Steps to reset your life in the Word:
1. Find a A________________ to get into the Word – and be consistent. Make it an appointment you’ll keep and guard jealously.
2. Find a B_________________, or several places, where you can get alone and stay focused.
3. Eliminate C___________________. Spend twenty to thirty focused minutes alone with God letting his word speak into your life.
4. Take D____________________. Keep a journal and write down insights.
5. Start and end with E_________________________.
Paul said to “pray without ceasing.” (I Thessalonians 5:17)
The Prayer Life of Jesus:
Luke tells us explicitly that the main purpose of the parable of the persistent widow (18:2-8) was to convince the disciples “about their need to pray continuously and not to be discouraged.” Jesus practiced what he preached!
He was continually in a prayer mode. He prayed: alone (Mt 14:23), in public (Jn 11:41-42), before meals (Mt 26:26), before important decisions (Lk 6:12-13), before healing (Mk 7:34-35), after healing people (Lk 5:16).
He prayed for his disciples (John 17), and in that prayer, he prayed for the lost. He prayed before facing the cross (Mt 26:36-44).
Think of the places and times when He prayed:
• (Lk 3:21-22) At his baptism.
• (Mk 1:35-36) In the morning before heading to Galilee.
• (Lk 6:12-13) All night before choosing His 12 apostles.
• (Mt 11:25-26) While speaking to the Jewish leaders.
• (Jn 6:11) Before feeding 5000, and before feeding the 4,000 in Matthew 15.
• (Mt 14:23) Before walking on water.
• (Mk 7:31-37) While healing a deaf and mute man.
• (Lk 9:18) Before teaching his disciples.
• (Lk 9:28-29) At the Transfiguration.
• (Lk 10:21) At the return of the seventy.
• (Lk 11:1) Before teaching His disciples the Lord’s Prayer.
• (Jn 11:41-42) Before raising Lazarus from the dead.
• (Lk 22:31-32) He prayed for Peter’s faith when Satan asked to “sift” him.
• (Mt 26:36-46) In Gethsemane before His betrayal. (He prayed three separate prayers.)
• (Lk 23:34) After being nailed to the cross, Jesus prayed, “Father forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
• (Mt 27:46) While dying on the cross, Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
• (Lk 23:46) In His dying breath, Jesus prayed, “Father, into thy hands, I commend my spirit.
• (Lk 24:30) He prayed a blessing on the bread before He ate with others after His resurrection. “Oh, what peace we often forfeit, Oh, what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry,
Everything to God in prayer.” – What a Friend We Have in Jesus, Lyrics: Joseph Scriven
SUGGESTIONS TO RESET YOUR PRAYER LIFE:
1. Set an F_______________ with God and keep it.
2. Pray G__________________the day. (Nehemiah 1:4; 2:4-5)
3. Let the H_________________ teach you to pray.
4. Keep a prayer I____________________.
5. Pray for your J____________ and pray for K_________________.
6. Embrace the truth that prayer is not something we L________________, but an act that M__________________ us.
