As it’s already been stated, Bible reading and prayer are the two most basic spiritual disciplines of Christian faith.  Prayer in the simplest way is talking to God.  It is sharing with your loving Father your heart, thoughts, emotions, requests, needs, cares, anxieties, worries, praises, thanksgivings, hopes, and desires.  The list could go on for days.  God speaks to you through His Word and you speak to Him through prayer.  Here are some simple tips and steps for developing a discipline of prayer.

Tip #1: Set up “triggers” in your life. We talked about triggers last week.  Take things that you do everyday and make them triggers for you to pray.  Here are some ideas to help you get started: taking a shower, using the bathroom, getting in your car, making coffee, getting in bed, getting ready to read your Bible, finishing reading your Bible, driving to work, driving home, finishing lunch, eating eggs, sailing on a boat, scratching your nose, and buying a tambourine. You get the idea. Take things that you do everyday and use them as a trigger to pray.

Tip #2: Have a plan. If you don’t have a plan, you can easily become a random prayer. Whatever comes to your head at the time is what you will pray for. You will constantly be praying for the same things over and over. This isn’t necessarily bad, but there are a lot more things/people in your life that could be praying for.  So have a standard place where you keep track of all the things that you want to pray about. Then review this list at least once a day. This way nothing gets left behind.

Tip #3: Talk to God. 
This might sound dumb to some, but for others this will be an epiphany. I don’t know if you noticed this or not, but some people like to use what could be called “prayer talk.”  This is where a person suddenly embodies the spirit of a TV evangelist and sees how many times they can say the words God, Father God, Lord, or Jesus (whichever is the persons favorite) in a prayer.  It comes as a surprise to most that you can actually just talk to God. You don’t have to use His name as the punctuation to every sentence. You don’t have to speak in old English. You can just talk to Him. Just like you talk to your friends about your troubles and your successes, you can talk to Him. You can tell Him your struggles and failures. You can tell Him jokes. You can even be angry and cry out to Him (read a few Psalms and you’ll get the idea). Prayer is you simply talking to God. No flair. No technicalities. No special formulas. Just talking.

Tip #4: Write it down.   When you develop a habit of constantly praying, it becomes easy to forget what you’ve prayed about.  Therefore, you can lose track of whether or not God has answered your prayers. This is so you can look back and see how God has answered your prayers over time.  Keep it simple though.  Don’t set a limit. That means no minimum or maximum. It puts an unnecessary burden on you. Some days you will write pages worth of prayer to God. Other days it will be the simple phrase, “God help me.” The idea is to simply write it out.

Tip #5: Keep it simple. During the time of Jesus, Jews would have standard prayers for everything that they would do. You would have a standard prayer for plowing a field, eating a meal, drinking wine…even going to the bathroom.[i] The key was that most of these prayers were only a sentence long. The reality is that our prayers don’t have to be five minutes long for God to hear us. Sometimes the simplest prayers are the best prayers. If you can only think of a few things to say to God, then say them. God isn’t keeping a tally of how much you pray. He just wants to hear from you.

Tip #6: Keep it sweet. 
Remember whom you are talking to. While God is the King of the Universe, He is also the Lover of your soul. One of the reasons that David was a man after God’s own heart was because he was passionate and honest with God. He was open and honest as you can only be with a closest friend. The worst prayer isn’t a long prayer or a prayer said in Old English but a prayer that has no heart. If you aren’t praying out of a love for God, then are you really praying?  The reality is that this is the core of all prayer…to seek the face of God….to seek after His heart. Prayer is one of the most intimate times we have with God. Treat it that way.

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[i] Marvin R. Wilson, Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989).

The two most basic disciplines of the Christian faith are scripture reading and prayer.  In fact, it is hard to separate the two.  God communicates to His people through His Word, and we communicate with Him through prayer.  This week we are going to focus on reading our Bibles and journaling, and next week we’ll look at prayer.

Reading our Bibles and journaling our thoughts are helpful tools to cultivate our relationship with Jesus.  Through scripture we are able to learn more about Jesus, have Him speak to our hearts, and be prepared to do His work.  Here are some simple tips and steps for developing a habit of spending time in God’s Word.

Tip #1: Have “triggers.” Probably one of the hardest things to do is to get in the habit of opening your Bible.  Leo Babauta of WritetoDone.com talks about putting triggers in your life to help you develop habits.

What’s a trigger? It’s the event that sets off your habit. For example, when I used to smoke, I had a number of triggers: I would smoke upon waking, when stressed, after a meeting, etc. When I wanted to change that habit, I had to change each trigger so that I had a new habit to replace smoking. Upon waking, for example, I would exercise instead. To create a new habit, you need to strongly associate your habit with a trigger. For example, let’s say you want to write in the morning — you might awake, use the bathroom, make your coffee, and then start writing. So making coffee is the trigger for writing, and using the bathroom is the trigger for making coffee, and waking is the trigger for using the bathroom. And as you wake every day, you have no problem. Choose a trigger that you know you’ll do every day, and then do your writing right after it, without exception.[i]

Triggers can be a very powerful tool for any spiritual discipline that you are trying to start.

Tip #2: Have all the right resources. It is suggested that when you sit down to spend time in the Bible, you should have the following items:

A Bible – Make sure it is a version that you can understand (different versions of the Bible are written at different reading levels). This guide uses the English Standard Version, but you might find another version easier to understand. Just go to your local bookstore and test a few out. See how easy they are to read and if you can understand the words that are being used.

A Journal – This is where you are going to write down your thoughts.  You can find several different styles at your bookstore.  Don’t be afraid to switch journals if one isn’t working for you.   Use the first few pages to keep an index of what you are learning each day. This way you can look back and see what you have been learning.

A Reading Plan – This guide provides you with passages to read every day while you’re going through the lessons.  When you’re done going through this guide, read whatever you want. Just have a plan. There are several different Bible reading plans online that will take you through the Bible in a year, or you could make it as simple as reading two chapters a day. Whatever you do, use a plan, or you’ll spend half your time trying to figure out what to read.

A Planner - It’s going to happen. You are going to be in the middle of having a wonderful time with God. Journaling your heart out…and you are going to remember that you’re out of milk. This is where your planner comes in handy. You can write down, “get milk” and go right back to your journaling. If you don’t have a planner, just use a scratch piece of paper.  Otherwise, your time with God will be hijacked by random thoughts of things you need to do for the day.

Tip #3: 
Use S.O.A.P.  This is an acronym for a Bible reading and journaling structure from Wayne Cordeiro.[ii] It stands for the following:

Scripture: Start off with the Bible. Read the verses that are on your plan for the day.
Observation: As you read, write down any observations that you have from the text. Use the questions, “Who is God?,” and “How do I enjoy Him?,” to focus your observations even better.
Application: Based on what you have read…what should you do? Try to make this practical and realistic. Set a goal for the day based upon your reading. Write it down and hold yourself accountable to it.
Prayer: Last but not least, spend some time in prayer to God. Confess and repent of any sins that were brought to light while you were reading. Spend time thanking God. Also spend some time in silence listening to God.  Make note of these in your journal.

Tip #4: Keep it simple. The goal of your time with God is to try to grow closer to Him. It’s not to check off your list. Don’t add extra burdens to this focus, such as: “I have to make at least 15 observations.” “I have to write at least 5 pages in my journal.” “I have to pray for at least 45 minutes.” The goal is to spend time with God and to grow closer to Him. Do what it takes to do just that…the rest is just distractions, burdens, and religion.

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[i] Leo Babauta, “10 Steps to Create the Habit of Writing,” www.writetodone.com, January 9, 2008, http://writetodone.com/2008/01/09/10-steps-to-create-the-habit-of-writing/.

[ii] Wayne Cordeiro, “Plenary Session 1” (presented at the Exponential Conference (National New Church Conference), Orlando, Florida, April 25, 2007).

For those of you that don’t know, I started working on my masters degree a few months ago through the Resurgence Training Center (Re:Train).  Due to the heavy work load, I haven’t had much of a chance to update you on my progress (except through Twitter).  I thought I would give you a short update, and then start sharing with you more about what I’ve been learning through some blog posts (I’m writing a lot for school, so it doesn’t hurt to share it with you here).  I hope that it will be helpful to you as much as it has been to me.

The easiest way I’ve been able to explain my experience at Re:Train is like going from Pre-Algebra to Algebra II.  While the basic concepts are the same (Jesus is God, Jesus is human, humans suck, worship God only, etc.), I have to think about them in ways that I didn’t even know existed before this class.  I feel like I have grown more in the last two months in my knowledge of Jesus and how I interact with Him than I have in the past three years.  It has been amazing.

The classes have been (and are going to be) taught by the best of the best in their fields.  You know you’re dealing with someone really smart when the text book for the class is written by them and they have more degrees than a small Mormon family has children.  I have consistently been in awe these men…but more importantly I have been in awe of Jesus’ work in their lives.  I’m truly blest to sit under their teaching.

Like I said, I hope to share with you what I have learned over the next few weeks what I have been learning in my classes.  My first class I took was Spiritual Formations by Bill Clem.  As part of the homework we had to write a discipleship curriculum for a new believer.  I’ll share this with you through several posts over the next few weeks.  I hope you enjoy them.

Lastly, I want to thank you for your prayers as I’ve been going through Re:Train.  I have had many late nights, drank several gallons of coffee, and typed and read more words than I would like to admit.  It is through your prayers that I have been sustained by the Holy Spirt, and I thank you.

The following is part 5 of a 5 part series. Go here for Part 1 

I started to head to the security check point that I came through the first time about 500 feet down the hallway.  My mind was racing.

I remember putting it in my back pocket.  Maybe it fell out when I sat down at Starbucks.  Maybe it’s in the men’s restroom.  How the hell am I going to get it back?  Their not going to let me in and I’m going to be stuck in Seattle for ever.  I don’t want to be stuck in Seattle I just want to home and see Shannon.

“Excuse me sir…I think I might have left my driver’s license here when I came through security the first time.”
“We have a driver’s license that we found.  What’s your name?”
“Greg Qualls”
“Let me go look.”

Why the hell did I go get Diego’s Bible?  They could have mailed it to him. If I had just stayed in the airport I wouldn’t be dealing with all this right now.  God why didn’t you just have Diego not forget his Bible in the van…I would be probably sipping on some coffee right now still reading my book…

But I wouldn’t have realized that I didn’t have my driver’s license…then I would have to go through all the crap to get a new driver’s license.  And I would have to pay the money for the new driver’s license.  And I would have to deal with the DMV.

So I guess it is a good thing that I did go and get it. Thanks God for having Diego forget his Bible in the van…wait a second.  God why didn’t you just make sure that Diego didn’t forget his Bible and make sure that I didn’t loose my driver’s license.  I would still be sitting in Starbucks reading my book.

“Here you go sir…just sign hear and print your name her.”
“Thank you sir.”

As I walked to the TSA agent and finally handed him my driver’s license and boarding pass for the second time in the last hour, I began to think to myself…God really does work in mysterious ways.

And I heard in the quiet of my heart, “Yes I do…and I’m good.”  I don’t know why God had me go through this little adventure.  There could be several reasons.  All I know was that, in the end, I felt the hand of God working through all of it.  I felt His plan being worked out in my life and I felt drawn closer to Him.

At least He knows what He’s doing, because the majority of the time I don’t have a clue.

A few months ago I listened to a lesson by Wayne Cordeiro that changed the way I spent my time in the Bible every day (you can listen to it here. The lesson was so practical but also so relevant and inspiring. The reality was that I wasn’t going to the Father with my needs. I wasn’t going to Him and growing in my relationship with Him. I was basically getting spiritual crumbs from books, podcasts and my pastor. I was living vicariously through others’ relationships with God.

Wayne’s lesson was a needed kick in the pants. He reminded me of my need for a one-on-one relationship with God. While it’s good to learn from others, Jesus calls us to follow Him (not follow others who are following Him). This has always been one of my biggest struggles. After listening to Wayne, I knew that I needed to go to the Source.Wayne gives some helpful tips for spending time in the Bible. Being the nice guy I am, I’ll share those tips with you (and some others that I picked up along the way).

Tip #1:
The first tip is actually from zenhabits.net and writetodone.com. The author of both of these blogs (Leo Babauta) talks about putting triggers in you life to make you do the things that you don’t want to do.

What’s a trigger? It’s the event that sets off your habit. For example, when I used to smoke, I had a number of triggers: I would smoke upon waking, when stressed, after a meeting, etc. When I wanted to change that habit, I had to change each trigger so that I had a new habit to replace smoking. Upon waking, for example, I would exercise instead. To create a new habit, you need to strongly associate your habit with a trigger. For example, let’s say you want to write in the morning — you might awake, use the bathroom, make your coffee, and then start writing. So making coffee is the trigger for writing, and using the bathroom is the trigger for making coffee, and waking is the trigger for using the bathroom. And as you wake every day, you have no problem. Choose a trigger that you know you’ll do every day, and then do your writing right after it, without exception.

My trigger is getting dressed for work. Like Leo’s example above, I have other triggers before that, but this is the trigger for me to spend time with God.

Tip #2:
Have all the right resources. Wayne suggests that when you sit down to spend time in the Bible, you should have the following items.

1. A Bible – This is a no brainer. But make sure it is version that you can understand (different versions of the Bible are written at different reading levels). I use the ESV…but you might find another version to your liking. Just go to your local book store and test a few out. See how easy they are to read and if you can understand the words that are being used.
2. A Journal – This is where you are going to write down your thoughts. I use a blog to keep my daily thoughts, and it works well for me. Plus, I can share with my friends my daily reflections. Otherwise Wayne recommends using a paper journal and using the first few pages to keep an index of what you are learning. This way you can look back and see what your have been learning (another reason I use a blog…this is done automatically for me).
3. A Reading Plan – Use whatever you want. Just have a plan. I am using the Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan to read through the Bible each year. But you could make it as simple as reading two chapters a day or two pages. Whatever you do use a plan or else you’ll spend half your time trying to figure out what to read.
4. A Planner - It’s going to happen. You are going to be in the middle of having a wonderful time with God. Journaling your heart our…and you are going to remember that you’re out of milk. This is where your planner comes in handy. You can write down, “get milk” and go right back to your journaling. If you don’t have a planner, just use a scratch piece of paper. This is probably the best advice that I got from Wayne. I don’t know how many times my God time was hijacked by random thoughts of things I need to do for the day.

Tip #3:
Use S.O.A.P. This is Wayne’s structure for your time with God. It stands for the following:
Scripture: Start off with the Bible. Read the verses that are on your plan for the day.
Observation: As you read, write down any observations that you have from the text. I use the questions, “Who is God?,” and “How do I enjoy Him?,” to focus my observations even better.
Application: Based on what you have read…what should you do? I try to make this practical and realistic. I set a goal for the day based upon my reading. Write it down and hold yourself accountable to it.
Prayer: Last but not least, spend some time in prayer to God. Confess and repent of any sins that were brought to light while you were reading. Spend time thanking God. Also spend some time in silence listening to God.

Tip #4:
Keep it simple. The goal of your time with God is to try to grow closer to Him. It’s not to check off your list. Don’t add extra burdens to this focus. “I have to make at least 15 observations.” “I have to write at least 5 pages in my journal.” “I have to pray for at least 45 minutes.” The goal is to spend time with God and to grow closer to Him. Do what it takes to do just that…the rest is just distractions, burdens, and religion.

So I have to go to Phoenix today for some training (in fact, I’m writting this in the airport right now).  Yes. UPS is flying me to Phoenix for just the day (it doesn’t make sense….but they are paying for it….so I’ll go).  So, this means that I had to get up at the butt crack of dawn to catch my flight. 

I really don’t like getting up this early in the morning.  I’m just not a happy person.  Plus, all the errors with the airport seem to be amplified.  The security gaurd’s stupidity is stupider (as well is my spelling…maybe), the happy morning people are even more detestable, and the coffee tastes horrible.

Plus, you determine (once again) that you are only going to show up at the airport 30 min before your flight from now on.  Because you get here an hour and a half before your flight and get through security in five minutes (I’m not exgagerating).  But you know the one time that you do, you will miss your flight and go back to square one again (plus it gives you time to blog).

Maybe they still tell everyone to show up early because they have to make consideration for that one idiot that doesn’t realize he needs to empty his pockets of metal before going through the metal detector (He has his house keys, some loose change, and a lead pipe in his pockets and he can’t understand why it is beeping at him).  I mean it’s 5:30 in the morning and even in my sleep deprived coma, I can figure out how to empty my pockets.

They should just say, “pleas show up 45-60 minutes before your flight.  Unless you are an idiot…then please don’t fly.” I think life would be better for all of us.   They should do this for most places that have lines.  There should be a normal line and a “We’re forced to serve you…so please get in this line” line. 

Ohhh well.  I doubt it will ever happen.  All the good ideas eventually get stopped by government or the like (like Shannon’s idea to castrate any male that is disrespectful to a female….just didn’t seem to go over well).  But we can always dream.

Until then, I’ll just repent for being so angry at the guy that couldn’t empty his pockets. “Forgive me Jesus for being so angry at the guy that couldn’t empty his pockets….even though he was an idiot.”