Hooked On God REVISED “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who ask you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” -1 Peter 3:15 Everyone has trouble with something. You may have trouble with remembering birthdays, keeping up with prayer time, or doing your homework. Hooked on God is designed to help new Christians and recovering Christians practice a daily reading of the bible and with spending time with God in prayer. The program can be used over any chosen period and allows you to overview your schedule and take a vow of daily reading and prayer. Hooked On God revised is a program based on first Peter 3:15 in which God’s people are commanded to always have an answer to give to those who ask about their faith. We as God’s people are called to have an answer about everything written in God’s book to give to those who seek it. Reading the Bible and spending time one on one with God can be difficult, especially for those who haven’t had a chance to get to know him yet, but Hooked On God is designed to keep new Christians from tripping in their walk to God by keeping them responsible for that relationship. “INITIATION” PRAYER: “ Heavenly Father, I ask you to place yourself at the center of my life. I have struggled or forgotten you in my day to day tasks and now have felt you convicting me of my sins. Please use this plan to speak to me and to steer me on the road to salvation. I don’t want you as a part of my life God; I want you as my life! Give me your undying Love and Strength to help me do that and to grow closer to you. I want to fuse my heart with yours God, give me the ability and discipline to do so. -Amen” GETTING STARTED: Now you must decide how long you will use Hooked On God to help you read and get to know God. I __________________ (your name) will do my best to follow these guidelines to assist in studying my bible and begin/continue my relationship with God for ____________ amount of time. The only difference in the amount of time you are given is the amount of “misses” you are allotted. WHAT’S A MISS? Based on how long you use the program you are given a certain amount of times you can miss (notice I do not say skip!) your reading/prayer time due to technicalities such as work, forgetting your bible, family emergency, etc. TAKING THE VOW: This plan is just a few sheets of paper stapled together until you make the following commitment below. Do not make this vow between yourself and God if you doubt you can keep it. God takes his vows with his people seriously; he always has. He asked the same of his people; that they take their vows with him just as seriously. If you are ready to make the commitment and will take your vow seriously please pray the following: “Jesus Christ, convict me when I do wrong. I am a sinner and cannot help but fail you, but you never fail me God. As long as I Love I will chase after your Glory, Lord. As I chase your Glory I want to invite others to do the same and through my ministers plant this seed of desire. However, to plant seeds I must first become an adult flower myself. I pray you use this plan to water me, and I give you my word and my being, as worthless as they may be, that I will try my hardest to accomplish this plan to better my walk with you God. I want to know you more, and to know your people God. reveal yourself in every second of my life! -Amen” Now, one last thing before beginning. This plan is only to get you started on reading God’s word and talking to him yourself; It will not make the connection between your heart and God. When you asked Christ into your heart, it killed you…literally. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:16-18; you are a new person, literally! As you come to know our Father everyday, you must being and continue to listen to his spirit and what it commands of you. READING Being a Christian without reading the bible is possible, but so is being a football player and never playing a game. In both cases you never get to learn more about what you do and why you are doing it. You can get to know God and what his commands are in your life by reading his handbook of Love, the bible. Based on the time period that you are using “Hooked On God, revised” you should have chosen a realistic daily goal of reading and sticking to it. Being realistic doesn’t mean saying you’ll read an entire book of the bible a day (unless you have A LOT of spare time on your hands), but choosing an amount that allows commitment, but still give time for other thing like work, school, and sleeping. *A good way to map your progress and view you strengths and weaknesses is to keep your reading mapped on a calendar or in a logbook.* Misses: This chart is given to report, give reason, and make-up the days you fail your commitment if you do at all. (NOTE: It is not a requirement to fill this miss list. In fact I encourage you to have as few as possible, but be honest!) MISSES! You are only allowed 10 misses per month. If you have made a commitment less than a month then a half a month will be 5 misses, a forth a month 2 (notice you round down) and so on. ? The days you miss you must record and when you make them up (which is required) the right column is provided to record the make-up date. HOPEFULLY YOU’LL NEVER FILL THIS CHART, BUT IT IS HERE WHEN AND IF YOU NEED IT! WHY READ THE BIBLE??? “They fill their hearts with God’s law, so they will never slip from his path.” -Psalms 37:31 1. Stuff in the bible too hard to understand. How can it possibly have relevance to me? Answer: Since the bible was written a LONG time ago, it can sometimes be hard to read, but the people went through strikingly similar persecutions, hardships, and problems as we go through now. For example, stealing. Back then you were punished for stealing by God, and the townspeople you stole from; just like now we are punished for stealing by God, and the government (the authorities). God’s word is perfect and his handbook to life is timeless; if you understand this you can relate to him and his word better. 2. The language the bible uses doesn’t even seem like English! Reply: The bible has been translated into hundreds of different versions, and languages. Use the internet or ask fellow Christians where to get a bible that best suits your preference. Generally, people can understand the (N)ew (I)nternational (V)ersion easier; as they say though, “to each his own.” 3. Just reading the bible is too easy. Reply: If you enjoy books or this question holds true for you then try a Christian novel, or a topic from the bible to research in addition to your bible studies. God’s word is perfect and the best instruction you can get, but there are still thousands of helpful Christian books and videos and songs and people to help your growth. Plus, remember that reading the bible isn’t enough. To really understand God’s love letter we must STUDY the bible. Go line by line, stanza by stanza, and page by page doing research as you read and compare different translations so that you may truly receive God’s message the way he intended. 4. I have a computer and want a copy of a bible for it, but I can’t afford to by one off the internet. Reply: All you need is a good resource to download a free version of the bible you like. Try www.bibles.net . 5. I am a slow reader and find it difficult to concentrate. How can I still complete this commitment? Answer: A lot of people don’t have practice reading or just can’t concentrate on what they are reading. One solution is to buy the bible on a compact disc or on tape. This can get rather pricey, but is quite a useful tool for receiving God’s message in the car on a road trip, or for those who can’t read well. When possible, if you use a compact disc or something similar to listen to the bible, make sure you follow along in the text of the bible. This will help your reading skills and it allows you to view and absorb God’s word. PRAYER Unlike reading, you cannot be a Christian without prayer. During Jesus’ lifetime he prayed probably more than some Christians do in their entire lifetime. He was always at a constant state of prayer, and was connected to his Father. We too are to be like Jesus; we are to speak with and get to know our God who loves use incomprehensibly. Prayer is intimate, passionate, and uplifting and a necessity for anyone seeking righteousness! What is prayer?? REFERENCES: 2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalms 38:18, 1 Samuel 14:36, Matthew 6:9-10. Prayer by definition (Webster) is to ask earnestly, or to address a God wit adoration, confession, pleading , or thanksgiving. When we pray for something we ask God earnestly. People who claim to be Christians and only ask for stuff in prayer (“worldly” stuff) and expect no answer (usually) don‘t believe in God, but true Christians ask earnestly in prayer for things that God would have them do or obtain and expect an answer though it is not always yes. Our God is a Living God and he answers those who seek him! Also, we are to approach our Lord with adore-ation. When we talk to God we should speak with respect for him and his gloriousness and fear for the power he holds and other aspects to show our Lord that we adore him and his glorious name! Though God knows everything we must still confess our sins to our Lord to show two things: one that we know we sinned and two that we feel guilty about it. This allows our Father to give appropriate consequences to discipline us, his children, and gives God a chance to forgive us of these sins. We confess to repent and to maintain complete honesty in our relationship with our Heavenly Father. Pleading is the “meat” of our conversation with God. We ask what we want, what we need, and sometimes what we don’t need. God responds to us if we listen and if we align our hearts with his our desires become the same! If each person never took anything for granted then to give thanksgiving it would take weeks of prayer because we are all truly blessed! We have everything to be thankful for; even the bad things because they teach us the dangers that lurk outside of our comforter in Heaven! Prayer is talking with God, a conversation and as with reading should not be neglected nor taken as a joke. Talk to God for the time you committed to; you don’t have anyone to answer to if you don’t except your heart and God! Also, with much prayer there must be much listening. You are not the only one who has something to say. CHRIST’S LOVE God wants man to love him as he loves him; a love with no end or limit! Since he is omnipotent, or all powerful, he could make use like robots who only know how to love him. However, starting with Adam and Eve he gave human beings a choice; to love him or leave him. Since we have this choice we can choose whether or not we love God. If we do choose him then the love we can offer and the value of it is extremely pleasing to our Heavenly Father. God wants us to love and follow him more than anything else, but as much as he desires this he still gives us the final say. What other religion allows that?! Our gracious Rod has given us abounding wealth and joy, why can’t we just give him the one thing he wants, our love? From a warm sunlit Sunday morning to winning the hearts of thousands, everything good comes from our Father. ARE YOU DONE WITH YOUR COMMITMENT? If you’ve finished your commitment and stuck to it, CONGRADULATIONS! I can only hope from now on you fill your mind with God’s word more and more and your heart is filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit! Remember that this is only a start/continuance on you walk to Heaven, you still must make the connection from having God in your heart and having God in your heart! Love is the key to accomplishing this and since God is Love you cannot achieve your Christian walk without him. Base everything you don on him, give him your all, love him with a love incomparable and he will make your spirit last forever with him eternally in Heaven. Hallelujah! -Amen We are the body of Christ. We us our talents to serve both the Lord and those who need him. We lift each other up on the wings of angels and pray fervently for everyone lives and that they never stray from our Father. -The Church May the Lord have spoken to you throughout this plan and as your Christian life continues! God Bless! -Devin Quesenberry