July 2018
We tackle common issues with prayer, our relationship with God, and, for mature believers, take you to a whole new level in your prayer life!
We tackle common issues with prayer, our relationship with God, and, for mature believers, take you to a whole new level in your prayer life!
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
grets. You don’t want to one day<br />
wake up meeting the person that<br />
God called you to be and it’s not<br />
you. Imagine God showing you<br />
on your deathbed who he called<br />
you to be? That would be a nightmare<br />
for many people.<br />
When you understand your past<br />
which leads you to your brokenness,<br />
you can start to connect<br />
the dots on why you do some of<br />
the things that you do.<br />
One of the things I always tell<br />
people to do is spend some time<br />
and write your whole story out.<br />
Not just parts of it but make a<br />
goal of 50,000 words. Here is<br />
why so many words, if you have<br />
no word goal, you will write all<br />
the good and maybe a little bad<br />
stuff in your story. But if you write<br />
at least 50,000 words of your<br />
story, you will write the good, the<br />
bad and even the ugly! The ugly<br />
is what you want because this<br />
is where your brokenness most<br />
likely comes from.<br />
Once you do that, you will be<br />
able to start connecting the dots<br />
on why you do what you do. I<br />
always cringe when I hear so<br />
called “GURUS” telling people<br />
just forget your past and move<br />
on. In fact, many pastors say<br />
that too. The problem is that’s<br />
very bad advice because if you<br />
just forget your past and move<br />
on, you will be destined to repeat<br />
it.<br />
Have you looked at how many<br />
people repeat the past over and<br />
over? Many of those same people<br />
are those that forget it and<br />
move on and try to fight through<br />
the future. It just doesn’t work<br />
that way. You have to start figuring<br />
out why you do some of the<br />
things that you do. Only then can<br />
you start the process of changing.<br />
While you are learning about<br />
your past, I believe there are four<br />
things you need to do to start<br />
growing from this point towards<br />
Christ. This will be a transforming<br />
moment because Christ at<br />
the center of your life is where<br />
you will start to heal.<br />
Some people would tell this part<br />
first but the reason why I wanted<br />
to talk about your past first because<br />
I believe when you understand<br />
some of your past, it opens<br />
your heart to listen to God speak<br />
to you. I don’t know how many<br />
times I talk with people who are<br />
just not open to talk about how<br />
to grow towards Christ because<br />
they are bitter from their past.<br />
You have to find a way to break<br />
that and studying your past will<br />
do that.<br />
I believe there are four things that<br />
you must do if you want to grow<br />
towards Christ. Granted there<br />
may be other things but these<br />
four have to be there in order to<br />
build a solid foundation in Christ!<br />
They are Pray, Read, Listen &<br />
Do. I want to talk about each of<br />
those areas within this article. I<br />
believe if you will focus on those<br />
four things, your growth will start<br />
to happen. As I said there are<br />
other things that you can add to<br />
this list but these four will build<br />
your foundation.<br />
1) Pray – This of course is the<br />
cornerstone of the Christian<br />
faith, but many people just don’t<br />
do it or don’t do it enough. Maybe<br />
you only pray over your meal<br />
and that is it or maybe not at all. I<br />
am telling you that prayer works<br />
and in prayer is when we can<br />
grow closer to God. If you are<br />
married, then you need to also<br />
have prayer time together and<br />
with your family. The goal is to<br />
prayer over everything with God.<br />
Prayer is when you talk with God<br />
about your concerns and your<br />
joy. Yes, he already knows them<br />
but by you pointing them out to<br />
him, it is like you are releasing<br />
your faith that God is with you. It<br />
does wonders on your soul and<br />
without prayer, you are very limited<br />
in your walk with God.<br />
2) Read – Reading is the next<br />
thing that is very important. Without<br />
reading the Bible, how can<br />
you get to know who God is?<br />
You can’t, unless you know what<br />
God says. Many times, people<br />
misquote things from the Bible<br />
because they aren’t in the Word<br />
enough. Staying in the Word daily<br />
will keep you level headed in<br />
Christ. It will also help you grow<br />
because you are allowing the<br />
Holy Spirit to talk through the<br />
Bible to you as you read. Don’t<br />
just read the bible because it is<br />
what you are supposed to do but<br />
absorb the Bible, become so entrenched<br />
in it that your spiritual<br />
life starts growing again.<br />
Also, don’t just read the Bible but<br />
read great books that help you<br />
grow spiritually. Sometimes it<br />
may take a book that helps open<br />
your heart towards what God is<br />
saying in the bible. There are<br />
some fantastic Christian books<br />
out there that help you grow.<br />
Books are good as long as you<br />
realize this isn’t to replace the<br />
Bible but to add to your Bible<br />
reading. Books does wonders<br />
on your soul too.<br />
14 www.faithfilledfamily.com <strong>July</strong> <strong>2018</strong>
Change language