A few weeks ago, I mentioned a plan to pray with the A.C.T.S. theme. To recap, that is to pray with Adoration, Confession, Thankfulness and Supplication. In reading "Desiring God" by John Piper, I came across the story of a man who would read his Bible and pause every so often to pray about what he had just read and then go on. I didn't really understand that at the time, but Pastor Host brought it up in our "Christianity 101" class this last Thursday. The concept was defined as praying the Bible to God. At first, this confused me.

I grew up with the impression that God wouldn't want to hear canned speeches or paraphrasing of His own words. How did this concept fit what I was hearing? Was I to pray, "Our Father, who art in Heaven, In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth?" I was a bit confused, so I asked for clarification. Pastor Host said that it's not just praying the scriptures back to God. It's reading and praying as you go. Let me explain a bit.

Friday, I went to the top of the parking garage across from where I work and opened by Bible to Ezekiel. Why Ezekiel? Why not? I began, and the setting was about thirty years into the time that Israel was captured by Babylon. I wasn't sure how to pray about the living creatures and the wheels, but I ended up praying anyway, thanking God for the wonders of Him that are beyond our understanding. I thanked Him that we cannot understand an infinite God with our finite minds.

In the next chapter, the Spirit raised Ezekiel to his feet. I thanked God, for when we are confronted with the holiness of God, we cannot stand, so He takes the initiative. He has raised many to be adopted sons and daughters and we will stand with Him on the last day. I think you see the pattern here, and I was starting to get the idea. Later on, God caused Ezekiel to be unable to speak until it was God's time and God's words. I prayed that I may also be tongue-tied if I am ever about to speak out in a way that is unpleasing to the Lord.

There were other examples in my reading of times I just stopped to pray. It was a very cool way to spend my lunch alone with God, and I learned that you can pray through much of the Bible with much more ease than I had thought. It was also more personal than I had assumed before. I encourage you to give it a try. To do this, you are better off making time for God than finding time, for if you look for a time to squeeze Him into your schedule, you're missing something special!

Yours in Christ,

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Day 2

If that wasn't bad enough, God allowed others to rise up against him. All of this turmoil obviously caused Solomon's comments that all of his toil was for naught.

Day 3

Day 4

I do have to say here that Solomon sounds like he could use some serious help here. His depressed state is actually bringing me down a bit while reading this! Don't worry about me, though. I'll get over it. While it is true that death visits us all at some point, Solomon seemed to be staying with this theme a bit longer than I believe he should have. Our lives are incredibly short, and perhaps many of us lead pointless lives chasing false hopes. That is why God's hope is a worthy goal. It will sustain us and bring true joy to our lives.

Day 5

Rehoboam, son of Solomon, was asked by the people to lighten the load on them that Solomon had placed there to gain him riches and worldly pleasure. Rehoboam couldn't say that he was not given good advice in this matter. He could say, though that he only listened to the bad advice. This resulted in the splitting of Israel as God had commanded. The wisest man in all history was responsible for the overthrow of his heir and the splitting of his nation. Wisdom is not enough. Keep that in mind the next time elections come around. So Jeroboam decided to keep his subjects away from Jerusalem and away from Rehoboam's influence with idolatry, affecting ten of the twelve tribes of Israel. What a waste!

Day 6

The punishment was as harsh as you would expect in these circumstances. Jeroboam's son died and his family line was to be utterly destroyed. Furthermore, Israel was being cast out of the land they were promised all those generations before. God was patient with Israel through their time in Egypt, the forty years of wandering, the time of the judges, three kings, and now this. He is a God slow to anger, but his anger is a terrible flame that consumes all He decides to cut from the rest.

Day 7

Talk about an era of turmoil! And notice that this is all because the leaders of Israel were wicked men who would rather serve their selfish interests and false gods than the God who led them out of Egypt. Finally, though, Elijah was set to come upon the scene. We'll start to see what the result is next week.

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I hope you enjoyed this e-zine. If you know anyone else who would enjoy this newsletter, please forward this e-mail to them or direct them to http://www.coffeeswirls.com/weeklybible/ Thanks for sharing my goal of reading the Bible in its entirety this year!