I name this to God.

 

Beliefs—I write down and confess to God all the troubling beliefs this triggers: "They’re right, I did mess up. I must be disappointing everyone. I'm losing the ability to do my job. People will know I'm a phony."  

 

Consequence of these beliefs—I ask the Spirit to help me understand my own emotions: I feel depressed. Negative about the future. Ashamed  

 

Dispute the beliefs—Together with God I name truths that I can stand on: God (and my mom) still loves me no matter how my job goes. One person's response doesn't mean everyone felt that way. I don't want to be the kind of person whose heart depends on getting “applause” from everybody every week. I want to be the kind of person that lives in freedom.  

 

Energized outcome—I reflect with God on how this prayer brings life to my spirit: I am more hopeful. Less self-preoccupied. I am more encouraged.  

 

I find myself wanting to engage in this form of prayer because it is so genuinely helpful to me in "taking every thought captive." Without it, I can stew over a bad day or someone’s complaint or a troubling meeting with the boss or a conflict with a colleague for a long time.*

 

*excerpted and paraphrased from John Ortberg’s insights for Christianity Today, July 6, 2015.   

 

Tomorrow’s and Sunday’s posts will explore some ways of praying that can increase your want-to.

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Bible Study

BLOG
Thursday, December 3, 2015

Chapter 13 Bible Study
By Megann Graf  

This Sunday, Pastor Jeff will be preaching on Chapter 13, which is Bible Study.  I don’t know  about you, but I always feel guilty when I hear messages on or discussions about Bible study.  It’s because I never seem to get very good at it.  I feel like I haven’t found my niche on how to do it well.  Many years ago, when my kids were younger, and in the midst of being completely overwhelmed and frustrated with people’s advice to me on parenting, I remember hearing someone say,  “Do what works.” 

I like that.  It makes sense to me.  Why would I keep trying to do something that didn’t work?  Also, this was something that I could grow with.  Perhaps something that worked one month, wasn’t going to work as they got older.  That’s ok.  I would have to find something else that worked, but there can always be another way. 

It hit me that Bible study is kind of the same.  If I am studying the Word of God, not only am I changing, but it is changing too.  The Word of God is alive.  Hebrews 4:12 says “God’s word is alive and powerful!  It is sharper than any double-edged sword.  His word can cut through our spirits and souls and through our joints and marrow, until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts.  Nothing is hidden from God!  He sees through everything, and we will have to tell him the truth.”

So, maybe there isn’t one good way to read the Bible my whole life through.  Sometimes morning time will work for me.  Sometimes sitting in the pick up line at school will work for me.  Maybe you can listen to the word of God on your commute.  Maybe you read it right before bed.  Whatever you do, don’t give up on it, just because life changes and that way doesn’t work anymore. 

My goal is to know God more, because the more I know Him, the more I can handle all of life’s challenges with much more grace and strength than I could have on my own.  I’m always going to struggle with distractions.  So will you.  But, change your plan not your goal. 

And, on the lighter side, I found this little gem that says it well too---

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Let Your Life Drive Your Prayer Part 3 of 6

Let your Life drive your prayer

Jesus prayed.  Jesus allowed his ministry to move him to focused prayer.  

Jesus prayed when life was crowded and draining. After he began his ministry and the demands on his time and energy increased, we're told that "Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." Sometimes seasons of life  that are outwardly most successful are inwardly most vulnerable. 

Jesus prayed when he faced important choices. When it was time to select his closest friends, his disciples, he asked for guidance. "Jesus went out into the mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve . . ." 

Henri Nouwen noted that with Jesus the order was solitude, community, ministry. With me it's often the reverse—I began with my little dreams, and if they don't work, I try to get other people to come help me. And if that doesn't work, I tell God he needs to bless me.  

Jesus prayed when he was sad or frightened. When John the Baptist was arrested and eventually killed, Jesus withdrew to a lonely place to be alone with his Father.  

Jesus prayed when he needed strength for his work. While it was dark, Jesus would go away from the demands of the crowds talk to God.  

Jesus prayed when he was worried about the people he loved.  Just before his crucifixion, he warned Peter about the trials that he would face. Amazingly enough he didn't warn or lecture or fix Peter. He just told him, "I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail."  

Jesus prayed when he faced insurmountable problems. In the garden of Gethsemane, he knelt down to surrender his will to the will of the Father. It puts my struggles with money and unmet goals in perspective.   I often find I feel guilty when I read about those descriptions of Jesus at prayer, but I'm not sure guilt is much of a prayer help over the long haul. An important to ask yourself is , "Do you think Jesus prayed because he wanted to pray, or because he thought he should pray?"

I don't think Jesus had a little journal where he'd give himself a gold star every morning that he said the Lord's Prayer. I think he wanted to pray. I think that for us to pray much, or deeply, we need to move from what we think we should do to what we want to do. But that won't happen if we just tell ourselves that we should want to pray.  

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday’s posts  will explore some ways of praying that can increase your want-to.*  

*excerpted and paraphrased from John Ortberg’s insights for Christianity Today, July 6, 2015. 

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Getting Good at Prayer Isn't the Point Part 2 (of 6)

"When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.  And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”     Matthew 6:5-8  

Today’s post continues a paraphrase of what John Ortberg has learned about prayer over his 35+ years of ministry  

It has been said that the structure of every human being resembles, in a way, the structure of the tabernacle.  

There is an outer court, where everyone is allowed. This is the area of my public life, where people hear me, see me and watch me. Everybody sees my public image, and many people evaluate it. Someone said to me this past weekend: "That sermon was better than normal." (Do church attenders stay up all night figuring out ambiguous compliments?)  

Then there is a Holy Place, where access is restricted. You have this too, a smaller chamber where only those you admit are allowed. Prayer here with those close to us will bring us life. I have a few "fully-disclosing friends" before whom I have no secrets. With them I confess, and then pray both to receive forgiveness and to be strengthened for the future. Inviting the right people into the Holy Place may be the biggest predictor of whether your faith and joy in Christ grows or diminishes.  

But then there is a most sacred place, very small and carefully guarded. This is the Holy of Holies. There is room here for only one person and God.  

You too have one of these. It is unspeakably precious. It does not matter whether you are young or old, whether your role is visible or unseen. If all is not well in your Holy of Holies, no glory in the outer courts can sustain you. If your life with God is joyful and whole there, no disturbance in the Outer Court can destroy you.  

Often the mood in my Holy of Holies is dictated by how things are going in the Outer Court. If many people are happy there, if this week went better than last, if life seems to be going well right now, then I am grateful and happy in my core. At least till next week.  

But for Jesus, life began in the Holy of Holies; alone, with his Father, and flowed out from there.”

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