TAKE THE MY JESUS CHALLENGE

My Jesus Challenge in Five Days With Lysa Terkeurst http://lysaterkeurst.com/2011/04/my-jesus-in-5-days/ Day 1: Prayer: Jesus I want to see you. “Blessed are the pure in heart, they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8) Thought: Remember a pure heart doesn’t mean a perfect person. If your pure intention is to see God, you will. While I can’t see the Lord’s physical form, I can see evidence of His activity all around me. Activity: Ask God to open your eyes to the many things in your life that speak to His presence. Look for and record evidence of God around you. Today, start a thankful journal listing the many things around you for which you are thankful. It’s amazing, the more we recognize even the smallest things as gifts from God, the more we start to realize how present He is in our lives. Day 2: Prayer: Jesus I want to hear you. “He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears and I have not been rebellious. (Isaiah50: 4b-5). Thought: While I’ve never heard God’s audible voice, I do feel Him speaking to me. The best way I’ve found to start hearing the Lord’s whispers in my heart is by getting into His word and letting His word get into me. The more Scripture I memorize the more clearly I hear Him. Ask God to waken you in the morning so you can read the Bible first thing… before checking voicemail, email, and facebook… check in with God’s lifegiving truths. Activity: Commit this week to not open your computer or turn on your cell phone before you’ve spent a few minutes reading the Bible, praying, and asking God to help you hear Him. Day 3: Prayer: Jesus I want to know you. “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.” Ephesians 1:17. Thought: I love the words, “I keep asking.” Persistence and consistency are key in our walk with the Lord. Ask the Lord many times today to give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know Him better. Make knowing Him the focal point of every prayer today… more than anything else you are asking for right now. Activity: Write this verse on a card and carry it with you. Make a point to pray this verse out loud at least once during every hour you are awake today. Remember when you pray the word of God, you pray the will of God. God wants you to know Him better. Think about the difference this made in your day as you fall asleep tonight. Day 4: Prayer: Jesus I want to follow hard after you. “Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” (Psalm 86:11) Thought: Is there something dividing your heart and distracting you from seeing, hearing and knowing God more? Pray a courageous prayer. Ask God what is one distraction you could distance yourself from today to more fully embrace an awareness of Him? Is it facebook? Eating unhealthy foods? Soda? Needing attention from another person? A material possession? Whatever it is, spend a day fasting from your distraction. Activity: Each time you think of what you’ve given up, use that as a trigger to pray Psalm 86:11. Day 5: Prayer: Jesus I say yes before I even know what your request will be today. “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interest of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” (Phillipians 2:4-5) Thought: The more we know God, the more we want to say yes to Him. The more we say yes to Him the more we realize there are divine opportunities to participate in His activity all around us. As we participate in loving others like Jesus does, our attitude becomes more and more like Jesus. Activity: Today let’s be other’s focused. Let’s ask God for opportunities to honor Him by looking to the interest of others. Let other people in line ahead of us. Let the conversations be about the other person. Make our focus giving rather than receiving.