At Abundant Path, we’re all about building up healthy leaders who thrive spiritually. In today’s post, I want to focus on the lasting effect of developing spiritual habits in our lives. If you’re waiting for someday to start moving forward, the time is now. Stop looking back. The guilt, grief, and grudges of your past can’t take you where you want to go. God’s promises and His instruction from His word can empower you to take a step of faith and live your brand-new life beginning today.
Why is it that some people seem to have better lives than others? They are financially secure, and they seem to accomplish more of their goals. They live a life filled with purpose and meaning, and their faith appears to be more secure and effective.
Here’s the secret: In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus spoke to His disciples about the difference between those who have a firm foundation of faith and those who don’t.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. Matthew 7: 24-29
The difference between those who are thriving spiritually versus those who aren’t can be attributed to their daily spiritual disciplines. Habits shape our lives. Influential people can look at their lives and figure out what they need to change to get them from where they are to where they want to be. They eliminate habits that hold them back and put in place practices that move them toward their goal.
Throughout my life, I have learned that when I am thriving spiritually, every other area of my life is just way better. I have more peace and joy, and I get along better with people. I am more passionate about my calling. I even focus more on my physical health. In this five-part Sunday series, I will guide you through the five pillars that every Christ-follower needs to build that foundation of faith that can take us through life’s ups and downs. Storms of life will come, but if you put these into practice, you are well on your way to living an abundant life filled with purpose and significance. This week’s focus is on prayer.
The Power of Creating a Lifestyle of Prayer
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed.
MARK 1:35
Prayer is most effective when we put it into practice every single day. To understand how to have a prayer lifestyle, we can look at the example Jesus gave during His life on earth.
HAVE A CERTAIN TIME
Jesus got up early in the morning to spend time with His Heavenly Father. We need to make a daily appointment with God — whether it’s first thing in the morning, at lunch, or in the evening. One of my mentors says it best. “Whatever gets scheduled gets gone.” We need to set aside time every day to pray, and it needs to be on our calendar. I believe Jesus set aside the first part of His day because He was following the principle of the first. When we honor God with the first part of our time, talent, and resources, He can multiply the rest.
HAVE A CERTAIN PLACE
Jesus had a specific place He went to pray. Having a designated place to pray helps us remove distractions and frees us to worship and pray out loud. Put that phone on airplane mode so that your time with God can be entirely devoted to Him.
HAVE A CERTAIN PLAN
In the gospel of Luke, the disciples made a request of Jesus.
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
Luke 11: 1
Does this request indicate that the disciples had never prayed before? I don’t think so. My hunch is that they had prayed many times, but they had never witnessed prayer as they saw it in Jesus. It was as if they were saying, “We’ve prayed many times, but we’ve never prayed like that.”
When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, He gave them the “The Lord’s Prayer.” This prayer was not intended as a once size, fits all prayer. Instead, think of it as an outline. I believe prayer guides can be very beneficial in helping us cultivate a powerful prayer life. As we pray every day, our prayer time plans can vary. I like to crank up the worship music when I pray. I can sense God’s presence in a powerful way when I open up my day in worship. Speaking of worship, that will be my focus in Part 2 of this Sunday series.
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God bless!
Bill
P.S. If you would like to receive access to the prayer guide that I regularly use, CLICK HERE and enter your name and email address. I will send you a FREE copy.
