First Things First Sample

Prayer & Meditation

Prayer is a conversation between you and God. It’s an exchange of thoughts and ideas between the Creator (God) and His creation (you). You can talk to God about anything: the good, the bad, and the ugly things in your life. Prayer is vital to your relationship with God. In order to build a relationship with Him, you must talk to Him, listen to Him, and include Him in your day to day life. There is not a perfect form to prayer. You can just reach out to God in your heart and mind, and even out loud, and begin talking to Him about your day, what’s going on in your life, or things that you are worried about. When you pray, as the scripture we read today says, “the peace of God will guard your heart and mind”. 

In addition to prayer, you also need to meditate on His Word and what He is speaking into your life. Meditation is intentional, focused thought. Thinking about, or meditating on, God’s Word is important because it helps you focus on God’s truth. Meditation is key to building your relationship with God because it helps you to slow down and absorb what God is teaching you. To meditate, slow down and think about what God is doing in your life or what you read in the Bible. Consider what God is speaking to you through the Scriptures. Pick a verse that stands out to you, memorize it, or write it down someplace that you can come back to review it. As you practice meditation, you will be better able to internalize what God is saying to you. 

Prayer and meditation go hand-in-hand because as you pray and read scriptures in the Bible, you can focus your mind on what God is speaking to you and internalize those truths in your heart. 

Action Step: Write down some things that you would like to pray about today. Now ask God to speak to you about those things. Find a scripture that you can meditate on this week, write it down and work to memorize it.