Pray:
Ask God to orient or reorient you to Himself. Confess any known sin. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s Word. Pray for others in your life that they, too, would know and love God today.
Read:
Rom. 1:1-4 “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God-the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding His Son, who as to His human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Understand:
Paul’s purpose was to proclaim the good news of the gospel. Here he gives the content of the gospel…Jesus Christ! Jesus is fully human and fully God. The essential message of the gospel is nothing more or less than: Jesus lived, Jesus was crucified, Jesus rose from the dead, and Jesus is Lord!
Apply:
Think about the crucifixion of Jesus. Imagine if you had been there. What would you see, hear, smell, or feel? Think about the resurrection as well. It happened…in real human history. Try to think about it as concretely as if you were remembering another important event in your life. If you were standing there watching Jesus as God returned life to His physical body what would you see? Would He gasp as His lungs began to work? Would He disappear from your sight and then reappear in His resurrected form? This kind of mental exercise is important as we read the Bible because we must train our minds to think of biblical truth in the same way we think of other things that are real. The reality of biblical truth then has a better chance of impacting our “real life” in the world we move around in.
*From what you have just read and considered: What is a personal implication/application for your life today?
Live:
(Personalize this prayer today; make it specific to the circumstances that face you.)
Ask God to lead you through His Spirit as you go through your day. Ask Him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell Him “Yes” to His will and ask Him for His power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask God to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today. KEEP PRAYING THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY.