Five Ways to Accelerate Your Spiritual and Emotional Growth in 2022: Spend Time Interacting with Jesus
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Today’s blong post is the fifth and final in our series, Five Ways to Accelerate Your Spiritual and Emotional Growth in 2022.
In February, I suggested that we add a spiritual practice to our daily routines.
In March, I wrote about learning to recognize when we are triggered.
In May, I talked about ruthlessly eradicating hurry from our lives.
In June, I wrote about the importance of quieting—the practice of purposely lowering our energy levels so we can calm and be still.
In our final blog, I want to encourage you to spend more time interacting with God. Rather than talk about the importance of this practice, I am giving you a spiritual exercise that will help you do the very thing I am urging you to do. It is from a new book, Living Fearless by Jamie Winship.
Block out at least 20 minutes. Have a pen and journal ready. Find a quiet location, turn off your phone, and quiet your body.[1]
Begin by saying this prayer out loud (yes, I know it is long, but it is also powerful).
“Father, thank you for your love for me. Bless me in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I thank you that I am your beloved son/daughter. I come before you, Lord God, the High King of heaven, in the name of Jesus. Father, you formed me in my mother’s womb, and you know me. I am yours. I confess that Jesus came in the flesh. He came to destroy the works of the enemy, to make people well. In his death he swallowed up death. He rose from the dead. He destroyed death, and he destroyed the power of the enemy. He is drawing all people to himself. Father, you are teaching me to live in your kingdom, right now and on into eternity.
There is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved, but at the name of Jesus every knee will bow. Every demon, every angel, every creature, every knee will bow. Christ will have the victory. Despite all he suffered he never lost sight of who he is.
God, I come into your presence, in the name of Jesus. I ask, Lord, that you would silence the enemy around me in my mind and in my life. I say, 'The Lord rebukes you, Satan, in the name of Jesus.' I bow my knee to the lordship of Jesus Christ. I say again, 'The Lord rebukes you, Satan, in the name of Jesus, whom you must obey.' Lord, fill me, I pray with the fullness of your Holy Spirit. Sanctify, me I pray, my mind and imagination as I focus on you now. Here I stand in your midst, Lord, and nobody talks but you. Fill me, Lord. Silence my own voice so that my mind is tied up with your mind, my spirit bound to your Spirit, and Lord, let me begin hearing from you in a deep new way like I’ve never heard before."
The next step is to ask God three questions, below, one at a time. Write what comes into your mind, without hesitation.
God, teach me something about you and your universe that I do not know.
God, teach me something about myself that I do not know.
God, teach me something about someone else that I do not know.
The final step is to read what God said to you aloud to another person; then send it on to us at HCI!
We really would love to hear what you experienced! You can email us at HCI@GodHealsToday.org.
We recently did this exercise with our Board of Directors. You can read their testimonies in the September 2022 issue of our newsletter.
[1] This exercise is condensed from Living Fearless by Jamie Winship.