Pause: A Month of Joy in Five Minutes a DaySample

Thank you for choosing to read Pause! This journey will be unlike anything you've ever experienced, because each day has the same template to help you find a rhythm and cadence as you journey through the month: Proclaim, Prompt, Prod, Praise, and Pray.

Proclaim: Each day you will read the verse from our theme passage in Philippians. Read it at least once and read it OUT LOUD. I hope by the second or third week, you will have it memorized and can begin reciting it throughout your day as you need to. This passage is meant to become your foundation, which is why you will read it every single day for the whole month!

Prompt: This is the devotional for the day. It’s usually only about 150 words, give or take, just enough to give you the concept, encouragement, teaching, or guidance you might need for the day. Use it as a launching pad, not a destination. My goal was to plant some ideas, share some insights, and let the Holy Spirit activate in you how this applies to what you are currently experiencing in your life.

Prod: This is an activation question that I am gonna ask you to respond to. I would encourage you to write your response, thoughts, prayers, ideas, confessions, or whatever you'd like. Wherever you write, make it your own and take action! Fill up the pages with what God reveals to you! That’s where change begins and hope is activated!

Praise: This is a song I want you to listen to. You can listen to it while you read, you can listen on the way to work, you can listen any way you want. But my suggestion would be to listen to the song, with headphones on or really loud in your car WHILE you pray to close each day’s devo (more on that in the next section). This will help you to hear the words of the song, engage with the Holy Spirit, and truly have a moment with God. I am so convinced that God wants to spend alone time with you every day. Even if it’s just these five minutes, He longs to give you the hope you need not just to survive the day, but to conquer it!

Pray: Every day closes with a prayer to get you going. Obviously make this prayer your own! Don’t just recite it—make it personal. I’ve tried to provide a prayer path for those who might be new to praying, but even so, remember God wants a relationship with you, so talk with Him and make it personal. God does not desire for you to pray perfect, eloquent, religious prayers. He just wants to hear your heart, hear your requests, hear your gratitude, and fill you with the POWER to live in freedom! God loves you!

Got it? Great! Let's start with Day 1:

Proclaim

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.” (Phil. 4:4-5)

Prompt

SMILE MORE.

I wrote those words on my mirror when I lived in my first sober mentoring home.

This was during a season when I was overworked and just found myself constantly mad at things and people. That’s not a good combo for a recovering addict by the way…

During a Sunday Night Meeting, one of the speakers said, “We should be the happiest people on the planet, God has given us a second chance that none of us deserve.” That encouragement stuck with me, so later that evening, I wrote that reminder on my bathroom mirror. SMILE MORE!

It’s easy to pick out the bad things and dwell on them. Just like it’s easier to frown rather than smile. But when we use those 43 muscles it takes to smile, each time we are reminding our brain that we are JOY-filled people who have a lot to be thankful for and happy about.

Prod

Are you experiencing Jesus-joy today?

If so, how?

If not, what’s ONE thing you can do? (hint, try listening to this song with headphones on! It will make you smile!)

Praise

Listen to “10,000 Reasons” by Matt Redman

Pray

Jesus, thank you for the radiant smile of joy. Let me share your joy with the world I encounter today. I ask that you would give me the willingness to SMILE today and the courage to share the smile you created with at least one other person who might need it! Amen.