21 DAYS of HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE Select a specific time and place. The best time to get alone with God is any time you can do it consistently without interruption. Find the time that works best for you! Mark 1:35 -- Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He got up, went out, and made His way to a deserted place; and there He was praying. Prepare your heart - Let the Holy Spirit draw you into God’s presence. Open your heart to Him; enjoy the closeness of His presence and fellowship. Psalm 51:10 -- God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Meditate on the Scriptures - Hide the Word in your heart! What is the Holy Spirit showing you about God, His plan, and His work in you? Psalm 19:14 -- May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Repent and confess - Let the Holy Spirit bring you into a right relationship with the Father. This is a time of examination and confession through repentance. Acts 3:19 -- Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out. Conclude with thanksgiving - God hears the prayers of His people and responds. Always give thanks for what He has done in your life. The Apostle Paul tells the believers in Philippi, “In every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Psalm 9:1 -- I will thank the Lord with all my heart; I will declare all your wondrous works. Taken from Long Hollow Baptist Church DAY 1 - Worship The question we need to ask ourselves is not,“ Am I going to worship?”, but “What am I worshipping?” We are worshipful beings with the innate desire to worship something and someone. However, God created us to worship Him and Him alone. Pray today that God would give you an undivided heart to only worship the Lord. 1 Samuel 7:3-4 -- Samuel told them, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, get rid of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths that are among you, set your hearts on the Lord, and worship only him. Then he will rescue you from the Philistines.” So the Israelites removed the Baals and the Ashtoreths and only worshiped the Lord.

DAY 2 - Unconfessed Sin According to Scripture, everyone sins. But God offers grace & mercy for our sin. In Psalms 51 David is confessing his sin of adultery - in all its ugliness - and throwing himself on the mercy and grace of God. That is what confessing sin looks like; it’s honesty to God about your sin and receiving His mercy for your sin. Psalms 51:1-10 -- Be gracious to me, God, according to your faithful love; according to your abundant compassion, blot out my rebellion. Completely wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. For I am conscious of my rebellion, and my sin is always before me. Against you — you alone — I have sinned and done this evil in your sight. So you are right when you pass sentence; you are blameless when you judge. Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me. Surely you desire integrity in the inner self, and you teach me wisdom deep within. Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Turn your face away from my sins and blot out all my guilt. God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. DAY 3 - Love God Jesus says the greatest thing we can do is love God with an undivided heart. Jesus uses the metric “with all” to show how we should properly love God. Pray that you would love God with an undivided heart and with all that you are and do. Matthew 22:34-40 -- When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. And one of them, an expert in the law, asked a question to test him: “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

DAY 4 - Love People Jesus ties together our love for God with our love for people. Jesus is making the point that when we love God supremely we are able to love others selflessly. It’s only when we experience God’s love for us that we can rightly love the people around us. Pray that God would give you a love for others that comes from loving Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Luke 10:25-37 -- Then an expert in the law stood up to test him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the law?” he asked him. “How do you read it?” He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,” and “your neighbor as yourself.” “You’ve answered correctly,” he told him. “Do this and you will live.” But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus took up the question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion. He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’ “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” “The one who showed mercy to him,” he said. Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.” DAY 5 - Forgiveness One of the most defining marks of a disciple of Jesus is a forgiving heart. Forgiveness is never free; it always costs someone something. Our forgiveness cost Jesus His life because He was willing to absorb all of our offenses. Remember, before we are able to extend forgiveness to others we must first receive the forgiveness of God. Pray that God would remind you of how much He has forgiven you so you will have a forgiving heart toward others. Ephesians 4:32 -- And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.

DAY 6 - Pride C.S. Lewis called pride the granddaddy of sin. At the root of all our sins is a prideful heart. Pray that God would reveal areas of pride in your life and give you a humble heart. Philippians 2:3-4 -- Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.

DAY 7 - Humility Humility is the opposite of pride. We should strive to have a humble heart because Jesus humbled Himself for us. Pray that you would adopt the same attitude of Jesus and seek ways you could put others before yourself. Philippians 2:5-11 -- Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death — even to death on a cross. For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow — in heaven and on earth and under the earth — and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. DAY 8 - Sacrifice As a disciple of Jesus, He may ask us to make sacrifices so His message of salvation will reach the lost and our mission to make disciples will be fulfilled. Paul says we are to be a“ living sacrifice.” As we have mentioned before, the main problem with a living sacrifice is that it tends to want to leave the altar of sacrifice. The more you fully relinquish yourself to God, the more you will discover that He has your best interest at heart. In what areas do you struggle the most to sacrifice to God? Pray that God would give you a greater trust in Him in these areas. Romans 12:1-2 -- Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

DAY 9 - Faith Refusing to believe that God will do what He has promised is to accuse Him of lying. What promise do you think He will not keep? What prayer do you think He will not answer? Pray that you will begin to have a heart that responds to God in faith. Hebrews 11:6 -- Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

DAY 10 - Passion for the Gospel The gospel is the good news of what Jesus did for us in our place. Jesus did what we should have done but couldn’t do; and that was to live a righteous life before God. Spend some time in prayer thanking God for sending His Son to be sacrificed for you. Ask Him to give you a greater passion for this message. Romans 5:6-8 -- For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person — though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

DAY 11 - Gospel Above All Ed Litton once said,“ The gospel is the heart of our unity and the love of Jesus is the heart of our gospel.” The gospel message is of first importance in our individual lives and also in our corporate gatherings. The gospel is what brings people from death to life and that is why it must be central in everything we do as a believer and a church. Pray that as individuals and a church we will keep the gospel message above everything we do. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 -- For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

DAY 12 - Unity The biblical foundation for unity is who we are in Christ. The Bible explains the church as many parts of the same body. The ultimate unifier is not our cultural identity but our gospel identity- who we are in Christ. Pray that we, as a church, would experience a unity that comes from embracing who we are in Christ. Pray that God would unify like never before! Remember, we can do more for the Kingdom together going in the same direction. Romans 12:4-5 -- Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another.

DAY 13 - Using Your Gifts Through His grace, God has gifted each one of us and He expects that we will use our gifts to build up the church. Everyone is gifted in different areas and plays different roles in the church, but everyone’s gift and role they play matters to the church. Pray that God would reveal to you how He has gifted you and how you can begin to use your gift to build up the church. Romans 12:6-8 -- According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith; if service, use it in service; if teaching, in teaching; if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness. DAY 14 - Community The church is at its best when it is functioning as a community- a community where you are more like family and not strangers. Pray that God would begin to open your eyes to the ways you can encourage and help a brother or sister in Christ. Pray for relationships to be created and that no one is overlooked in our family called Wade Baptist. Romans 12:9-10 -- Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good. Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another. Psalms 133:1 -- How delightfully good when brothers live together in harmony!

DAY 15 - Prayer As a believer, to neglect prayer is to neglect to breathe. To fail to ask God’s favor and grace upon the day is to rely on our own wisdom and strength apart from Him. Martin Luther said,“ I have so much to do today that I’m going to need to spend three hours in prayer in order to be able to get it all done.” We don’t have time not to pray. It’s not that we don’t have enough time, it’s that we waste the time we do have. Proverbs 3:5-6 -- Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.

DAY 16 - Bible Reading We should delight in reading God’s Word! We should have a hunger to get into the Word until the Word gets into us. Pray and ask God to reveal areas of your life that distract you from reading His Word. Make a commitment to memorize Scripture. Psalms 119:11 -- I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you. DAY 17 - Marriage and Family If there was ever a time for spiritually healthy families, it is now. The family is God’s way of passing down biblical truths and wisdom. We have a generational faith that must be passed down to our children and our children’s children. What efforts are you making and what habits are you establishing for your family’s spiritual health? As parents, our marriage and how we raise our children should imitate Christ. Pray that God would give you the wisdom both in your marriage and your parenting on how to better imitate Christ. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 -- These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

DAY 18 - Wisdom for Leadership The greatest way to lead others is to follow Jesus’ example of service and sacrifice. Pray that God will continue to give the leaders of our country and our churches the wisdom to lead others selflessly. Pray for the Pastors and church staff that God would impart His wisdom so as a church we can do whatever is in His heart and mind. James 1:5 -- Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God — who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly — and it will be given to him.

DAY 19 - Concern for the Lost As someone who has experienced the love of God, we should desire nothing more than for those around us to experience that same love. Standing idly by as friends, neighbors, co-workers, and even family members are living apart from the Lord and not caring enough to ever pray for them is the opposite of loving them. What is holding you back from sharing the gospel with and speaking truth to those in your life who need to hear it? Romans 9:3 -- For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the benefit of my brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood. DAY 20 - Disciples Making Disciples God has commissioned us as a church to make disciples. According to Scripture, there is no such thing as a non-reproducing disciple. Disciple making is simply imparting the truths of Scripture and imitating the life of Jesus to someone else. Pray that God would reveal to you at least one person you can disciple. Matthew 28:19-- Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

DAY 21 - Being on Mission Where you live, work, and play is your mission field. That is where you have been strategically positioned by God to shine His light in the darkness of others. Pray that God will give you an awareness when you are around others to be on mission for Him. Matthew 5:16-- In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

Wade Baptist Church | 20623 Hwy 63 | Moss Point, MS 39562 www.wadebaptist.com | 228.588.3356