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The Answer: “In response to your question, I am a 19 year old college student. I find time to pray by praying early in the morning. I have found that this not only allows adequate time for me to pray without being mindful of time itself (something that is critical to praying in every dimension), but it sets the order of my day before situation, circumstance, and the attack of the enemy can gain a foothold or occupy my mind. The Bible calls Lucifer the Morningstar, meaning that Satan received his power and dominion to work with the rising of the sun. So by rising before the sun, I am able to communicate in a far less impeded manner with my best friend and savior, Jesus Christ. As far as Bible reading, I read by a Bible reading program, but I do not read for the sake of reading as dictated by that program. What I mean by that is that I do not read to simply say that I’ve read my daily allotted scripture. I read to understand and study out scriptures to enrich my life. This is not to say that I look up every scripture in the original Greek or Hebrew or read every cross reference, but I open up my spirit and give ear to God’s voice. As far as the time I read, I believe that the best time to read the Word is after prayer. Since prayer is opening your spirit to the Spirit of God, it makes sense that when your spirit is opened God can impart and give insight more easily. Since you’ve opened your spirit already in prayer, the transition to Bible reading seems only natural. This is not to say that prayer outside of the morning hours is bad or that Bible reading immediately following prayer is wrong; this is simply what God has revealed to me through my prayer and Bible reading while building a personal relationship the Jesus.” The Answer: “I usually try to get up in the mornings and go by the church before work to pray. If I don’t do that, I don’t have much of a prayer life. I don’t read my Bible often enough; usually just when I’m in dire need of help. I don’t have much confidence in my ability to study the Bible well enough to get out of it what I need. When I want a Bible study on a particular subject, I’ll go to an Apostolic website or elsewhere on the Internet, which I do often since my church doesn’t have good resources to back up its teachings. (Most people just blindly accept what the pastor says and criticize me for wanting to know the whys and wherefores behind it.) Unfortunately, I’ve found so many more studies that dispute our holiness standards, and in my humble opinion, the Apostolic movement as a whole is not adequately setting forth convincing arguments for its teachings against cut hair jewelry, make-up, etc., on women. That’s a pet peeve of mine - can’t you tell? So how do I encourage myself in the Lord? Well, I rooted myself deeply in the Apostle’s doctrine, and I keep telling myself I’m into the best thing going. I really don’t know how I encourage myself in the Lord, to be honest with you . . . I’m not sure if I’m just muddling through as best as I can, or if I have a lot of faith!” The Answer: “This is a correction to an earlier post. In my haste I called Satan the Morningstar - what a mistake. He is actually referred to as the son of the morning. Sorry again for the mix-up.” The Answer: “My daughter says ‘before I go to sleep.’ She loves our wonderful church and youth program!” The Answer: “For a guy, spiritual activities are best when a bunch of Church Chicks are around.” The Answer: “I used to have a hard time with keeping a daily prayer life and Bible reading. But first I got firm on my Bible reading. Rain or shine, day or night, rushed or not, I read my Bible. I'm not sure exactly what triggered me to do that, but it happened. Then just lately I've been able to get a constant prayer life. I don't know why, but I decided to try a prayer walk down my street to start it off, and it's worked since. It's a lot easier to pray without distractions. So I've been establishing that lately. As far as keeping myself encouraged in the Lord, I have to trust in His word and my prayer life. It's hard to be a youth living sold out to God in these days, because even the "in-church" youth can pull you down. They don't understand a lot of stuff in your life, because they haven't sold out to God.” The Answer: “In this day and age that consists of ministry, church attendance, work commitments, and social life; your walk with God has to be something that you designate a daily time for. It's something that when you check your planner, it's on your to-do list. Like anything else in the "rush-rush" generation. Sorry but I got an appointment- with God. You just have to prioritize your time.” The Answer: “Good question! My prayer life needs as much as my golf game! Both are in pretty bad shape.” The Answer: “We all know you never find time. You make time or you don't have it.” The Answer: “Every night, as I am falling asleep, I pray, and thank God for the day and his blessings and protection. I wake up every morning and read a short devotional and say a quick prayer for the day. Whenever I am stressed or frustrated, I pray and ask God to help me through it all. And during my lunch break, I read my Bible.” The Answer: “I set a time everyday and make sure to keep a routine. In the morning, I spend time in prayer, because starting the day with God is the most awesome thing anyone can do. At night, I read scripture or I read through a devotional. So, to make time, pretty much all I do is get up a little earlier and go to bed a little later. I depend on my good friends and church to encourage myself in the Lord.” The Answer: “Now that I am graduated, I pray as I walk in morning before work. And I try to read a few chapters of the Bible every night before bed. It’s amazing how much time I have for God when I don't watch TV (hint hint)” The Answer: “Make it your top priority! Love Jesus, and you will passionately want to study the Bible! Talk to the Lord when you need encouragement, and listen when He tells you how much he loves you!” The Answer: “I read my Bible most every night before bed along with other Christian self-help books. And I try to take time everyday just to thank God for all his blessings!” ninetyandnine.com © 2004, ninetyandnine.com ----------
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