Engaging in a daily activity is a great way to mature in your faith, but I believe Men of God can do more. I believe our faith requires us to do more. We need to take things up another notch…
Are you with me?
Be sure to challenge your daily walk in Christ first by reading, “5 Daily Options to Help you Mature in your Faith“.
Family, work and entertainment are consuming the lives of many men yet we need to make our faith a priority. We need to be able to do it without being overwhelmed or over stressed. We need to find ways to grow on a consistent basis. We need it to be manageable and reasonable. We need to ask Jesus into every part of our lives and have Him show us what we could be doing. Are you able to do that?
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The daily options mentioned in the first article were meant to be short on purpose. They were meant to be thought-provoking yet easy to remember. But what could we be doing not as often that could help us grow? What could we be doing on a bigger scale and on a weekly basis? Well, that’s exactly the discussion I’ve been praying about with Jesus lately.
“Jesus, what are some ways I could be serving you on a weekly basis?”. (amen)
This is by no means a complete list, but they are some reasonable thoughts and ideas to get you started. These should spark your mind to think a little bit bigger than your daily options.
Here are my five ideas. I’d be interested to hear your ideas in the comments at the end.
1) Long Prayer
The first point mentioned in the daily was a short prayer. A quick little talk with Jesus to start off your day maybe or even finish it. But, I really feel that prayer needs to be taken up a notch each week. This is something recently mentioned to me during prayer and I’m finding it to be very effective.
HOW: Review your weekly schedule and see where you could fit in a longer prayer time. Maybe you need to move things around some or maybe even wake up 15 minutes earlier. Try to pick a time and a place that will allow for some real and quiet connection with God. Once established, again, set it up on your phone calendar for an easy way to be reminded.
2) Church
It took me awhile to really appreciate the value of Church in my life, but I find it to be one of the most valuable times of my week. I don’t treat this time like a chore anymore, I treat it as a way to grow in my faith and in my relationships with other people. My son can start to learn about Jesus and the many teachings and my wife and I can engage with other like-minded couples and also learn new things about our faith.
HOW: Men, take the initiative in leading your family to Church. If you don’t have a family, get your self motivated and get there. It doesn’t have to be on Sunday morning, it could be a Wednesday night class or a small group. Check your Church’s schedule and get try to get involved in something every week!
3) Activity with a Friend
Believe it or not, one of the best ways I find to grow in my faith is by spending some time with a friend each week. My good friend, who has happened to write some awesome articles for Manturity, and I try to get together at least once a week to play a sport or just hang out and talk. We normally take the time to engage in some healthy activity and, in between, engage in some conversation about our daily lives and walk with Christ.
HOW: Man Up and ask a buddy of yours to play tennis, hit some golf balls or just meet up at a local coffee shop. Use the time to just hang out, but also get real with each other. Share what’s on your hearts and be honest. Try to review schedules together and pick a time and activity that you can do each week. Be intentional and make it happen!
4) Podcast or Article
I personally have a long commute each day, so listening to a leadership podcast by Andy Stanley or a marriage podcast by ONE Extraordinary Marriage is no problem. Over time, I have found podcasts or even articles written by other blogs or sites to be a great way to learn more about Jesus and mature in my faith. God has blessed people with different abilities and insights and reading or listening to one of these speakers each week can be very effective.
HOW: Keep it simple and click the podcast links in the above paragraph. Subscribe and set up a time to listen each week. Or subscribe to a site that offers weekly articles that you can really dig into. Take a few weeks to find a site or podcast your really enjoy and start making it a habit to engage in every week.
5) 1 Chapter of a Large Book
I can admit, that I have a hard time reading a good book. Books like “Wild at Heart” or “Love and Respect” are essential to a man’s heart and a man’s marriage, but where do you find the time? One of the easiest ways to get through a large book is to break the chapters into weeks. Books like the ones mentioned above and other ones listed on the Manturity Resource page will help you grow in your faith on an even deeper level.
HOW: Take some time over the next week and ask yourself what you really want to learn more about. The Bible? Jesus? Manhood? Leadership? Once you answer that question, research book options in one of those categories. A great and easy way to get through a book is to buy it on CD’s or through the Audible store. Or stick to the main method of purchasing the real book and digging into a chapter once a week. Get started now!
Now, just like I shared in the daily challenge, the best way to approach these weekly challenges is to only pick one or two and try them for a while. I personally try to get through most of these, but don’t get down on myself if I can only finish one for the week.
Pray about the options and make changes to your week, THIS WEEK!
What weekly option do you find the most beneficial or interesting?
Which one will you start applying to your week?
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