At our Winter Retreat this year, Joanne challenged our ladies to take a 30-Day Challenge.
Commit 1 hour each day for 30 days to prayer, quiet time, and Bible study in God's Word.
Many of you took the challenge that weekend and have already been blessed by the commitment you've made to walk deeper with the Lord in 2012.
Now, we want to give you a place to share your hearts, testimonies, and provide encouragement to eachother.
In addition, we'll provide helpful hints from Joanne's teaching on developing your personal quiet time and will highlight stories from YOU, too!
If you have committed to spend the next 30 days devoted to going "Deeper" with the Lord through a daily devoted prayer/journaling/Bible study time, we ask you to leave us a comment here.
Tell us your name, what day of the challenge you are on, and how the Lord is working in your life through this time.
For instance, my comment might be:
I'm Jenny, and I'm on day 5 of 30. God is using this time to remind me to daily surrender my battles to Him. He is teaching me what it is to truly love others. I already can't imagine starting my day any other way than this hour with Him!
We can't wait to hear from you!
To God be the glory!!
8 comments:
Hi guys! I'm Jeni and I'm on day 3 of 30. I have been using the method taught at retreat for studying verse by verse. I just kinda opened my bible and was in Ecclesiastes, so I started right there in chapter 3. I had been reading this book some time earlier this year and I really feel God has led me back to this book to do a deeper study of it. It is so personal and relevant to my current circumstances. I find an hour of this kind of study after my devotionals/prayer goes by very quickly. I start to feel like I'm not getting through the book fast enough, but maybe that's why I'm back there, to slow down and really let it sink into my heart and mind. The Lord even stopped me from going to workout on Wed. morning. Once I realized I would be late for gym if I had to scrape the windows, etc. (& it was freezing), I went back inside and just studied the Word. Truly, if I had not done this, there would have been no time to get it done due to my schedule on Wednesdays. I have determined Wednesdays will be a day I don't work out bc I will need my God time. God is good and so gracious! I pray we are all seeing his loving guidance with us. Blessings!!
Beautiful Sisters in Christ,
I'm Shari and am on day 5 of 30. I have found the commitment of devoted time with the Lord to be truly uplifting. This morning God spoke to me about what it means to be a child of God. In the muckety-muck of daily living, rushing here and there and hearing so many negative reports from the media, it's so easy to get caught back up in the culture in which we live. Yet God says to remember that while Satan is constantly trying to put a wedge between us and the Lord, Christ and His Holy Spirit dwells within us ALWAYS. Tap into the magnificent power of the Holy Spirit and ask Him to guide you throughout the day. God gives us the strength to overcome all obstacles...
Many came to retreat with heavy burdens, feelings of inadequacy, questioning whether we've strayed too far to come back home. Our heavenly Father welcomes us with open arms - each and every one of us are treasures to Him! Scripture says the angels rejoice when a lost one returns to Him! They do so because they know what heaven holds for us. They know of the transformation that will take place in our hearts when we become truly like Jesus. Max Lucado states that we will become God's magnum opus, his work of art. At last, we will have a heart like his, a perfect love for others, and we'll truly understand our heavenly Father.
We will be made perfect, as will all of God's children in heaven. Pure love. Pure adoration and worship. Pure hope. Pure joy. This is what heaven holds, and what we strive for every day as we walk with the Lord. Don't let Satan rob you of the joy, the assurance that as a child of God, it's never too late to return back home. God is patiently waiting with open arms.
So grateful to hear/read from others! This beautiful Sunday starts my second week of the challenge (day 8, I guess!). What an amazing time.
I have to say, though, I decided to change things up this weekend. (Sleep in a little bit on Saturday instead of waking up so early... it sounded like a great plan). But this weekend I really missed my first hour of the day being spent with God. I still did it, a bit later on, but it wasn't the same for me. Just wondered if anyone else tried a few different times, styles and are already settling into a good routine. I am glad I tried it because I know now that the morning is DEFINITELY the best time for me!
Jenny Dunlap
A.M. mama! That is the key, A.M.!! LOL I think it affects the whole day if I start it with God or without Him. I try to do it later and it is never the same. I would still do it later, but as much as possible I like the first thing in the A.M.
HI,
Pam T here. I am on day 8 of the challenge. Although I am planning on doing this all year as a way of life. I am not an early bird, so I was reluctant to start this, however it is not as hard as I imagined. It is a discipline to get out of bed instead of laying around complaining about having to get up! Since I have an appointment with God and do not like to be late or miss appointments, it is working out just fine. The devotional time has helped me stay focused on God throughout the day and made me more cheerful and less of a complainer all day. I have started sending a verse a day to my daughter, as she has fallen away from God and needs him and his word very much. Since mentioning this to a friend, she has now started doing a devotional daily too (the same one as me) and this is great, because we can spend time discussing the devotional, instead of only talking about running and clothes and junk! I also want to thank Joanne. I have downloaded Spring in the Valley an E-book devotional (They have it in hard copy too) she mentioned and find it to be quite good and applicable! Talk to you all soon and see you Thursday night at CCC!
Hi, this is Caroline (Day 10). I enjoyed reading everyone's posts! This is my 2nd attempt of commenting b/c I don't think my first one went through. Like someone mentioned, spending my first hr with Him has really helped keep my focus on Him throughout my entire day. Kind of like when I eat donuts for breakfast...I crave sugar all day long! Now I am finding myself going back to "the Well" all during my day....in those moments when I have totally forgotten what I gained in the wee hour. In the past, I could hardly bear a day without some time in His Word, but often I would get started after my mind and heart were distracted by many things. Since I started this challenge, I have been setting little alarms on my phone to remind me throughout the day to seek Him, praise Him, thank Him, cry to Him...whatever needed for that portion of my day.
Today He taught me about faith. Every day I pray for things like greater patience and gentleness with my little ones. But He showed me that I need to pray daily for His gift of faith. When I am truly trusting in Him, those fruits which I so need and desire grow more naturally, with less striving on my part.
Each day hasn't been the "perfect hour" with little ppl interruptions, hard time concentrating sometimes, etc. But I'm committed to pressing on in my pursuit of knowing Him more intimately...counting everything else as worthless compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Him! (Phil 3) Good night, sweet sisters!
Hey,this is Tonya. I am on my 11th day! I was going to try and start on Tuesday after we got back from retreat but God had a different plan for me. On Monday, I thought I would use that time as my last sleep in day, but I woke up with God nudging me and saying, "Now Tonya, get up and come spend time with me." Those of you who know me know I must have an alarm clock to wake up, but God has gotten me up everyday on time without one!! I am really enjoying my time with God. I feel I handle the days tasks with a much clearer perspective. I am thankful for WITW and glad that I have become a part of such a wonderful group. I give all the glory to God and pray that I continue this journey way past the 30 days! Thank You!!
Saturday 0505 Jesus opened my eyes after being awake til midnight. That was so God i had to get up and spend my time with Him. One to one with Jesus how Awesome is that! All my Sisters comments have blessed and encouraged me.
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