Challenge #3

Mount Hope Men’s Ministry
CHALLENGE #3
Pray, Read, Listen Each Day

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above,
where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above,
not on earthly things.”
(Colossians 3:1-2) NIV

In the previous two challenges we practiced reading scripture and praying.
Hopefully you have been able to carve out time in your schedule to exercise these
basic disciplines. In this, the third challenge, we are going to combine challenge one
with challenge two but add in a third discipline, listening to God.
Let me first clarify what is meant by “listening” to God. With God all things are
possible, so it is not impossible to hear God’s audible voice. However, for this
exercise, we will participate in the most common way that God speaks to us. And
that is through scripture. God, the Holy Spirit, reveals the truth of his word by
conviction. That conviction may come while reading or while contemplating what
you have just read. It’s important to first pray that God will speak to you while you
read his word. When something begins to grab your attention, stop! and meditate on
what you just read. This is a powerful work that the Holy Spirit does for believers.

“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach
you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
(John 14:26) NIV

Some bible translations use the word “helper” instead of “advocate.” Rest assured
that God has not left us alone to navigate scripture, or our lives, without his help.
Challenge number three is where learn to lean on the Holy Spirit’s understanding
and not our own. If we train ourselves to do this more and more, imagine the
powerful impact it will have on our journey as followers of Jesus.

“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has
conceived”—the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things
God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep
things of God. (1 Corinthians 2:9-10) NIV

Tips & Helpful Advice:
 Before you read your Bible, pray!
 Pray for God, the Holy Spirit, to reveal specific things that you need to hear.
 My advice would be to focus on a single Gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John).
 Read small passages at a time (a few verses, or a paragraph).
 Pause. Don’t be in a hurry to keep reading. Stop and think about what you read.
 In your mind, ask God to show you how it applies to your spiritual life, even to
your physical life.
 If nothing comes to mind right away, re-read the passage with hunger to
understand the deeper meaning.
 Pray again. Press in. Be hungry for God to feed you his truth.
 Whatever you receive, be thankful.
 When you are done, say a closing prayer full of gratitude-giving thanks to God for
the time you spend together in his word.

Encouragement:
Trust in God’s timing. His timing is perfect. Exercise your faith that God will reveal what
HE wants you to know when the time is right. You are valuable to the God of all
creation. You are valuable enough to him that he sacrificed his own son on a cross for
you. But he also raised his son from the dead. He will certainly raise us also. In the
meantime, we have work to do and we will be more effective in that work if we stay
close to him. Stay close by staying in prayer, stay in his word, stay in the Holy Spirit.

“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the
vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”
(John 15:4) NIV