This is part of a 12-week series designed around some basic Christian disciplines that will propel you to spiritual growth!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>If the above player does not work for you, simply click this link:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/andyaddis\/beginnings-3-bible-reading\" target=\"_blank\">Bible Reading<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Here is the podcast above in a nutshell…<\/h3>\n<p>Welcome back to Beginnings, I’m so glad you’re on this journey!<br \/>\nThis week we focus on a Christian discipline that is already widely practiced by most of humanity: Prayer.<\/p>\n<p>Because there is a God-shaped hole in the heart of every human being, people have been praying since the beginning of time, in every culture, in every language.<\/p>\n<p>Even people who claim not to believe we’ll find themselves crying out and in times of difficulty. It’s just a part of who we are!<\/p>\n<p>The key is to remember that prayer is a conversation: we talk, listen, \u00a0consider our circumstances and remember the role we play\u2026 He is God; we are not.<\/p>\n<p>But many of us have been intimidated over the years. We think there’s some special language full of thees and thous that need to be spoken. There is not.<\/p>\n<p>We think that people who ‘really’ pray can drone on and on for hours. They do, and it’s not necessary.<\/p>\n<p>And we have heard so many people pontificate with particular expertise in their prayers that we think we could never do that. Good, they’re usually not praying, they’re performing.<\/p>\n<p>The book of Romans says that the Holy Spirit will interpret even your groanings, so no need to get wordy. The book of Hebrews says that we have permission to enter the presence of God with boldness and confidence.<\/p>\n<p>So why are we waiting?<\/p>\n<p>When Jesus taught his disciples to pray (The Lords Prayer) He gave them an incredible model:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Adoration<\/strong>\u00a0– Pray then like this: \u201cOur Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.\u201d Matthew 6:9<\/li>\n<li><strong>Submission<\/strong>\u00a0– \u201cYour kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.\u201d Matthew 6:10<\/li>\n<li><strong>Provision<\/strong>\u00a0– \u201cGive us this day our daily bread,\u201d Matthew 6:11<\/li>\n<li><strong>Confession<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0– “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Matthew 6:11<\/li>\n<li><strong>Protection and Direction<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0– “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Matthew” 6:11<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If we can learn to \u201cpray then like this\u201d we will truly be growing in Christ.<\/p>\n<p>Make your goal this week to memorize the Lord\u2019s Prayer, to download the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.readingitright.com\/HOME_files\/Reading%20It%20Right%20Card%20PDF.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" data-cke-saved-href=\"http:\/\/www.readingitright.com\/HOME_files\/Reading%20It%20Right%20Card%20PDF.pdf\">Bible study\/prayer card<\/a>\u00a0listed below and then get to praying!<\/p>\n<p>Make sure to listen to this week’s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/andyaddis\/beginnings-4-prayer\" target=\"_blank\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/andyaddis\/beginnings-4-prayer\">podcast<\/a>\u00a0to hear all this content and much more. Many blessings my friends!<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Seeking more of Him and less of me,<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Andy Addis<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong>Pastor, CrossPoint Church<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong>John 3:30<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is part of a 12-week series designed around some basic Christian disciplines that will propel you to spiritual growth! If the above player does not work for you, simply click this link:\u00a0Bible Reading Here is the podcast above in a nutshell… Welcome back to Beginnings, I’m so glad you’re on this journey! This … <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/2016\/01\/27\/beginnings-4-prayer\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> “Beginnings 4 – Prayer”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2345"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2345\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}