Is your faith-life stale? Do you not make time for God like you know you “should.” Are you bored most time with what you are studying? Do you have a hard time knowing what to pray?
You are not alone.
What’s the problem? You are not approaching God, His Word, and prayer in your unique design. Jesus said in Mark 12:30 that we:
“. . . must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.”
Mark 12:30 NLT
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These four unique approaches to your time with God help you learn how to grow in faith. Which type of person are you, and how does each differ in their approach to Bible study and prayer?
- Heart
- Soul
- Mind
- Strength
Building the faith muscle
Let me start by asking you this. . . Have you thought of your faith life as a muscle? Well, it is.
Think about it this way, if you were going to get stronger physically, What would you do? You would exercise, right? Do some cardio, lift weights, or do resistance training. All these things build muscle.
Did you know that to build that muscle, you have to strain it and tear it a little, so it rebuilds itself better, stronger? And it has to be done repeatedly to keep getting stronger.
It is the same with your faith life. You must commit to “working out” consistently to build your faith and strengthen in God.
The problem is that you were probably taught one method to exercise your spiritual muscle. For example, you learned to pray a certain way and to study and participate in a particular Bible Study.
What has happened? Some of us, well, most of us, are experiencing spiritual dehydration and aren’t capable of exercising because our exercises so far have left us exhausted but not stronger.
That’s why it is so important to approach God in your design! When you know your type: heart, soul, mind, or strength; then you can start to connect to God in a way that feels more authentic, so you grow.
How to connect to God in a way that feels more authentic
What type of person are you? See if you can pinpoint yourself in these descriptions.
A heart person lives their life through avenues of personal meaning. How they FEEL about a situation is their strategy for making decisions. They learn through the motivations and inspirations of others.
A soul person relies on intuition and creativity. They live with optimism and hope. How they IMAGINE a situation with all its hidden meanings and nuances helps them make decisions. They learn through interacting and connecting ideas.
A mind person applies logical and intellectual processes to their life. How they STUDY a situation through observation helps them to make decisions. They learn by exploring the tricky questions of life and applying truth principles.
And a strength person trusts their experiences and actions to lead life. They live in the here and now. How they EXPERIENCE the situation and break it down into step-by-step actions is the strategy they use to make decisions. They learn by observing concrete examples of what works for others and applying them to day-to-day activities.
Start training little by little
Knowing your ‘type’ is just the starting point. You wouldn’t run 10 kilometers on your first day of training for a 10K race. Instead, you would work up to it. You are starting with what you can do and moving little by little toward the ultimate goal.
God’s ultimate goal is to make you more like His Son, Jesus. He wants you to love Him deep with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, but He knows you, and He knows the best way for you to start is with what is familiar and comfortable and go from there.
Have you identified if you are a heart, soul, mind, or strength person? Let me know in the comments.
Workout your faith with action
Now that you have a rough idea about your type, it’s time to apply that knowledge to how to grow in faith with what your Bible study and prayer might look like in those different types.
A Heart Person
Prayer activities for a Heart person might include using guided questions to journal their thoughts, rewriting scripture passages using personal pronouns to make them more directed toward themselves, or using pre-written prayers to express their feelings toward God.
Bible study activities for a Heart person might include reading a piece of scripture and reflecting on what it means for them, choosing a topic and discovering all the places the Bible talks about it, or studying a story and journaling about the relationships involved.
A Soul Person
Prayer activities for a Soul person might include visualizations, focus questions to help them reflect on the day, or praying via a journal with colors, drawings, and doodles.
Bible study activities for a Soul person might include highlighting repeating words and thoughts, rewriting a piece of scripture into your own words, or answering the 5Ws and How for a chapter in the Bible.
A Mind Person
Prayer activities for a Mind person might include using a journal with specific sections for prayer requests & praises, specific guided questions, or writing prompts to explore what God wants from them.
Bible study activities for a Mind person might include more in-depth studies that include word studies in the original language, making lists that pull the information into categories, or looking up and dissecting related passages that support the ideas you are studying.
A Strength Person
Prayer activities for a Strength person might include body prayers where there is a movement to symbolize what they are praying about. They may also use a journal with drawings & colors to pray for specific people or create unique spaces for prayer.
Bible study activities for a Strength person might include connecting words and phrases like cause & effect and even contrasts to get more meaning out of a passage, putting up verses around their house they want to remind, or just memorizing Bible verses while out on a walk in nature.
Each person needs something different to ignite their faith life. Which ideas appeal to you as you learn how to grow in faith? What have you already doing? Let me know in the comments.
Personalize your Spiritual practices
You can get started on your Personalized Spiritual Practices journey by clicking here for the e-book. It will get you digging deeper into Bible study and prayer, journaling, worship, fasting, and more.
Remember, just because your friend said something she was doing in prayer or bible study was helping her ‘”get closer to God” does not mean the same activity will do the same for you.
When you start in your design, then you can add other activities from the different types to deepen your faith. Add in layers, not all at once.
How to grow in faith to build your business
You may be thinking, Deneen, how does this relate to my business?
I genuinely believe that to have a God-centered business, you have to start with being God-centered.
Taking time to spend time with God is the most important thing you can do each day. So the first thing you need to do is to put an appointment with God in your calendar daily.
It does not have to be the same time each day, but it needs to be daily.
Make a plan (and write it out) about what you will do during that time. Start with activities that are your type and move into different activities as time goes on. This will deepen your faith life.
Make God the CEO of your life and business
When God is the CEO (chief everything officer) of your life, then it’s easy to make Him the CEO of your business. You align with His will for your life by meeting with Him each day. Your thoughts become His thoughts, and you are in the center of His calling for you. This is how to grow in faith and have a God-centered business.
You will see it in your energy to keep going as an entrepreneur. You will see it in your satisfaction at doing the work He has you doing. And you will see it in the peace your life has because you know you are serving Him through helping your clients.
In Luke’s gospel, Jesus is asked how we inherit eternal life. He then asks the man, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it? The answer is in Luke 10:27:
“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Luke 10:27 NLT
Jesus says, “Right! Do this, and you will live!”
Learn how to grow in faith, and it will fuel your business.
If God has called you into this entrepreneurial life, then He is using it to transform you. Love God first, then serve Him by serving your neighbor (through your business.)
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