While we can make plans anytime of the year, the new year is often a good time for each of us to take a good look at the coming 12 months and plan out our goals. A couple of weeks ago in Sunday School we took a look at a basic outline for how to plan your devotional time with the Lord in the new year. The outline is very basic but my hopes are that it will help many of you to nail down time with the Lord this year that will be transforming!
Planning Your Year with the Lord
Devotional Time:
1. Remove the Distractions:
List the distractions that are currently keeping you from spending regular, intimate, time with the Lord.
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Distractions are everywhere. Some you can eliminate, some you cannot. The key is to remove yourself from the distractions as much as possible by choosing the best time and place to remove as many distractions as possible.
2. Set a Time:
Circle the two best times of the day for you to have a good 30 minutes to an hour of undistracted time with the Lord:
Before Breakfast/work While Kids @ School During Lunch Break
Before Bed After Work/Before Dinner Other________
No matter what your circumstance, there is most likely a time you can find that will work for you. You may need to get up earlier or stay up a little later in the evening. You schedule out numerous activities each day. The same tools can be applied to your devotional time with the Lord. Put it on your calendar, schedule it out just like all of your other commitments.
3. Name the Place:
List the best place for you to meet with the Lord. Ideally this will be a location free from most distractions including talking, technology, cold or hot conditions, etc.
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4. Choose a Reading Plan:
Choose a plan to read through the Bible or a portion of the Bible in a year or some other set time. Pray through what the Lord would have you study and then get started with one of the plans or websites listed below.
Chronological - Read through the Bible in the order of the events happened.
Brook Hills Chronological - Read through the Bible as the events occurred.
M’Cheyne One-Year Reading Plan - Mix it up with some OT, some NT, Psalms & Gospels each day
ESV Study Bible - Several different topical plans including: 1. Psalms & Wisdom Literature, 2. Pentateuch or History of Israel; Chronicles or Prophets; Gospels or Epistles
Custom:
For a plan customized to your Bible Translation and reading plan, visit the websites listed below and print out your customized plan.
http://www.ewordtoday.com/year/
5. Listen:
Don’t take up the entire time doing all the talking. Remember that the Lord wants to speak to you so take time to listen. Generally, the best method for this is simply setting a time and sitting in silence after praying that the Lord would speak to you about whatever is on his heart much like Samuel did, “Speak for your servant is listening.” (1 Sam. 3:10)
6. Journal:
Try recording your prayer time, lessons learned from the reading and anything the Lord reveals to you through your daily listening.
7. Don’t Give Up:
If you get behind, keep going! The enemy’s one goal will be to distract you from spending intimate time with the Lord. Fight on and keep going!
Additional Resources:
If you struggle with understanding what you are reading, here are some tools that can help you out:
The Drama of Scripture Craig G. Bartholomew
God’s Big Picture:Tracing the Storyline of the Bible Vaughan Roberts
ESV Study Bible Crossway Publishers
A Chronicle of Redemption - Sermon Series that walks through the "Brook Hills Chronological" Reading Plan listed above with sermons that follow each week's reading.
How to Study the Bible David Platt
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