2024 3 x 5 Challenge

2024 3 x 5 Challenge Commitment:

I commit to the 2024 3 x 5 Challenge of investing at least 5 minutes/day to Bible engagement, at least 5 minutes/day to prayer, and at least 5 minutes/day to listening to God. Sign up below to express your commitment so we can pray for you this year. We will also check in with you occasionally to give you the opportunity to share with us how the ‘3 x 5’ experience is going for you.

Introduction:

2024 3 x 5 Challenge:  Bible Engagement; Prayer; Listening

• 5 minutes of BIBLE engagement

• 5 minutes of PRAYER

• 5 minutes to LISTEN

In John 15:4 (NLT) Jesus speaks to all His disciples and says, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.” 

Growing in our relationship with Jesus will only happen as we cultivate spiritual habits that open our hearts and lives to the loving leadership of God.  Bible engagement, prayer, and listening are three such spiritual habits, or ‘disciplines’.

In speaking to the religious leaders in John 5:39, Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!”  The reminder in these words of our Lord (even for us) is that the purpose of the written word of God is to draw us into deeper intimacy in our relationship with Jesus Christ.  It’s not about merely filling our head with knowledge or information, as important as the information in the Bible is!

Bible Reading: A great tool is our ‘2024 Daily Time with God’ booklet. It has a bible reading schedule that you may want to use as well as some excellent prayer tools. 

Bible Memorization:  In his classic book, ‘The Great Omission’, Dallas Willard wrote: “Our concentration on Jesus will be strengthened by memorization of great passages (not just verses) from scripture. Passages such as Matthew 5 – 7; John 14-17; I Cor. 13 & Colossians 3 are terrific soul-growing selections.”

On page 5 of the Eaglemont ‘2024 Daily Time With God’ booklet there is a list of great verses from Psalm 119 to memorize – one for every month of the year. Very ‘do-able’.  Of course, you can also select your own verses or passages to memorize.

Bible Meditation:  Biblical meditation is the discipline of prayerfully pondering the words of a Bible passage, verse or phrase. This must be done with a receptive heart and mind and with a willingness to walk in obedience to how God speaks to you from his word. It’s what Joshua 1:8 describes when it says, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”

A practice that makes Bible meditation even more helpful and productive is journaling. As you read and

reread a verse, begin to write responses to questions like:

• “What did this verse mean to the original audience?”

• “Holy Spirit, what is it you want to say to me from this verse?”

• “How would God want me to apply this verse to my daily life?”

• “God, what do you want me to think, say, do or repent of, in response to this verse?” 

The bible has the truth to convict, the power to correct, and the wisdom to direct. May Psalm 119:97 be our genuine expression: “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.”

Do not forget that your prayers have power. What you do or do not pray will have an effect on reality and eternity. We may not understand it, but throughout the biblical story God chooses to work through his people in amazing ways, and he calls us to be his co-labourers (1 Cor. 3:9) in this life. And We, as followers of Jesus, should follow in how Jesus prayed and in the emphasis He put on it. God actually responds and changes the world through our prayers.

And if we want to learn how to pray, we can look to the teaching of Jesus. Jesus’ disciples asked Him, “Lord teach us to pray”. Then Jesus responds and says, “This then, is how you should pray”.

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.”

Matthew 6:9-13 (NIV)

If praying to God is new to you, or if you have been praying your whole life, the passage above, known as ‘The Lord’s Prayer’, is an outline that Jesus encourages us to learn as we pray.  Each line we can take and pray in our own lives and in our own words, and we can pray many things that would be under the context of each line.

To keep things concise on the 3x5 bookmark we have included just 3 points of different things to pray for:

• Prayers of thanksgivings - Prayer is not just asking God for things. So starting by thanking and praising God for whatever comes to our mind is a way that we honour God for what He has done and for who He is. It’s also a way that we learn to be less focused on ourselves or the things wrong with our lives and instead see the things that are good.

• Pray by having a conversation with God - Share your thoughts, your struggles, your doubts, your pain, be honest with God and talk through your life and your day while letting God speak into everything. Pray for God to provide for your needs (daily bread), and pray for the things on your heart. Talk to God openly like you would a friend, and let Him into every part of your life.

• Prayer for others - Another way that we keep our prayer life from being too self focused, is to remember to pray for others. Whether that is for the Church, for people we know who are struggling, for people we know haven’t found Jesus, or for your wider community in general, we want to be praying for God’s kingdom to come here on earth as it is in heaven. God’s will is that people will come to know Him and draw closer to him, and that should be our prayer as well. 

We encourage you to follow the outline of the full Lord’s Prayer, but the three bullet points on the 3x5 Bookmarks also provide a great starting point for growing in our prayer life.

In our 5 minutes of prayer time, we are taking 5 minutes to share our hearts with God. In our listening time, we are spending 5 minutes just to wait on God – to purposefully attune ourselves to His presence and to listen for His voice – what He may be trying to say to us

Make Space

Find a place that’s quiet and as free from distraction and noise as you can… This could be going out in nature for a walk, finding an empty spare room in the house, or using your drive time going back and forth to work. You are going to need to make this space as there will be temptation to think about or do something else. Make a space that allows you just to focus on God.

Start with a Question

Often times in conversation it’s good to start with a question. Start your listening time with a question to God, then spend the 5 minutes just waiting a listening for what He may be saying. You can ask the Holy Spirit to guide you with a good question to ask. Here a few starter questions you could use to start your time

• God, what do you like about me?

• What do you see when you look at me?

• Is there anything in my life that is getting in my way of being closer to you?

• What do you want to reveal to me?

• What are you wanting me to know/learn through my current situation?

• When doing with your with Bible reading – ask God what He is wanting to speak to you from His written word

• God, is there an area of my life that I have been holding on to unforgiveness?

How God may speak in your listening time?

Audible Voice – this is the way the we most regularly experience someone speaking to us, but is not the most common way God speaks. Many will go through their lives but not hear the audible voice of God – but He does on occasion use this method of communicating to His people – usually when there is something of great importance and significance that requires a high degree of faith and surety.

Dreams & Visions – God may give you images or pictures of what He is wanting to say. I.e., if you ask God is there something in my life I need to confess or ask forgiveness for and you see a visual in your mind of a situation when you had insulted and badly wounded an old friend. God can use visions and dreams to speak to us. 

Still Small Voice – The still small voice is hard to explain but pivotal to seek in our relationship with God. The Holy Spirit can speak directly to our hearts and our mind. When the Holy Spirit can often be that internal voice that warns and directs us.

His written Word – God may bring to life (your remembrance) a portion of scripture from His word. Perhaps something you read that day or sometime previous. The Holy Spirit will make these words come alive to you and apply them directly to your life.

Any time we sense God speaking we need to test its validity against God’s written Word (1 John 4:1). God’s voice never contradicts his Word.

CONCLUDING COMMENTS:

We are excited about this journey of time with God every day. You can do this. As you grow in these three spiritual habits, your time with God and your perspective of how you view your relationship with God will be transformed and will flow into every aspect of your lives. To get the most out of your time with God, we encourage you to lay your phone aside during your ‘3 X 5 daily time with God.

Note: Please utilize the ‘2024 Daily Time with God’ booklet as a tool for your daily time with God.  You can pick up a hard copy at church or download a copy below.