15 days in...


15 days has passed since Sean and I started the 30 day 30 minute prayer challenge. 15 days of growing closer to God through prayer, through directed Bible reading, through purposefully spending 30 minutes of my day. 

When I first started the challenge, I thought 30 days that will be hard but in reality 30 minutes is nothing. You are give 48 segments of 30 minutes of your day, and except for 1 day I missed, I have purposefully used at least 1 segment of those 30 minutes we are given each day. The first few days, I will admit, it was challenging to sit there to pray and read God's word. As the days passed, I found it easier to carve out those 30 minutes and if I didn't have a full 30 minutes, I split up the time. 

Now I look forward to those times, it is like when you make plans with a friend to hang out, to go shopping or whatever you have planned, you primarily look forward to being in that friend's presence and growing your relationship. It is the very same with a relationship with God, He wants us to draw closer to Him, He longs for the time we set aside to be with Him, to talk to Him, to read from His Word. 
These past 15 days have shown me different ways to pray - whether it is just to praise God, to meditate on His word, or to lift up requests to Him. 
I wanted to share what yesterday's prayer time because I love the imagery described. I was instructed to read Psalm 1 and then meditate on it to ask God to make me a more devoted person of the Bible.

{Psalm 1:3} he is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 

I love the tree planted by a stream yielding fruit in the season because without the water, the tree wouldn't yield the fruit in the appropriate season. The tree would eventually cease to produce fruit if there was no water ever given and some goes with us, we need the water in this case God's word, to produce fruit, to grow spiritually. 
Like the rose in these photos, it needs the water to sustain growth, to bloom, to grow and without it, the flower, what could be a beautiful rose would just wither and die. And the remaining 15 days are ahead of me and I am looking forward to seeing what God will teach me.

That's my update!





17 comments:

Laura said...

Meg, I really love this idea of 30/30. I'm glad it's going so well for you! With Lent starting, I think this would be a good time for others to start too. Thanks for the idea!

Unknown said...

This is beautiful, Meg! And what a wonderful challenge. I agree, things like this can start off really hard, but over time it gets easier and you realize how necessary time with God is. Only 15 more days! Although you may love it so much, you want to continue even after. =)

~Maggie

The Tiny Button said...

I love this idea and I like how you share how important it is for us all to grow closer to God. Lent starts today and I plan on setting a lot more time for him. I'm so happy to read about y'all's 30/30 journey!!

City Born Country Bred said...

I love this! I'm definitely going to do this. http://cityborncountrybred.blogspot.com/

Erika Lee @ A Tiny Rocket said...

Lots of luck on your challenge- so great to have a goal!

Brittany @ Brittany's Joy Blog said...

I'm so glad it's working! I have been really convicted lately to pray more with my husband--we're good at doing it on our own time, but for some reason get so distracted when we're together at the end of the day! I'd love to do this.

The Olive Tree Blog said...

love your update! i love how god is using you through this!

Sarah Alway said...

I'm happy for you that your goal is going well, you seem really happy! :-)

Unknown said...

Beautiful Meg! This is such a great challenge and I am seriously thinking about taking it up!

Rachel

Heather said...

I'm glad your challenge is going well and that it is adding something positive to your life! That's great!

Kate @ Daffodils said...

That's wonderful that you are sticking to it and gaining insight. Keep it up!

Leeann @ Join the Gossip said...

That's really cool that you guys are doing this. It actually could be a good thing for me to do for Lent and just add the extra 10 days.

Giovanna said...

Loving this idea! Glad it's going so well for you! I may just have to incorporate it into my Lent plans!

xx
Giovanna
www.HeyLoveBlog.com

Jess at Just Rainbows and Butterflies said...

This is amazing! I want to do this with my husband. Right now, we just order the Love Dare and are hoping to complete that.

Jessica Jensen said...

You are darling! What a great idea for the two of you to do together. Thanks for visiting my blog! On a side note, my husband went to APU also, just a few years behind you guys. :)

Jessie said...

Inspiring! What a neat idea. You nailed it. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

heather{land} said...

Very encouraging Meg! I was wondering how it was going for you two...and am looking forward to your update at 30 days!