Your Personal Grow-Pray-Study (GPS) Guide

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.

Day 1: Read Proverbs 4:23. Why do you think Solomon puts such a high priority on guarding your heart? Where is your heart susceptible to temptations attacks? What helps you to guard your heart and to treat it as the wellspring of your life?

Day 2: Read James 1:13. God’s purpose is not to tempt us, but to give us power over temptation. Satan’s plan is not to hit us with temptation where we are strong, but where are we weak. Knowing this is Satan’s modus operandi, where do you need to spend time in prayer seeking God’s power in guarding your heart and home?

Day 3: Read Matthew 4:1, 6. Jesus tells us His story of temptation in Matthew 4. If Jesus faced temptation, we will as well. In verse 6, we begin to understand Satan’s temptation pattern. Turns out he knows the word of God, and twists it to his evil purpose. Temptation does not only involve the bad things of life, but how Satan twists what is good. Where have you seen good twisted to one of Satan’s temptation tools?

Day 4: Read James 1:14-15. Resisting temptation doesn’t make you weaker, but stronger. Temptation doesn’t last forever, but neither does it leave forever. Think back on your life. What’s an area of temptation God has empowered you to overcome? It used to tempt you, but now does so no longer. What happened? How did that change occur?

Day 5: Read Matthew 4:3-4. Jesus’ prime method of attacking temptation was to use the Word of God. Think of what tempts you and what God’s Word says about that area of temptation (you may need a concordance or go to BibleGateway.com and search for that word or topic). What Bible verse do you need to plant in your mind to guard your heart this week?

Day 6: Read 1 Corinthians 10:13. The sin is not being tempted. The sin and pain is giving into temptation. Where have you taken the way out that God provided in a tempting moment? Where have you not taken the way out that God provided? What happened? What do you pray God leads you to do next time?

 You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the book The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis, and watching this video Twisting the Truth by Andy Stanley on RIGHT NOW MEDIA.

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

Day 1: Read Matthew 6:12. Do you find it easier to ask for forgiveness or to give forgiveness? Why? Why are both needed?

Day 2: Read Matthew 18:15-17. When wronged, notice Jesus’ progression to make a relationship right. Why do you think Jesus has that progression of involvement from one to many to resolve a disagreement or wrong? How has that worked for you in giving and receiving forgiveness? Where might you need to ask or give forgiveness? One more observation about these verses – when wronged, the temptation is to see this as how you break off a relationship, and yet to treat someone like a sinner or tax collector is to see them as someone Jesus wants to be in relationship with personally. Think of a relationship that has hit a wall and there is some distance. Take some time to pray for that person today for God to be part of his or her life, for God to bless, and for forgiveness in your heart for them.

Day 3: Read Matthew 18:21-22. In Peter’s day, “3” was a considered a generous number of times to forgive someone’s sins. Peter ups the offer to “7”, a biblical number of completion, but totally inaccurate to God’s desire that we “build bridges”, not score keeping walls. Do you ever feel like God is still keeping score of your sins? Where are you tempted to keep score in relationships? Spend time in prayer today, thanking God that He does not keep score, and asking God to help you not to keep score of your own sins He has forgiven or anyone else’s.

Day 4: Read Matthew 18:27. Where do we draw the line between forgiving others and becoming a doormat? Is there even a line to draw? Where does that line exist between you and God?

Day 5: Read Matthew 18:31-34. Does holding someone accountable for future actions place a limit on the extent of our forgiveness? Do you find yourself more often in the position of needing forgiveness or needing to forgive?

Day 6: Read Matthew 6:12. You will never be more like Jesus than when you forgive. Jesus came to build a bridge across the sin that separates you from God, and He is calling you to build a bridge across the conflict that separates you from others. Where do you need to ask for forgiveness? Who do you need to ask God to forgive and to give forgiveness today?

You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the book Forgive & Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don’t Deserve by Lewis Smedes.

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

Day 1: Read James 1:17. God is the source of “every good and perfect gift”. What are three gifts He has given you in the last 24 hours?

Day 2: Read Mark 6:41. Is there a "loaves-and-fishes" area of your life where your current supply is less than your current demand? Have you expressed gratitude for the seemingly-to-small amount that God has provided?

Day 3: Read Matthew 6:34. What are some “tomorrow worries” you need to release to God? What are some “today troubles” you need to turn over to God in prayer?

Day 4: Read Mark 6:42-43. Where do you need to be satisfied with what God has provided? When will you slow down today and savor a gift God has given you in your food or other gift during the day?

Day 5: Read Proverbs 30:7-9. Where has being rich gotten in the way of your relationship with God? Where has being in need gotten in the way of your relationship with God? Take time to pray: Lord, keep my focus on my needs that You provide instead of my “greeds” I desire.

Day 6: Read John 6:35. Each weekend we feast on God’s Word on Sunday. What are you eating the rest of the week?

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.

In his message this week, Pastor Burkey introduced us to the concept of “are you living your life as a blueprint or as a game plan?”  One advantage of using a “game plan” is that it allows you to adjust as life changes from your will to God’s will.

Day 1: Read Matthew 6:33. START: What one step does God want you to begin this week?

Day 2: Read Mark 1:15. STOP: What’s one action is God telling you to stop right now?

Day 3: Read Ruth 1:16-17. STAY: Where does God want you to persevere?

Day 4: Read Matthew 26:39. SERVE: Who is God calling you to serve?

Day 5: Read Hebrews 10:24-25. CONNECT: Who is God inviting you to connect with face to face?

Day 6: Read Matthew 6:10b. What “clues” has God been laying out for you this week about His will for your life? Which of the five questions presents you with the biggest challenge? What is your biggest obstacle to doing this every day? Who benefited from your life -- from your actions -- today?

You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the books:

• Divine Direction: 7 Decisions that Will Change Your Life by Craig Groeschel
• Living Forward: A Proven Plan to Stop Drifting and Get the Life You Want by Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy [Free ebook if you have Amazon Prime!]

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

Day 1: Read Revelation 7:9-10. When Jesus says the kingdom of God is near, He’s not saying it’s getting kind of close. He’s saying it’s now available.  What part of John’s vision of heaven in these verses resonates with you? When you think of life in heaven, is your focus more on life with God or something else?

Day 2: Read Revelation 7:16-17. In John’s vision of heaven in these verses, what do you long for the most? How do you see what John describes for heaven coming down here for life on this earth?

Day 3: Read Matthew 13:31-32. What small change do I sense God making in my life to make up there come down here? There’s a big difference between planting a mustard seed and a grain of sand. You plant a grain of sand it’s not going to grow. Plant a mustard seed, you get some action. The seed has life in it. And who puts that life in? Its creator, God. That’s why the question you ask is not what small change do I make, but what small change do I sense God making in my life?

Day 4: Read Matthew 13:33. How has God been feeding His change into your life? How does His mercy, love and grace permeate your day? How is up there in heaven influencing your life down here on earth? What changes are you noticing? What changes do you need to pray that He makes?

Day 5: Read Micah 6:6-7. Firstborn children pay close attention to these verses, yet the only firstborn sacrifice that could pay for our sins is Jesus. Everyone can go to heaven, but Jesus is the only way to heaven. Pray today for someone you know to come to faith in Jesus.

Day 6: Read Micah 6:8. To act justly: Have I committed to match my life with God’s standards? To love mercy: How am I doing loving others with God’s heart? To walk humbly with God: Where do I need to learn to follow God’s direction?

You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the book God is Closer Than You Think by John Ortberg.

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

Day 1: Read Psalm 19:14. Pray this verse to start your day. At the end of the day, reflect on how you “spoke” God’s name in your life. How was He the God who Provides (Jehovah-Jireh), or your God of Peace (Jehovah-Shalom), or your God who Heals (Jehovah-Raphe)?

Day 2: Read Ephesians 4:29. We hallow God’s Name not just when we talk to God. We hallow God’s Name when we talk about God to others and when we let our relationship with God influence our conversation with others. Where do you find it easy to hallow God’s name in your conversation with others? Where is it challenging for you? Take time in prayer today to ask God to say: “only what is helpful for building others up”?

Day 3: Read Psalm 9:10. We hallow God’s name when we trust Him to be our Provider, our source of Peace, and Healing. What holds you back from trusting God in challenging times? What draws you closer to trusting God when the storms of life come?

Day 4: Read Psalm 20:7. King David, the most successful King in Israel’s history in the Old Testament, recognizes his military might is not the focus of his trust, but the name of the Lord. David is not degrading military might, he’s affirming the greater power is God. What in your life seeks to move God from being the source of your trust? Where might you need to recalibrate your priorities of trust to stay aligned with God in the challenges you are facing now?

Day 5: Read Matthew 5:16. We do good deeds not to glorify ourselves, but to glorify God. When has someone acted in your life and led you to thank God for them? (If you have never thanked God for someone in your life, today’s a great day to start!) Who might be thanking God for providing someone like you in their life?

Day 6: Read Psalm 115:1. We hallow God’s Name when we honor Him with our actions. For God desires our good deeds to lead others to praise Him. As you look at the days ahead, how is God prompting you to serve in a way that will lead others to praise God?

You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the book Praying the Names of God by Ann Spangler.

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

Day 1: Read Matthew 6:9. What does the name “Father” mean to you? For your understanding of God? For the way you approach Him?

Day 2: Read James 4:8. What habits and practices help you to come near to God? What hinders your drawing near to God? How can you become more intentional to open space in your life to come near to God today?

Day 3: Read Psalm 103:13-14. How has God been like a good father to you in the past week? How does your relationship with your earthly father influence your relationship with your Heavenly Father?

Day 4: Read 1 Peter 5:7. Cast means to let go, you just drop it. What anxiety, fears, worries are you holding on to? Why? As you pray today, take time to let go specifically of any anxiety, worries or fears.

Day 5: Read Luke 11:11-13. When I start my prayers with God as my Father, He brings His heavenly power for everyday earthly living. I welcome Him to act in the everyday events of my life and of those I pray for. Where can you invite God to act in your life today? I need God, my good Heavenly Father, to…

Day 6: Read Matthew 6:9. Jesus is the One who makes God “our Father” and not just “His Father”. In what ways do you try to work for your “sonship” rather than just accepting your adoption into God’s family? What are some advantages of being God’s child rather than just His creation?

You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the book "The Praying Life" by Paul Miller.

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