Getting Started Abiding

This morning I was meeting with a guy.  About half way through breakfast he told me that he wanted what I had…  He wanted to learn to abide in Christ.  Although I still struggle with that, I understood what he wanted.

Our churches tell men that they are supposed to have a closer walk with God.  They tell men that they are to read their Bibles.  They tell men that they are supposed to be the spiritual leaders of their families.  They tell men they are supposed to study their Bibles.  Men are told to do these things among others, but the churches have not done a very good job of showing them how.

So I pulled out a 3x5 card and wrote down six letters and drew three lines to show my friend how to get started in abiding in Christ by having a simple quiet time, devotional, or whatever else you may want to call it.

On the left the letter P stands for “pray” in both cases.  The first means you pray to ask God to help you see things about Him in His Word.  Psalm 119:18 is a good model for that.

The R means “read.”  You will note the three lines going from the R to the letters A, B, and C.  They stand for “analyze,” “best verse”, and “contract”.  You read the passage and make notes on what you see, analyze.  You pick the verse that “best” speaks to you.  You then write out what you need to do about what you have seen, contract.  That contract may be as simple as praying about what you have read.  It may be you memorize the verse.  It may be that you need to share what you have seen with someone.  This is not a graded exercise.  It is a way of making what you read real in your life.

Then you P, “pray” again.  Thank God for what you have seen and ask Him to help you use it in your life.

Done.

You can do this in a few minutes or you can take longer.  Up to you.  But it is a simple way to begin to develop a conversational relationship with the Lord.  He talks to you through the Word, you talk to Him in prayer.

Try it.  You will like it.

Oh, by the way, I told him to start in 1 John...