Change your habits, change your life #3 Prayer

 

1. Many of you have at least heard of Tony Dungy.

1.  Now a speaker and writer, at one time he was an assistant football coach who had failed to convince any team to hire him as head coach. Even after 4 interviews, no one wanted Dungy because he had an unorthodox philosophy.

2. Finally, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were so bad they were nicknamed “America’s doormat” hired Dungy as head coach. What did they have to lose right?

3. Immediately Dungy began to implement his philosophy. 

2. He didn’t have a lot of fancy plays or trick moves.  He did drills. 

1. He drilled and drilled and drilled his players making small changes in the way they played; noticing the direction that your opponent’s foot was pointing told you one thing. If they lined up with their pads not perfectly square to the line, meant something else. 

2. Dungy drilled and drilled until the players started responding to these cues naturally.   No more deciding which direction to go. The players line up and the habit takes over noticing the cues and responding out of habit gained them precious milliseconds which, Dungy believed, would add up to winning games.

3. Dungey would soon become a successful NFL turn around coach known setting the record for the most consecutive appearances by a coach in post season play. 

2. Dungy’s trick was really no trick at all, 

1. he just understood the power of habits.  You see, he took good players and drilled them until they no longer had to think about how to respond to the cures of the other players. They responded out of habit making them faster, more confident and, frankly better.

2. He moved control of the game from the decision making in the frontal cortex to a habit controlling in the Basal Ganglia. And it proved a winning habit.  

3. In the last two weeks we have talked about good habits, weird habits, and bad habits.

1. last week we talked about how to install a good habit in our life. Identify the behavior we want, create a trigger, and a reward and repeat. And a habit is born.  We didn't however address a problem that plagues many of us and that is bad habits.

2. the golden rule of habit change is that you can never extinguish a bad habit you can only change it. Like they say “it is like riding a bike. You never really forget how to ride a bike.”  You can’t get rid of a habit, but you can change it. 

1. I observed an interesting example of this with a lady in a previous church. She emigrated from Germany as a small child and learned English as a second language. Her parents only spoke German when they wanted to keep a secret from the kids.  As she aged this woman started to experience dementia and eventually the habit of speaking German overcame the habit of speaking English. She spoke only German to the day she died. That habit was still there ingrained on her basil Ganglia from early childhood. 

3. So, you see, you can’t really get rid of the habit even if you want to.  But you can change it. 

1. In simple terms the pigeon in the laboratory pecks at the red light and the food drops out. Change the color of the light and pretty quickly the bird modifies his or her behavior to peck on the yellow light. 

1. The trigger is hunger, the reward is seed, but you can change the color of the button or the shape of the button and the habit is changed… not gone, just changed. 

2. For a while last summer, I was a little like our friend from last week, Homer Simpson. I got in the habit of eating Casey’s chocolate chunk cookies.  I mean like almost daily.  They are good, but that is just a bad idea. I realized when I got in the car my brain expected a chocolate chip cookie.  That was my trigger.  The reward speaks for itself because chocolate chip cookies make me feel good.  

1. I decided to change the behavior. I still had a desire when I got in the car, but instead of caving in to drive to Casey’s, I went down to the park and took a short walk as often as I could. It didn’t have to be long.  But the sunshine and the fresh air made me feel good, almost as good as eating a chocolate chip cookie. I was able to change the3 habit and now I treat myself with a cookie about once a week.

3. You can actually use that on any habit you have from eating chocolate chip cookies to quitting drinking. A fascinating study was done in which 5 men who had been through rehab multiple times for alcoholism. Each had an electrical probe planted in the Basal Ganglia (remember that’s where habits live?).  Immediately, they reported the craving for alcohol was gone. That was great, until they experienced stress. 4 out of the 5 went back to drinking because that was the only way they knew to deal with stress. Replacing the drinking with another activity any activity would have proven more successful. 

4. You can’t get rid of a habit; you can only change it. Keep the trigger, keep the reward, and change the behavior for a new habit. 

 

4. OK, now that helps with anything from chocolate cookies to cigarettes. But how does it help with a spiritual habit?

1. I find that spiritual habits are great replacements for less desirable habits. 

1. I knew a youth who decided that every time he was tempted to go to a porn website, he would open his bible and read a psalm. It worked!

2. I know a youth who was a cutter.  She vowed to call someone in the youth group whenever she felt the urge to cut.  It wasn’t the perfect answer but talking to a friend who was also sometimes hurting made a big difference.

3. Þ  Disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray.
   ·      Jesus replies with the  Lord’s prayer we all know it, and I hope you use it frequently.
   ·      Some complain that it is too rote… don’t think about it
   ·      I challenge that -suggesting spiritual habits are useful
   ·      Remember, habits are necessary for our brains saving energy.
   ·      Habits are also necessary for out hearts providing the foundation upon which our spiritual lifes stand.
   1.   Seen people unresponsive nearing death and when we pray the lord’s prayer, their lips begin to move alone with us.  The habit pays  off.
   2.   Seen people who were in advanced stages of dementia… when I recite the 23^rd Psalm they join me.
   3.   Maybe you have been in a stressful moment and cant figure out what to pray…  Lord’s prayer comes automatically.
   ·      Spiritual habits form an important foundation for us
   1.   Words we need when we don’t have others
   2.   Internalize discipleship when everything around us is chaos

4. This week’s habit, prayer, is a great substitute for any number of things. 

1. Get cut off in traffic? Pray. 

2. Get a nuisance phone call? Pray.  

3. Pull over to let a firetruck by? Pray for the family that might be having the worst day of their life. 

4. Have a pain? Pray for someone whose pain never goes away. 

5. Sit down to a meal and in addition to giving thanks for the food give thanks for the farmers, laborers, truckdrivers, factory workers, and grocers who helped get it to your table. 

6. Do something hurtful to someone you love? Pray not only for forgiveness, but for God to use the pain and remorse you feel to make you more loving in the future. 

5. Get the idea?  

1. Anything in life can and should be a cue to pray. 

2. Anything and everything should call you to a time of prayer, 

1. long or short, 

2. silent or out loud, 

3. exuberantly exalting or quietly confessing. 

4. That Is what Paul describes as “praying unceasingly.”

6. Brother Lawrence the author of “practice of the presence of God” wrote, “That we should establish ourselves in a sense of God’s presence, by continually conversing with him.”

7. Our prayer should be as close and as natural as breathing.  Try this with me. Become aware of your breathing. Feel your lungs fill and empty, fill and empty.  Notice of you are breathing deeply with your diaphragm or shallow. Is your breath fast or is it slow?  Even or ragged. Quiet or wheezy.

1. Take a deep breath in. Hold it and release it. 

2. Again

3. As you breathe out, “exhale your human spirit and inhale the spirit of God.”

4. Exhale your intentions and inhale God’s perfect will

5. Exhale your way, inhale God’s way.

6. Exhale your need to control and inhale your desire for God to make you whatever you can become

7. Exhale…  inhale

8. Exhale, exhale, exhale, hold it, hold it, hold it. Do you need to breathe hold it? 

9. From now on May your habit or prayer be as strong as you instinct to breathe. Inhale. Inhale. 

10. AMEN

Change your habits, change your life week 2 (practice of community

 

1.  

1. Did you know that around 40% of everything we do on a daily basis is habitual?

1. This means that a big part of our lives is almost entirely on autopilot! From brushing our teeth, to puling in the garage, to answering the phone, it is all habit. 

2. Think this through for a second and evaluate those habits of yours.

1.  Many of those are good habits but how many are bad?  And maybe you have one or two weird ones thrown in for good measure. 

3. BJ Fogg, a researcher at Stanford University got it exactly right. “If you pick the right small behavior and sequence it right, then you won’t have to motivate yourself to have it grow. It will just happen naturally, like a good seed planted in a good spot.”

4. Let me explain that. Let’s start with a behavior… it is often called a routine. The routine in question is eating cookies every night.   No, it isn’t me… it is someone else we all know and love. 

1. What causes Homer to eat the cookies?  A cue. In this case the cue is when the Krusty Clown show is over, his stomach growls like clockwork.  And when his stomach growls that is Homer’s cue to eat cookies. 

2. Now that might not last long except almost everything we do has consequences. If chocolate gave homer a headache it might not become a habit.  But unfortunately for homer he is not allergic to chocolate.

3. Instead, he feels very happy afterwards. So, when the Krusty the Clown show is over tomorrow, and his stomach growls he will reach for the cookies.  And a habit is being born!

4. But there is one more step.  That is if Homer starts to feel unhappy, that feeling of happiness after eating cookies becomes the desired reward.  Even if it is not time for Krusty the Clown, the connection between cookies ad happiness is very strong and is called a craving. The craving is enough to start the habit cycle and now it is no longer dependent on the daily end of the tv show.  The cue is internalized with the words “I need a cookie” just like “I need a drink” and the habit can spiral out of control. 

5. See how that happens?

6. Take any small behavior, add a reward to it, do it on cue, and repeat and a habit is being born. 

5. Advertisers, motivational speakers, salesmen and marketers use our habits all the time (mostly to separate us from our money).    However, we can put this knowledge to good use. Let’s look at last week’s discipleship habit, Bible Reading.

1. If you want to develop a Bible Reading habit you start by reading the Bible. What is your cue? When you get up in the morning? When you sit down to breakfast? Lunchtime. When you let the dog out? What is your cue?

2. And you start doing it. When you start reading you begin to realize that you feel encouraged afterwards.  You feel like you accomplished something. Or whatever your reward is.  Cue, behavior, reward, repeat. And a habit is being born. 

3. Now, not overnight.  You don’t make lifelong connections in your basil ganglia by doing something once, or twice. I always heard 21 days, but my reading for this series teaches me that it varies widely depending on the difficulty of the task and the persistence of the person.  It might be  60 even 90 days to be ingrained and automatic. Every person and every habit is a little different. Don’t get discouraged. It seems like we never get discouraged when we are creating a bad habit. Just keep at it and you can develop a great new habit. 

4. It is much harder to stop a habit and that will be next week’s subject. 

2.  

1. My concern right now is that we have been developing a habit over the last year.  I don’t just mean the church; I mean all of us. We have been isolated, and it has been drilled into our heads “social distance,” “no crowds,” “Your neighbors are dangerous.” All of that has its place, but I have a personal theory why rates of mental illness and suicide have gone up noticeably this year. Because the automatic encouragement, understanding, warmth, even the therapeutic value of having  frequent contact with friends and family with whom we have a close relationship has been taken away.  The net has been pulled out from underneath the highwire act and frankly we aren’t doing so well. 

2. We are not made to be alone.  Now, I am not talking about introverts and extroverts.  I am talking about all of us.  Even the most extreme introvert has need for at least a couple of good relationships. Christians included.

3. It's a common myth that Christianity can be practiced in isolation. It cannot. Let’s look at 4 reasons.

1. First, God’s very nature is community. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit make the perfect eternal divine community. 

2. Second, when we were created in God’s image, the need for relationships and community was part of God’s fingerprint on us. We were not intended to be alone. God said, “It is not good that the human should be alone.” And he made Eve… Don’t get hung up on marriage right now. Most importantly God made another person for Adam. And besides that, Adam literally invested his rib in order to get community.

3. Third the Bible is filled with instructions of how to live together in community. . There is no love, or serving, or sharing the gospel if there are no other people. The two greatest commandments Love God and love Neighbor… pretty much require that we have “neighbors.”

4. And finally, we frankly need other people.  We need people to encourage us, and teach us, and love us, and forgive us, to serve us and for us to serve. This is where the scripture from Hebrews comes in today. 

1. Hebrews 10:24-25

2. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

3. I caution you not to connect “Not neglecting meeting together” with our dispersion because of the pandemic.  What the author is really saying is do not neglect Christian community. Why?

1. Look at this… “to stir one another up to love and Good works!“ inspiration, and challenge. 

2. And in the second part of the verse, we are specifically told to encourage one another. When things get hard, we have each other. When the day is dark, we have each other. When it doesn’t seem like the future can be better than today, I can lean on your hope for tomorrow and another time, you can lean on mine.  You know what I mean. When there’s a death, who gathers around you … the church. When there is a baptism who celebrates with you… the church.  If there is a disaster be it fire flood or anything else. Who can you count on to help you the best they can? The church of course. 

That is what Christian community is all about. 

4. See how important community is? We can not afford to let the quirkiness of this past year pull us from community.  Who would stir us up to love and good works?  If we are not engaged in Christian community who is going to encourage us when life gets hard?  If we let our connection to the community slip away who will inspire, challenge, and hold us accountable. If we don’t nurture the habit of Christian Community who is going to light up the dark days, and who will surround us with love in the face of sickness, death, or other hard times?  It’s hard to imagine what could take the place of the church. 

3. I know this is probably preaching to the choir. But the habit would look like this… 

1. The cue is Sunday… you might have another cue, but let’s take Sunday as an example. Let Sunday remind you to …

2. connect to the community in any way you can. Come to worship either online or in person, join the prayer chain, volunteer to help teach our Sunday School. Ask if Jason has room for you to join the youth once in a while. Come Exercise, Join the FUMC friends’ group on Facebook, read the Lenten scriptures with us.  You might even make it your job to contact some of the folks who need a little extra attention, like homebound, care facility residents, and just some of the older folks who don’t get out so much in the winter. New moms, or young families.   The possibilities are endless.  

4. The reward is the joy of serving, the depth of empathy, the support of fellowship, the hope that there are others facing the same thing we are. That is your reward.  And a habit is born.

5. Connect. Bring your own special color into the weaving. Bring your own special pattern.  The weaving only more beautiful as more colors are added. It becomes more unique and special as each piece of fabric is woven in. 

6. Aristotle said, “we are what we repeatedly do.”  Come do community and you will be community. God weave us together. 

The power of habit week one (Bible reading)

1. People are weird.  I found places on the internet where people post their weird habits, anonymously, of course. If any of these is you, I wouldn’t raise my hand if I were you, Here are 3 examples 

a. 46. stephjl

I really enjoy ripping up the popcorn bag and licking the butter off when the 

popcorn is all gone.

b.

 55. Cranzia

Eating powdered sugar. I love it and can eat a 5-pound bag in a couple days. This feels so unhealthy but tastes delicious. 

 34. c4nn4bu77er

The side of my bed is my personal booger napkin.

c. Do you want to know mine?  It won’t surprise anyone that I have a serious habit of hitting the diet Pepsi too hard. What you don’t know is I have to wrap myself in my blankets like a cocoon to go to sleep. I know it is weird. But it is the truth. 

d. How about you?  What are your weird habits?  Do you run around the house half-dressed, eat weird things, have a special dance, practice your ninja moves when no one else is home?  We all have something, and I’m pretty sure we all think that our is not as weird as the guy sitting next to us.

2. Some habits aren’t weird, but they are bad. 

a. Abusing Alcohol is clearly bad.

b. Lying is a bad habit.

c. Not returning phone calls and emails is a bad habit.

d. Not using your blinker when driving or 

e. Using bad language.

f. We all have habits… some bad, but

3. other habits are actually good.

a. For instance. When the alarm goes off in the morning, 

b. I don’t have to lay there and figure out what that noise means. I already know because it is part of your routine… which is just another word for habit. 

c. I don’t have to decide whether or not to get up, 

i. or which side of the bed, 

ii. or which foot to put on the floor first, 

iii. I don’t have to figure out where the alarm is because it is always in the same place. 

d. I don’t have to fiddle around figuring out how to shut the thing off because all of these things have been “chunked” together in a morning routine .. a habit.

1. People are weird.  I found places on the internet where people post their weird habits, anonymously, of course. If any of these is you, I wouldn’t raise my hand if I were you, Here are 3 examples 

a. 46. stephjl

I really enjoy ripping up the popcorn bag and licking the butter off when the 

popcorn is all gone.

b.

 55. Cranzia

Eating powdered sugar. I love it and can eat a 5-pound bag in a couple days. This feels so unhealthy but tastes delicious. 

 34. c4nn4bu77er

The side of my bed is my personal booger napkin.

c. Do you want to know mine?  It won’t surprise anyone that I have a serious habit of hitting the diet Pepsi too hard. What you don’t know is I have to wrap myself in my blankets like a cocoon to go to sleep. I know it is weird. But it is the truth. 

d. How about you?  What are your weird habits?  Do you run around the house half-dressed, eat weird things, have a special dance, practice your ninja moves when no one else is home?  We all have something, and I’m pretty sure we all think that our is not as weird as the guy sitting next to us.

2. Some habits aren’t weird, but they are bad. 

a. Abusing Alcohol is clearly bad.

b. Lying is a bad habit.

c. Not returning phone calls and emails is a bad habit.

d. Not using your blinker when driving or 

e. Using bad language.

f. We all have habits… some bad, but

3. other habits are actually good.

a. For instance. When the alarm goes off in the morning, 

b. I don’t have to lay there and figure out what that noise means. I already know because it is part of your routine… which is just another word for habit. 

c. I don’t have to decide whether or not to get up, 

i. or which side of the bed, 

ii. or which foot to put on the floor first, 

iii. I don’t have to figure out where the alarm is because it is always in the same place. 

d. I don’t have to fiddle around figuring out how to shut the thing off because all of these things have been “chunked” together in a morning routine .. a habit.

4. That is actually the word that the professionals use… our brain “chunk” thoughts, actions, and decisions together. The brain calls it a habit and stores it in the Basal Ganglia which is a region way deep inside the brain. The habit is there when we need it but it doesn’t take a lot of energy to keep track of it, and it saves time and energy when the alarm rings. 

a. Charles Duhig,  says that our brains are lazy, but they are lazy out of necessity. If our brains had to make all of those decisions every day, all day, there would be no energy for creative thoughts, or hopes, or daydreams.  Chunking thoughts, actions, and decisions into habits is a survival technique.  If a caveman is putting all of this brain into how to eat, or how to make a fire, he might not notice the saber tooth tiger right behind him.  Our brain makes those activities into habits to free our brain up for more important things, like surviving, or writing a novel, or playing a game with the kids. 

b. Habits are powerful tools. We don’t even have to DO something for it to become a habit. “Dr. Pascual-Leone discovered that the same brain cell networks involved in executing a task are also involved in imagining it.” That is how athletes can mentally train for their event by imagining it and race car drivers use it to envision the race track. It really does make a difference.

5. I mentioned bad habits earlier. Sometimes we want to get rid of a bad habit or exchange a good habit for a better one. We all know how that goes. It is hard. Even if a habit is negatively affecting our lives, our Basal Ganglia is stubborn and wants to hold on to every habit, good or bad. It can be so hard,  that we just want to dig in there to the Basal Ganglia and roto-root the bad habits right out.  We will talk about changing habits in the upcoming weeks. 

6. But today,  let’s consider adding a good habit. 

7. As disciples of Jesus Christ, you know that certain things bring us closer to Jesus and things that drag us further away. Some habits make us more like Christ and other habits make us more like an orangutang. (Sorry there to our animal friends here, but true is true.)

8. So this Lent  I want us to try to add one (or maybe two) good discipleship habits that will bring us closer to Christ. I don’t think anyone’s basil Ganglila is big enough to hold all 10 habits  I will discuss.  But look for one… or at the most 2 that seem right for you. And then add that to your life this lent. It takes about 3 weeks for a habit to carve out its permanent place in your brain, so be patient with yourself and give it a good 3 weeks or more. 

9. Each week I will recommend one of these habits. This week is Bible Reading.

a. Our Scripture from 2 Timothy today said, “continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it,” in other words go all the way back to childhood and the basics. Get back to the fundamentals (which is why bible reading is first on my list.)

b. Paul goes on, “And how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” The Bible is not really a mystery if you understand that the goal of the Bible is to “Instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” In other words, to bring us closer to Christ.

c. Why would we try to build a habit of daily bible reading?.  Because if we let our bibles get dusty we will not have the  “teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness,” that can help us be a better disciple. Bible reading is a good habit that can change our hearts for the better. 

10. How does one develop a Habit of Bible reading? The best way is by starting.  

a. So, starting this Wednesday – Ash Wednesday- the whole  church will be reading “40 days of lent.” For some, this won’t come close to your regular daily diet. That’s OK just keep reading. For others, this might be a challenge, but it is well worth the effort. 

b. Please go to any of these places listed on the slide to find the readings and questions for the day.  There is an option there for everyone. And you have three days before we start on Ash Wednesday. 

11. Finally, Let me give you some practical help. If you want practical, one of the best places to look is John Wesley. He gave some advice for Person Bible reading. I have boiled them down to 5 keys to a Bible reading habit.

a.   Pick a time- any time. John Wesley liked 4 am.  That’s not for me. Pick a time and stick to it. 

b. Read what you can. It is not about quantity, it is about growing closer to God.

c. Read in faith looking for God. Not to understand the history or ancient idiosyncrasies… just looking for one thing… God.

d. Pray. Pray before you read, read the words as a prayer to God, and pray after you read.

e. Finally, ask “what is God saying to me and How can I start right now?”

12. Simple enough?

a. Pick a time.

b. Read what you can.

c. Read in faith. 

d. Pray. 

e. Ask “WHAT IS GOD SAYING TO ME AND HOW CAN I START RIGHT NOW?”

13. Let me give you one more thing. Our memory verse of the week. 

a.    “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” Let’s say it together… one more time.  Say that a couple of times a day. Read your Bible faithfully. 

14. God bless you as you begin or grow your habit of Bible reading.

4. That is actually the word that the professionals use… our brain “chunk” thoughts, actions, and decisions together. The brain calls it a habit and stores it in the Basal Ganglia which is a region way deep inside the brain. The habit is there when we need it but it doesn’t take a lot of energy to keep track of it, and it saves time and energy when the alarm rings. 

a. Charles Duhig,  says that our brains are lazy, but they are lazy out of necessity. If our brains had to make all of those decisions every day, all day, there would be no energy for creative thoughts, or hopes, or daydreams.  Chunking thoughts, actions, and decisions into habits is a survival technique.  If a caveman is putting all of this brain into how to eat, or how to make a fire, he might not notice the saber tooth tiger right behind him.  Our brain makes those activities into habits to free our brain up for more important things, like surviving, or writing a novel, or playing a game with the kids. 

b. Habits are powerful tools. We don’t even have to DO something for it to become a habit. “Dr. Pascual-Leone discovered that the same brain cell networks involved in executing a task are also involved in imagining it.” That is how athletes can mentally train for their event by imagining it and race car drivers use it to envision the race track. It really does make a difference.

5. I mentioned bad habits earlier. Sometimes we want to get rid of a bad habit or exchange a good habit for a better one. We all know how that goes. It is hard. Even if a habit is negatively affecting our lives, our Basal Ganglia is stubborn and wants to hold on to every habit, good or bad. It can be so hard,  that we just want to dig in there to the Basal Ganglia and roto-root the bad habits right out.  We will talk about changing habits in the upcoming weeks. 

6. But today,  let’s consider adding a good habit. 

7. As disciples of Jesus Christ, you know that certain things bring us closer to Jesus and things that drag us further away. Some habits make us more like Christ and other habits make us more like an orangutang. (Sorry there to our animal friends here, but true is true.)

8. So this Lent  I want us to try to add one (or maybe two) good discipleship habits that will bring us closer to Christ. I don’t think anyone’s basil Ganglila is big enough to hold all 10 habits  I will discuss.  But look for one… or at the most 2 that seem right for you. And then add that to your life this lent. It takes about 3 weeks for a habit to carve out its permanent place in your brain, so be patient with yourself and give it a good 3 weeks or more. 

9. Each week I will recommend one of these habits. This week is Bible Reading.

a. Our Scripture from 2 Timothy today said, “continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it,” in other words go all the way back to childhood and the basics. Get back to the fundamentals (which is why bible reading is first on my list.)

b. Paul goes on, “And how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” The Bible is not really a mystery if you understand that the goal of the Bible is to “Instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” In other words, to bring us closer to Christ.

c. Why would we try to build a habit of daily bible reading?.  Because if we let our bibles get dusty we will not have the  “teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness,” that can help us be a better disciple. Bible reading is a good habit that can change our hearts for the better. 

10. How does one develop a Habit of Bible reading? The best way is by starting.  

a. So, starting this Wednesday – Ash Wednesday- the whole  church will be reading “40 days of lent.” For some, this won’t come close to your regular daily diet. That’s OK just keep reading. For others, this might be a challenge, but it is well worth the effort. 

b. Please go to any of these places listed on the slide to find the readings and questions for the day.  There is an option there for everyone. And you have three days before we start on Ash Wednesday. 

11. Finally, Let me give you some practical help. If you want practical, one of the best places to look is John Wesley. He gave some advice for Person Bible reading. I have boiled them down to 5 keys to a Bible reading habit.

a.   Pick a time- any time. John Wesley liked 4 am.  That’s not for me. Pick a time and stick to it. 

b. Read what you can. It is not about quantity, it is about growing closer to God.

c. Read in faith looking for God. Not to understand the history or ancient idiosyncrasies… just looking for one thing… God.

d. Pray. Pray before you read, read the words as a prayer to God, and pray after you read.

e. Finally, ask “what is God saying to me and How can I start right now?”

12. Simple enough?

a. Pick a time.

b. Read what you can.

c. Read in faith. 

d. Pray. 

e. Ask “WHAT IS GOD SAYING TO ME AND HOW CAN I START RIGHT NOW?”

13. Let me give you one more thing. Our memory verse of the week. 

a.    “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” Let’s say it together… one more time.  Say that a couple of times a day. Read your Bible faithfully. 

14. God bless you as you begin or grow your habit of Bible reading.