Resource Packet (3 items - free!)

1. The Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan
(2 versions available)

• Version 1 - Old and New Testament Plan: (see pdf sample) This plan is the best Bible-in-a-year plan out there. Instead of plowing through from Genesis to Revelation, you'll have four different readings each day, in small, manageable chunks.
  
• To start, you'll be in Genesis, Psalms, Matthew, and Acts. Remember 2 Timothy 3:16? All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for all of life.
  
• Maybe you haven't read the whole Bible before. Devote approx 30 minutes a day, and you'll read the whole Bible in a year.
• This plan has 25 readings per month, giving you "free days" so you don't fall behind.
• Team up with some friends for accountability, and you'll be able to discuss similar passages together.
• Version 2 - New Testament Only Plan: (see pdf sample) Maybe you don't read the Bible on your own yet, and the whole Bible seems a bit daunting. That's ok, maybe the New Testament Only Plan is the right one for you.
• This plan is designed to be 5 minutes per day, 5 days per week.
  

2. Personal Prayer List

• Many of us don't really know how to approach prayer. Don't get discouraged, you're in good company. Jesus' disciples came up to him after he was praying and said, "Lord, teach us to pray," (Luke 11:1).

Some tips I've found helpful (feel free to customize for yourself!)

1. Pray from a list - this keeps us from wandering aimlessly, helps us pray specifically, helps us to praise God for answered prayer, and helps us be faithful to others when we say "I"ll be praying for you"
2. Pray specific Scriptures - "And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us," (1 John 5:14). God delights when we pray things that are on his heart, not weak, self-centered prayers. On my prayer list, I put specific related Scriptures to as many items as possible.
3. Divide your prayer list into days of the week - At first I tried to pray for everything on my list each day, but I found myself inconsistent, because it was too much. Divide and conquer! I divide up the specifics on my prayer list into larger categories 5 days of the week: Monday - my own walk with God; Tuesday - family, friends, and neighbors; Wednesday - Ministry Stuff; Thursday - Ministry Stuff; Friday - Church, Nation, the Nations. Each of these days has around 10 items listed.
   
4. Renew your list - I make a new list each semester, because things I pray for often change. Of course, I add things as the semester goes on, but starting fresh every-so-often is helpful.
   

3. Prayers of The Early Church

• This is a resource that I've adapted from a John Piper article called, "What to Pray For". It is a great article to read to motivate your prayer. The central point is that we often drift into weak, self-centered prayers. We need the Word of God to jump-start our prayers, so we pray God-exalting, meaty prayers.
• What better way to do that, than to pray the prayers listed in the New Testament, prayed by Jesus, the apostles, and the early church?!
  
• The resource itself is what he has listed on the second half, formatted for convenience and durability. It is a list of these New Testament, early church prayers.
• Similar to my philosophy on my prayer list (above), I have divided these early church prayers into 7 days, which turns out to be 5 per day. I read each Scripture and concentrate, meditate, and pray on the thing that is mentioned.
  

Topical Memory System ($10)

The Navigators have developed a great system of Scripture memory verses called the Topical Memory System. (Order form in right column).

• These 60 verses cover a variety of topics that help the follower of Christ walk through their day concentrated on God.
  
• It also helps when sharing about Christ to others, especially when you didn't plan on it.
• Scripture memory will boost your prayers throughout the day, help you be encouraged, help you encourage other believers, and provide fuel for the Holy Spirit to work in your heart.
• Do this together with others for mutual accountability and encouragement. Discipleship Groups should do scripture memory.
  

Consider these verses:

• "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success," (Joshua 1:8)
• "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God," Matthew 4:4
• "How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you," (Psalm 119:9-11)