First, let's get our journey started on the right foot. Proverbs 31:30 says, "Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised." It is our own responsibility to seek and follow after God. The desire to follow God is not something that can be legislated; it is either a desire of your heart or it is not. I have found that I can do nothing without Him. It is only through my dependence on God that I am able to accept the challenge to change; to even try emulating the Proverbs 31 woman.
It is important that our priorities be in the right order. I think Mary Kay of Mary Kay Cosmetics was pretty close when she said our priorities need to be "God first, family second, and career third." However, I want to tighten up that list of priorities a little bit: my God is first; my husband is second; my children are third; my ministry service is fourth; and my career is last. Without God first, my relationships with my husband and my children suffer. Without God first, what is the point of being in ministry. Without God first, my career has little to no chance of being successful. Rearranging the priorities puts everything contrary to God's natural order. And then nothing seems to work right and my whole world starts to crumble.
To help keep my focus on God, and to start each day with Him at the forefront of my mind, I have created a Bible Study and Prayer basket. This basket has the main things that I use to spend time with God in either His Word or in prayer. And to help me stay focused and not get sidetracked, I have a few "tools" inside to help me. Here is a list of the things that I include in my basket, that works for me:
- The New Jerusalem Bible - my favorite version to read and is a good study Bible with a lot of information included.
- The King James Bible - important since this is the version that I use to compare to the NJB. The one in my prayer basket happens to be the Study Bible version, but I also have a multitude of other versions available in my bookcases for more in-depth comparisons.
- Devotional or Bread Bible - this year I am working my way through the Bible using the Bread version, in chronological order. In the past, I have used daily devotionals. I find that I enjoy getting in to the Word more on an independent basis if I have some sort of study tool, like a devotional, to help me.
- Prayer cards - being completely transparent here, I confess that prayer is something that I personally struggle with. I never quite know what to say or what to pray about. These prayer cards have been a real blessing to me. Whenever I find them, I like to keep them and use them as I feel led.
- Spiral notebook - I happen to be an avid note taker. I find that I retain more if I write things down. I have one notebook that I use for personal study. I recently found my collection and was debating on whether or not to keep them or destroy them. Everyone advised me to keep them, so they are stored in a bookcase, for now. Once a notebook is full, especially the ones containing sermon notes, I make sure all the verses and any really important notes are transferred to my New Jerusalem Bible. Whether I am studying a topic independently or learning from someone available at YouTube University, I take notes and then double check the teaching against the Word for myself. These notebooks become invaluable to me since they include most of the information that has formed my personal doctrines.
- Kleenex - just in case I sneeze, I cry, or just need a tissue.
- Notecards - sometimes I try to memorize certain Scripture passages that stand out to me. I jot them down on the notecards and then take them with me to read periodically until I have that particular verse or passage memorized.
- Candy container - a small metal container to hold my hand lotion, nail file, chapstick, post-it flags, and post-it notes. Essentials to keep from getting distracted or side tracked from the Word. Forgot something to do? Just jot it down on the post-it note until later. Found a passage I want to come back to? Flag it with a post-it flag. Dry lips or itchy hands distracting me? Got something to take care of that too.
- Coffee cup - holds all my different colored pens and highlighters for marking up the Word of God and taking notes. I personally love the Micron pens. They do not bleed through the thin paper of Bibles and comes in a variety of colors so I can color code certain passages as I want.
I hope that this foundation helps you to prepare for the challenges ahead. Your first assignment is to create your own "get together with God" type of basket or container. Think about all the things that distract you and see if you can prepare for them in advance. Post a comment and share your ideas and what items you included in your prayer basket.
Blessings be upon you.
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