Your Personal Grow-Pray-Study (GPS) Guide

Day 1: Read 1 Corinthians 1:4-5. With the pace of life this time of year, the temptation is to live without relying on the resources God makes available to us today. The opportunity before us is you can experience a life that takes you beyond your personal limitations: God has given you the resources you need to do what you, in your own power, cannot do. Where do you find the pace of life pulling you away from Christ? How has God’s grace been enriching you in every way?

Day 2: Read 1 Corinthians 1:7. Do you know your spiritual gifts? When has God called you in the past week to use your spiritual gifts? When has God called you in the past week to serve in an area outside of your gift mix? How did you learn to trust Him to give you the ability you needed at that moment?

Day 3: Read Isaiah 64:8. God is the potter. We are the clay. How has God been shaping you this week? How have you sensed Him equipping you with what is needed in that moment?

Day 4: Read 1 Corinthians 1:8. Jesus has the power to keep you strong and faithful to Him until the end. Most of us are more aware of our ability to fall than we are of God's ability to keep us strong. This lack of faith in God's strength prevents many of us from doing more with our lives. If you're afraid that you don't have the strength to face something that you need to face, hang on to Jesus. Where do you need to let go of fear and hang on to Jesus?

Day 5: Read Mark 13:31. God’s Word stands the test of time. Amid the hectic pace of Christmas preparation, what words from the Bible keep you calm and aware of God’s power at work in your life today?

Day 6: Read 1 Corinthians 1:9. God is infinite, but He is also intimate. Every day you get to have face to face time and collaborate with the Creator of the universe. What will you bring to Him today in prayer?

You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the book: God Came Near by Max Lucado.

You can also listen to this week's message or read the full PDF of the message & GPS.

Day 1: Read Matthew 25:40. As you look at your life right now, do you feel a greater sense of compassion fatigue or compassionate faith? What’s your “least of these” story about how God sent someone to help you in a time of your need?

Day 2: Read Matthew 25:34-36. How can you define “your job” by the good you do? How is God using you to meet the needs of others?

Day 3: Read Matthew 10:42. Boy Scouts teach more than doing a good deed every day, but doing a good turn at every opportunity. What opportunities did you catch, to either do or receive good yesterday? What opportunities did you miss? Why?

Day 4: Read Matthew 25:44-45. Jesus in this story in Matthew 25 not only shows the road of compassionate faith, He also speaks of the indicators of compassion fatigue. Which ones does He identify in these verses? What are the signs of compassion fatigue you see as warning lights in your life? Why is it so important we deal with compassion fatigue and learn to start caring again?

Day 5: Read Matthew 25:37-40. When I think of these words from Matthew 25, I think of the life of Mother Teresa in reaching out to the poor and dying in Calcutta, India who observed, “When I look at the face of a needy person, I see Jesus.” Where have you seen the face of Jesus in the life of another? When have others seen the face of Jesus in you?

Day 6: Read Matthew 25:40. If you're battling compassion fatigue, then I challenge you to give this a try. When you first wake up, instead of thinking about all the trials and tribulations you must endure, ask this instead, "Lord, whom can I bless today?"

You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the books: The Hole in Our Gospel: What Does God Expect of Us? The Answer That Changed My Life and Might Just Our World by Richard Stearns and Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help, And How to Reverse It by Robert D. Lupton.

You can also listen to this week's message or read the full PDF of the message & GPS.

Day 1: Read 1 Chronicles 29:11-12. How does King David lift up God as the ultimate King in these verses? When do you lift up God as the ultimate King in your life? Today in prayer, affirm who God is, what God does, and whom God is over.

Day 2: Read John 17:20-21. An amazing part of Jesus’ prayer in John 17 is His prayer for future believers. Reread these verses and put your name in there. Pray today for others to come to know Jesus. If possible, be specific in naming those people.

Day 3: Read Romans 8:28. When you pray “Thine is the kingdom,” you express hope in God’s reign and rule. You are telling God that you “know that in all things works for the good of those who love Him”. Where do you need to remind yourself today God is taking a bad situation in your life and working good?

Day 4: Read Romans 8:29. God’s goal is to use His power to make us more like Jesus (“conformed to the image of His Son”). Look at the past 24 hours. Where have you seen God’s power at work to make you like Jesus? How did you respond to a situation like Jesus? Where do you need a more Jesus-like approach in your life today?

Day 5: Read John 17:1-2. When you pray “Thine is the glory,” you recognize that God must get credit for all our answers to prayer, all we are, all we have, and all we do.

Day 6: Read 1 Chronicles 29:10. We find it challenging at times to praise God in the moment, David reminds us to praise God forever. Where have you praised God this past week? As we have studied the Lord’s Prayer this fall, what lessons has God been teaching you? What prayer habits do you plan to keep following each day?

You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the book The Great House of God by Max Lucado.

You can also listen to this week's message or read the full PDF of the message & GPS.

Day 1: Read Ephesians 6:13. When have you sensed the day of evil in your life? What role has prayer played? What role in the future will prayer play?

Day 2: Read Ephesians 6:17. With the helmet of salvation, God protects your head. For a Roman soldier wearing a helmet would make him hot and uncomfortable. So, a soldier would put on his helmet only when he faced impending danger. The helmet was designed to provide security, stability, and safety in battle. By Paul calling us to take the helmet of salvation, he is saying danger is imminent and we need to be ready. Where do you need the Holy Spirit to guard your thought life? How are you pouring God’s Word into your mind to “protect your head”?

Day 3: Read Ephesians 6:16. With the shield of faith, God guards my heart. Bruce Larson says that the devil's strategy is not to convince us that God doesn't exist. No, it's more insidious than that. Instead, "The basic lie," says Larson, "is that we cannot trust God, for He wants to take all the fun out of life." Where has Satan been hammering away at your heart? Is that an area of strength or weakness for you? In prayer, turn those areas over to the Holy Spirit to empower you to hold on with faith in what God can do, is doing and will do in your life!

Day 4: Read Ephesians 6:17. With the sword of the Spirit, God equips my hands. With the sword of the Spirit, God equips me to apply God’s Word to all of life. Through the Word we engage in the work of God. By the power of the Holy Spirit working through God’s Word, we live out God’s Word and are equipped to make a difference. God uses our lives to pierce the darkness.

Day 5: Read Ephesians 6:18. As we have studied the Lord’s Prayer, how has God been teaching you to keep on praying for yourself and all the saints?

Day 6: Read Matthew 6:13. When you take spiritual battles on with God’s power, He has already claimed the victory and the path for you to follow. Pray for God to not only protect your head, heart, and hands, pray to be used by God today to pierce the darkness with the light of His love and grace.

You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the book Praying the Lord’s Prayer for Spiritual Breakthrough by Elmer L. Towns.

You can also listen to this week's message or read the full PDF of the message & GPS.