12 Principles * Principle 11  
 Principle 11   

I SOUGHT THROUGH PRAYER AND MEDITATION ON GOD’S WORD TO INCREASE MY FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM, PRAYING CONTINUALLY FOR THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS WILL FOR ME AND THE POWER OF HIS MIGHT TO ACCOMPLISH IT.

James 4:8 states, "Come near to God and He will come near to you." As I continue to pray and meditate, I will become more attuned to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Someone once said, "Prayer is talking to God and Meditation is listening to Him." I meditate by reading God’s Word and then thinking about it, turning it over in my mind until the Holy Spirit reveals its meaning to me.

Once God begins revealing to me what His will for me is in my life, I must continue to seek His direction and the power needed to carry it out. I will discover, as I practice this principle, how powerfully the Holy Spirit will work in my life and also that the "Good News of Salvation" will have ever-increasing reality to me.

Proverbs 4:20-22—
  1. Am I opening my heart to God’s direction? How do I know? 
  2. What four things am I directed to do, and why? 
  3. If I’m doing these things, how do I know if they’ve changed my life?
Psalm 1:1-3—
  1. What three things am I blessed for not doing, and why? 
  2. What does the scripture say happens when I continually meditate on the LORD? 
  3. Am I lining up with "God’s Word" or the "world’s word"?
Ephesians 3:14-19—
  1. Do I have a specific time and place set aside for daily prayer? If not, why not? 
  2. Why do I need the "power" that Paul prays that I receive? Should I pray for this power also? 
  3. What is Paul’s attitude and spirit when he says this prayer? Should mine be the same?
Psalm 19:14—
  1. What does "the meditation of my heart" mean? 
  2. Are "what I say" and the "meditation of my heart" connected? (compare with (cf) Matthew 12:34, 15:11, 18)
Psalm 40:8—
  1. What does it mean "your law is within my heart"? 
  2. When does God "write His law" on my heart? (Hebrews 9:10) 
  3. Has this happened in my life? How do I know for sure? Explain.
Psalm 119:10-11—
  1. What should my attitude towards God be? Why should I know His Word? 
  2. What does it mean to "hide God’s Word in my heart"? 
  3. Do I set time aside daily for study and meditation on God’s Word? How much? If not, will I set time aside? When do I start?
Psalm 143:10—
  1. What should I seek from God and where will it lead me? 
  2. Has there been any "leveling of the ground" in my life since I’ve begun allowing God to be God, instead of myself?
Matthew 12:50—
  1. What is the "will of the Father"? How can I know it? 
  2. When I do God’s will, what is my relationship with Jesus?
Luke 6:12—
  1. Why did Jesus need to get alone with the Father? 
  2. When I’m troubled, how often do I "spend the night in prayer"? 
  3. Do I set aside time to just commune with the Father? How much? If not, why not?
Matthew 6:5-13—
  1. Do I spend most of my prayer time in my "closet" or in the "assembly"? 
  2. How do I pray in public? How do I pray in private? Do they differ? 
  3. If God already knows my needs, why do I need to pray?
Matthew 7:7-8—
  1. What does "ask," "seek," and "knock" mean? How are they different? 
  2. What does the Word promise if I seek God? 
  3. Should I pray just once about a situation, or should I continue to "ask," "seek," and "knock"?
John 16:23-24—
  1. Am I to pray to Jesus, the Father, or both? 
  2. Does the scripture really mean the Father will give me "anything" I ask for just because I ask for it in Jesus’s name? Am I learning to pray scripturally? 
  3. Am I expecting answers to my prayers?
Acts 1:14—
  1. What does it mean to be united in prayer? 
  2. Am I still to pray as they did in the early church or was that just for their day?
Acts 4:29-31—
  1. Can I still expect "signs and wonders" to happen to and through me? 
  2. What am I to pray for? Whose name is to receive glory?
2 Corinthians 10:4-5—
  1. What are my weapons as a believer? What are the weapons of the world? 
  2. How many of my thoughts am I to take captive for Christ? Is this possible?
Matthew 18:18-20—
  1. Is this really true? Will God really do this? Is His presence really here? 
  2. What does "to bind" mean? What does "to loose" mean? How do I agree with those around me? 
  3. How should I pray when I come together with others? What does God promise will happen?
Ephesians 6:18—
  1. How should I pray according to this scripture? What should I pray for? 
  2. Why do I need to "keep alert"? 
  3. Why should I keep "praying for all the saints"? Who are the saints? Am I a saint? Why?
Matthew 26:41—
  1. How do I watch and pray? Why? 
  2. If I’m a "new creation," why is the body weak?
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18—
  1. What does "always," "continually," and "all" mean? 
  2. Does "circumstances" include both the good and the bad? 
  3. Is it possible to: "be joyful in all things," "pray continually," and "give thanks in all circumstances"? How can I know for sure?

Copyright © 2004 Randall Nurmi 
All Rights Reserved. No part of this material may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the author. Printing this material for personal use only is allowed. For permission, please contact Chris Johnson at Calvary Chapel Boise.

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