Life hurts and doesn’t make sense sometimes. Would you agree?!
At the beginning of my bipolar disorder journey, nothing made sense to me. I had some successful years in high school which, continued through my sophomore year of college. I was always involved in leadership and supporting the students at my high school and college.
Then I turned 19 and, things began to unravel months later. Anxiety and depression began to transform my way of life and thinking. Things like having to leave college and move back home did not quite make sense. After all, I had worked so hard to get to college and be involved.
So life continued through the years and, still nothing made sense to me. By that I mean, I did not understand why God allowed anxiety, depression, and bipolar to happen to me. It derailed many of my dreams and, I would constantly ask God why me. “Why did my life have to get so screwed up?”
Today I am 33. A few years ago God mended my brokenness and, I became closer to him than ever before.
I want you to understand that when nothing makes sense, you should always start with God. The trust that you feel you no longer have in your life, should be put in God.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says,
5 Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart And do not rely on your own insight or understanding. 6 In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him, And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].
This verse has been so meaningful to me and, I pray that you will carry it with you. No matter the circumstance, God has a plan for your life. This plan is real, whether it makes sense to you or not.
Wrap Up
So my encouragement to you is to release control.
Ask God Almighty to strengthen your faith in him as you trust in His plan. Be thankful for His will and allow him to “make your paths straight and smooth” throughout your life.
Trusting in Him has changed my life completely. I pray the same for you sister.
Before you go, do you need prayer? If you feel led to, submit your prayer request here.
If you need to know how to become a believer please click here.
WEEKLY SCRIPTURE
15 but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. 1 Peter 1:15-16
Have you ever felt a sense of overwhelm around doing personal Bible study? Do you ever feel like you need Bible study made easy.
When I started working on my relationship with God, I experienced this. I felt like I didn’t know where to start and how to study. Let the truth be told, Bible study can be made easy. It doesn’t have to be this over-complicated and daunting task.
I believe personal Bible study should be about reading and examining the Word of God. I approach it with an expectancy that I will learn from God and apply it to how I live.
With that said, one can use various methods to study the Bible. I want to share with you the Bible study method that I use regularly.
bible study made easy with the S.O.A.P. Method
The S.O.A.P. Method provides a fun way to study scripture or passages with ease. I use this method frequently.
So let’s break down this acronym!
The S in the SOAP method stands for “Scripture.” In this step, slowly read the passage aloud or to yourself. Take your time reading. Use a journal to write out the scripture(s). Writing it out is great for repetition. Be sure to grab this free resource below. It has much more ideas to use on this step!
Secondly, the O in the SOAP Method stands for “Observation.” I use the observation step to exegete the passage of scripture. To exegete means to expound or interpret. Next is where my Bible study tools come into play. I begin by familiarizing myself with the book I am reading using the notes in my study Bible. Next, I consider the context of the scriptures I have read. Most times, I read through the entire chapter or section to understand the meaning of the text.
Thirdly, the A in the SOAP Method stands for “Application.” At this time, I like to consider what the passage is teaching me about God. I write out these details in my journal. More details are available here.
Lastly, the P in the SOAP Method stands for “Pray.” When I pray, I like to have a conversation with God. During this conversation, I tell God my intentions concerning what I have just studied. I also wait to hear anything the Holy Spirit has to say to me at that moment.
What’s next?
Now that you have some basic information about the S.O.A.P. method, please grab the free resource below. It goes deeper into this style of Bible study. I also include an example of the method from my personal Bible study notes.
Well, I hope that the S.O.A.P. method will prove to be valuable to you. If you try it out, please come back and share with me what you think of it.
Before you go, do you need prayer? If you feel led to, submit your prayer request here.
“Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.” Romans 12:12
In today’s post, I thought that it would be fun to share my powerful, quiet time with God routine and my favorite books.
First, I must share why daily quiet time with God is so important. It’s a necessity to fuel ourselves spiritually because it helps us to maintain strong faith. I do my best to pray, worship, and study the Word of God every day. I have found that when I neglect my time with God, my faith wavers, and doubt begins to bombard my mind.
Daily quiet time with God can be in different ways. Let’s dive into my routine. I hope it will give you some inspiration.
Worship
The first part of my routine is worship.
I have a plethora of Christian music that I have collected on Spotify. I like to utilize my Daily Mixes on the platform. I push play, sing along, meditate on the words and open my mouth in adoration to God.
If you need some song recommendations, I’ve included some of my favorite songs on a “God’s Girl” playlist I created just for the Her Faith Walk community. Please feel free to add this playlist to your account.
Powerful Quiet Time Prayers
Once I’ve spent some time in worship, I begin to pray. The way I pray depends on how I feel that day.
I love to prayer journal. The best way I can describe this is by writing a letter to God. I generally journal my prayers when I have a lot on my heart that I feel needs to be poured out on paper. Praying in this way also allows me to review my prayers over time.
I also enjoy praying out loud as I worship. I most often pray out loud when I am deep in spiritual warfare. There’s just something powerful about speaking out loud when I use my spiritual weapons in prayer. Believe it or not, when I’m dealing with bad anxiety and depression, crying out loud to God and declaring my healing by faith strengthens me.
Now sometimes, I feel more comfortable praying silently. I generally do this when there is something on my heart that I strictly want to be for God’s ears only.
I felt that I should address prayer length. I pray for as long as the spirit leads me. I conclude what I have to say and, I often sit in silence. This is my way of quieting myself so that I can hear from God. I also continue to pray throughout the day and before bed. I encourage you to not focus on the length of your prayers but to focus on opening yourself up to God and having a conversation with Him.
Lastly, I have a special freebie for you if you could use some help organizing your prayer list and keeping it manageable. I’m sharing my personal prayer list template with you and, it’s customizable! Grab yours at the bottom of the homepage and enjoy!
Read & Study The Bible
I save my reading and study time for the end of my quiet time. I use different resources to assist me in my Bible study time. Afterward, I always sit quietly before God for a few minutes to hear from Him and reflect.
I have staples that I use daily such as, The Bible App/Bible.com, a paper Bible, a commentary, a notebook for note-taking, pens, highlighters, and occasionally I have my concordance on hand.
My heart is always sensitive to pay attention to what God may have for me to study each day. When I feel like I need some structure, I often utilize the plans on The Bible App/Bible.com. I enjoy the studies on this platform because they include a theme to study, one, a couple, or sometimes several scriptures and supplementary readings written by the author of the study.
Here is a list of a few studies I have completed that were very beneficial to my spiritual growth.
I also like to look up passages that speak to specific topics that are on my heart. For instance, one month, I wanted to focus on wisdom, so I dove into the book of Proverbs. It was amazing to read and study each day.
Lastly, sometimes I enjoy a devotional or Christian book with scripture infused into the text. I love using these tools when I may not have much energy to do an in-depth study. Other times if I do a morning study, I will use a devotional or book to close my night before bedtime.
Click here to visit my tools page, where I share my favorite Bibles, devotionals, and books.
In Conclusion
I hope that you enjoyed this overview of my powerful, quiet time with God routine.
I want to encourage you to take these ideas and design your very own system. I’m praying that you find a routine that works for you and benefits your spiritual growth.
What are your thoughts? What may you include in your daily get together with God?
Let’s chat in the comments!
Continue to press on in building your relationship with God,
Before you go, do you need prayer? If you feel led to, submit your prayer request here.
Do you want to find yourself or are you searching for your true identity? Who are you are outside of your DNA, earthly character, and personality? Are you a woman struggling to find who you are?
Many of us Christian women label ourselves unhealthily and negatively. Some of us have no clue of our true identity and worth, and if we feel we do have some understanding of who we are, we have identified ourselves poorly.
Trauma, low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, self-doubt, memories, and bad seeds planted by Satan can all cause us to formulate negative views of who we are.
It is imperative for us as Christian women to demolish the negative views we have of ourselves. These negative views create strongholds in our lives.
Negative self-identity can stall us from walking in God’s purpose for us as believers. It may also make accomplishing a specific assignment or calling more difficult or extend into a longer process.
I pray that none of us settle for a reality that prevents us from being all God has created us to be.
In this series, we explore what our true identity in Christ looks like.
What Scripture Says About Our True Identity
The following scriptures define our true identity in Christ.
We Are “Children Of God”
But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.
Receiving Jesus is the act of welcoming Him into your life to be Lord over your life.
God desires that we all be His children!
We as believers have the best Daddy in the whole wide world and universe combined. He is a loyal and loving Father. He never fails as a Father and is always present for us.
We Are “Loved”
9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
In the verses above, two sacrifices emphasize why God loves us. The first sacrifice we see is that God, The Father made a sacrifice by sending His Son to this earth, “so that we might have eternal life through him “.
Secondly, Jesus sacrificed his very life for us. Jesus took on the wickedness of our sin and underwent the most horrific death.
Jesus suffered for us and, God The Father watched his only Son suffer.
Remember that God Almighty loves you the next time you have a negative thought about yourself or when the enemy tries to tell you are not loved.
19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
God sees worth in us, so much that he paid the wages of our sin.
Also, our bodies are precious to Him. I say this because our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. For this reason, we are called to care for and not defile our bodies.
In Conclusion
These verses share only a small bit of what scripture says about our identity. I look forward to exploring identity more in upcoming posts.
How does being a child of God, being loved, and having worth make you feel about yourself? Are you beginning to see yourself for the special person you are?
These truths strengthen me on my journey to developing a healthy self-esteem. They give me the reality check I need when false thoughts enter my mind.
Share with me in the comments, how any of the three examples make you feel.
If you are looking for a creative way to spend time in God’s word, grab your free copy of this month’s scripture writing plan.
Until next time!
Be blessed and not stressed,
Are you a believer? Explore the gift of salvation here.
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