Spiritual Emphasis Month 2nd draft

Spiritual Emphasis Month
A Walk with the Lord

Welcome to Spiritual Emphasis Month! What follows is like a spiritual discipline buffet. As with all buffets, you don’t have to eat everything! Read through this booklet and commit what your part will be to prayer. Next sit down with a calendar or piece of paper and map out what you will be doing for the month of January. Stretch yourself a little bit.

Weekly scripture parts

Write these on a sticky note and put it somewhere you will see it daily. Say it every time you see it. Ask yourself how do you do these things.
Week 1
Galatians 5:16-17 (NASB95)
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh;
Week 2
Deuteronomy 10:12–13 (NASB95)
…what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the LORD’S commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?
Week 3
2 Corinthians 10:3 (NASB95)
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh,
Week 4
Isaiah 40:30–31 (NASB95)
…those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.
Week 5
2 Corinthians 5:7 (NASB95)
…for we walk by faith, not by sight—


Prayer services
Saturday 6-7 pm, Sunday 5-6 pm, Corporate Tarrying Service 6-7
Tuesday FaceBook Prayer Service TBD

Practice Spiritual disciplines
Meditation (scripture parts)
Prayer daily
Bible
Fasting
Worship daily
Service
Solitude

Meditation
Psalm 77:12 (NASB95)
I will meditate on all Your work And muse on Your deeds.
Psalm 119:15–16 (NASB95)
I will meditate on Your precepts And regard Your ways. I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your word.
Psalm 145:5 (NASB95)
On the glorious splendor of Your majesty And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.
Christian meditation is overlooked quiet often. Many have surrendered it to eastern religion when in fact the patriarchs in the Old Testament first practiced it. Whereas eastern meditation seek to empty the mind, Bible based meditation is to fill the mind.
Primarily we fill our mind with God’s works and deeds. This is done by appreciating Him by seeing Him at work in creation and in His blessings in our lives. What He has done for all and what he has done for you.
Next we meditate on precepts, statutes and word. For our purposes this is memorizing and mulling over scripture. Not just reading it, which is important, but making it stick in your head through intensely focusing on it and its application in our lives.
Lastly we meditate on God Himself. Who he is and what he has done. Personalize and internalize this step. What do you think about Him and His hand in your life? To help meditate on the attributes of God, here are two video links that will aid in your meditation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NscHCa395-M “Names of God”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7Btc3g0UaU&list=RDC7Btc3g0UaU
“He is”
Prayer
Pray daily. If you already spend time in pray daily, then look for ways to extend your prayer time. Make a list, ask for prayer requests, and pray for others. Here are some things and ways we are told to pray for in the New Testament:
pray for enemies, pray in secret, pray an hour, pray that you avoid temptation, forgive other in prayer, ask and believe, pray for those who mistreat you, pray as the Lord prayed, Pray at all times and don’t lose heart, pray gathered together, lay on hands, pray to receive the Holy Spirit, pray continually, pray for those in prison, fast and pray, pray and sing praise, pray for all in attendance, pray for healing, pray in the Spirit, pray with understanding, pray to be perfected and complete, pray for enlightenment, pray for love, knowledge and discernment, pray for knowledge, wisdom and understanding, pray for opportunity, pray without ceasing, pray to be worthy of your calling, the spread of the gospel, with hands lifted up, to act honorable, if you are suffering then pray, have elders pray for you, pray in faith, pray earnestly and pray that we prosper and be in good health.

Scriptural models of prayer:
Hannah prayer, 1 Sam 1:1-18
Daniel’s Prayer of Confession, Daniel 9:1-19
Habakkuk Rejoices, Habakkuk 3
Jehoshaphat Prays for Deliverance: 2 Chronicles 20:5-12
The Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6:9-13
Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer, John 17

Bible
Spend 30 minutes in God’s word daily. I suggest that you get an audio version of the Bible. A free app for your smartphones is Bible.Is. A simple Google search will yield an abundance of free bible downloads.
When you get up each day turn it on and go about your morning routine. When you travel put a Bible CD in your player. You will find that if you listen while you do regular routines you will spend more than 30 minutes daily in the word. Last year I listened to the New Testament twice in one month doing this. Also it will inspire you to read portions that you have listen to for greater insight. Listed below is the order which we will read through January. Following this general guideline of 30 minutes daily it will take 37 days to go through the New Testament. If you wish to make it through in 31 days bump your time up to 40 minutes of reading or listening.
Mark, Philippians, Colossians, Titus, and 1 & 2 Peter
John, 1 & 2 Corinthians, 1 & 2 Timothy 1, 2 & 3 John and Revelation
Luke, Acts, Ephesians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, and Philemon
Mathew, Romans, Galatians, Hebrews, James and Jude.

January Reading List

Jan. 1 Mark 1-8
Jan. 2 Mark 9-16
Jan. 3 Philippians 1-4 and Colossians 1-4
Jan. 4 Titus 1-3 and I Peter 1-5 through II Peter 1-3
Jan. 5 John 1-5
Jan. 6 John 6-10
Jan. 7 John 11-16
Jan. 8 John 17-21 and I Corinthians 1-2
Jan. 9 I Corinthians 3- 16
Jan. 10 II Corinthians 1-13
Jan. 11 I Timothy 1-6 through 2 Timothy 1-4
Jan. 12 I John 1-5 through 2 John 1 through 3 John through Revelation 3
Jan. 13 Revelation 4-13
Jan. 14 Revelation 14-22
Jan. 15 Luke 1-7
Jan. 16 Luke 8-14
Jan. 17 Luke 15-20
Jan. 18 Luke 21-22
Jan. 19 Acts 1-7
Jan. 20 Acts 8-16
Jan. 21 Acts 17-23
Jan. 22 Acts 24-28 and Ephesians 1-2
Jan. 23 Ephesians 3-6 and I Thessalonians 1 through II Thessalonians 3
Jan. 24 Philemon 1 Matthew 1-7
Jan. 25 Matthew 8-13
Jan. 26 Matthew 14-20
Jan. 27 Matthew 21-25
Jan. 28 Matthew 26-28 and Romans 1-5
Jan. 29 Romans 6-16 and Galatians 1-4
Jan. 30 Galatians 5-6 and Hebrews 1-9
Jan. 31 Hebrews 10-13 and James 1-5 and Jude

Fasting
Isaiah 58:1–12 is the scripture I consider to be the cornerstone of fasting.
1 “Cry loudly, do not hold back; Raise your voice like a trumpet, And declare to My people their transgression And to the house of Jacob their sins. 2 “Yet they seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways, As a nation that has done righteousness And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God. They ask Me for just decisions, They delight in the nearness of God. 3 ‘Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’ Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, And drive hard all your workers. 4 “Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high. 5 “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the LORD? 6 “Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke? 7 “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh? 8 “Then your light will break out like the dawn, And your recovery will speedily spring forth; And your righteousness will go before you; The glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. 9 “Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, 10 And if you give yourself to the hungry And satisfy the desire of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in darkness And your gloom will become like midday. 11 “And the LORD will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. 12 “Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.
Fasting is not a “look at me!” activity. You humble yourself, think of others and put what God considers righteous first. The heart of fasting is to deny your flesh and feed your spirit. Those who are physically able to fast should fast on Thursdays. You should abstain from food and engage in spiritual activity, this is known as an absolute fast. If you are not sure if you are physically able to fast, you should check with your doctor.

If you are not sure an absolute fast is for you then do a modified fast. The Daniel Fast is one type of modified fasting. The short version is to abstain from meat, white flour and sugar. You eat fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and unleavened or whole wheat bread.

Another modified type of fasting is the Ezekiel Fast. During this fast you eat only unleavened and/or whole wheat bread and water. I suggest you use salsa or vinegar and oil to dip your bread. I choose to consume 1,000 calories per day when I perform this type of fast.

You can fast things other than food. Remember the heart of fasting is to deny the flesh and feed the spirit. If you give up something and replace it with a spiritual endeavor that is a type of fasting. An example might be if you watch the news every night and give that up and spend that time praying. You are starving the flesh and feeding the spirit. Giving up something you desire for spiritual gain.

Worship

Ephesians 5:18–19 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;
I want us to have a lifestyle of worship. Our life should be worship to the Lord. There are many aspects of worship but this month we are going to focus on the musical aspect of worship. Create a worship set and sing to the Lord in your devotional time. Singing to our savior should not be something we only do corporately and on Sundays. During Spiritual Emphasis Month enjoy and give joy singing to our heavenly father.

Service

Romans 12:1–2 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
This month involve yourself in ministry not for the sake of making your pastor happy but as a service to the Lord. When you offer up your body to the Lord to use it is for service to the body of Christ. Service done is worship, think of it that way and look for different opportunities to worship in spirit and in truth.

Solitude

Matthew 14:23 After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.
Perhaps this is one of the hardest of spiritual disciplines. Find time to take a walk with the Lord. Practice finding lonely places to be with the Father. Spend time listening for the voice of the Spirit talking to you.

Daily Challenges (I plan to make these into short videos and put them on Facebook and YouTube)

1. Turn to Matt. 6:9-13, Read “The Lord’s Prayer,” pray it and then use it as a model for your own prayer.
2. Read Ps 46:10 then spend 10 mins in silence.
3. Serve everyone you can today.
4. Pray for your spouse or close loved one.
5. Read John 15:1-8 and ask yourself these questions: What do I like about this passage? What do I not like or understand about this passage? What does this tell me about myself? What does this tell me about God? How can I share this with?
6. Give a special offering in church today
7. Pray as each of these scriptures suggests, try to pray for 2 mins on each scripture:
Philippians 4:6 ~ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
1 Timothy 2:8 ~ Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.
1 John 1:9 ~ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Luke 6:27-28~But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

8. Listen or read Psalm 119 and write down your thoughts
9. Pray with your spouse or close loved one
10. Do an act of charity or benevolence today
11. Spend 5 mins thanking God for what He has done for you. Say “thank you” to everyone who does something for you today.
12. Read the book of James twice today. The first time write down what wounds you, the second time write down what encourages you.
13. Sit on the front row at church and take notes.
14. Call your spouse or loved one and ask them how or what you can pray for them about.
15. Spend some time thinking about what you have said or done recently. Confess your sins and short coming to God.
16. Fast one meal today and spend that time in prayer.
17. Tell Jesus how much you love him in your prayers today, then tell individuals that you love them today. Give away hugs, kisses, handshakes and pats all day.
18. Read 1 Cor. 13 to your spouse or loved one and then ask them how you can love them better.
19. Tell several people about this spiritual challenge and how it is affecting you.
20. Close your eyes during worship service today and sing directly to Jesus.
21. Make a 3-song playlist that energizes you to worship.
22. Read Phil. 4:6-9 and spend 10 mins thinking about what it says to you
23. Read Matt 28 and ask, “What have I done for the King?”
24. Wash the feet of your spouse or loved one.
25. Serve communion to your family. 1 Corinthians 11:17-34
26. Forgive someone today
27. Be the last one out of the sanctuary today. Talk to as many people as you can.
28. Write a list of all you have been blessed with and are thankful for.
29. Take a walk and talk to God
30. Say something positive to everyone you encounter today.
31. Celebrate all the victories you have had this month