Week 5: Daily Word and Prayer Time

1.    Daily Word & Prayer

1.1. We accept that God is omniscient, omnipresent and infallible. If God is infallible, then His Word is true and infallible. God is capable of creating the worlds, all of human existence, and the perfection of Christ. God is certainly capable of shepherding His message to us through the ages correctly. God confirms the infallibility of the Word repeatedly.

1.1.1.               2 Peter 2:19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

1.1.2.   2 Tim 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

1.2. If you call yourself a follower of Christ, it is vitally important to have a daily Word and Prayer time. The world constantly assaults us with images, negativity, incorrect thought processes, and hate. The Word can reverse the curse of worldly thinking.

1.2.1.   Eph 5:26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.

1.2.2.   Psalm 119:9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

1.2.3.   Eph 4:22: 22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

1.2.4.   1.John 15:7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

1.3. Jesus first recorded ministry was to find Himself and His ministry in the scripture. Reading the Word gives God a chance to lead us, and helps us find ourselves in the scripture. God will speak personally to us, and guide us through difficult situations.

1.3.1.               Luke 4:16And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. 17And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, 19TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” 20 And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

1.4. Practicalities

1.4.1.   Proverbs challenge: Proverbs has 31 chapters so we can read one chapter a day by the date. If today is the 15^th, we read the 15^th chapter of Proverbs etc, every day, going forward, the rest of our lives.

1.4.1.1.       Proverbs was written by King Solomon, the wisest man to ever live, to instruct his children. It gives us a daily dose of Godly wisdom for dealing with day to day issues, business and interpersonal issues.

1.4.1.2.       If you are facing an issue, pray about it, then read the chapter of proverbs for the day and watch God guide you on that issue.

1.4.2.   Psalms Challenge: There are 150 chapters of Psalms, so we can split the book to read 5 chapters per day, and work through it every month.

1.4.2.1.       Psalms was primarily written by David, who is called a man after Gods own heart (Acts 13:22), by reading it we get a daily dose of Gods heart, goodness, protection and provision.

1.4.3.   Asking God to guide our reading: God can easily lay a book, chapter and verse reference on you, and when you flip there, deliver you a personal message, of answer questions for you.

1.4.4.   Reading the ‘Red Letters’: we can learn and emulate the grace Jesus spoke with.