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I tweeted a question last week asking people if they prayed before they ate and why.

The question spawned out of my past experience and a sense the tides were shifting. I can’t remember the last time I prayed before a meal (outside of a group). It’s been at least two years, if not more.

The main reasons I stopped praying before eating are:

• It became too ritualistic.
• It felt like I was repeating the same thing every time.
• It lacked authenticity.

I know the Bible has examples of thanking God before a meal (Matthew 15:36, Acts 27:35), but I argued with myself thankfulness should be a lifestyle. That if I lived a life that was consistently thankful to God and His provision, two or three meal prayers a day wouldn’t be necessary.

If you know anything about me, you know I hate doing things just for the sake of doing them. So after awhile, it seemed stupid to keep praying before eating.

Until now.

I’ve had a change of heart thanks to some gentle reminders from some friends.

While it can become very ritualistic, it never hurts to thank the Lord for the food He has provided. ;) ~Brannen W.

You should not stop thanking God until you stop being thankful. ~Brad C.

It can be a witness to people around and shows you’re not embarrassed to pray in public. ~Terry T.

Stopping for a second to thank him for the food he provided is a good reminder to me that we didn’t earn all of the stuff we have … it all comes from him. ~Elizabeth H.

To me it goes back to all Jesus sacrificed for us. Can we not take a second before we eat all the bounty this Earth has provided, to thank Him for all He has done for us? ~Katie P.

Cause something seems like a routine doesn’t make it wrong or inappropriate … more so it can be a discipline to be reminded of His many gifts … it’s an opportunity to engage the heart when it feels like we’re mumbling words … ~Fola S.

My new reasons to prayer before a meal:

• Why would we not take advantage of every opportunity to thank God?
• If we truly acknowledge His role/provision in our lives, we should be thanking him way more than we do.
• In public, it is a way to stand out and declare your faith in a subtle way.

As my friend Fola said, praying before meals is an opportunity to engage the heart when it seems routine.

So that is my new mindset.

Not to say a quick prayer before a meal (so I can get to the good part of eating), but to pause for a second and reflect on all that is good about God.

And then thank God for that (in addition to the yummy food I’m about to eat). ;)

Thoughts, comments? What are you most thankful to God for right now?

One of the road blocks I’ve hit when it comes to memorizing Bible verses is coming up with which verses to memorize. Sure, I usually have a couple verses at any given time that are meaningful to me, so those are a great starting point. But after that, I usually draw a blank and then quit. ;)

To not let that happen anymore, I decided to compile a list of memory verses.

Now whenever I need a verse to memorize, I can skim through this collection and see which I want to use.

So whenever you’re looking for the next weekly memory verse, just hit up one of these sites!

Fighter Verses

The Fighter Verses focus on:

1. the character and worth of our great God
2. battling against our fleshly desires
3. the hope of the Gospel

Start here first. ;)

This is the jackpot of all things Scripture memory. Here you’ll find a collection of 260 verses (one every week for five years). Each verse is categorized so you can target memory verses based on cool stuff like God’s faithfulness, being patient, battling temptation, etc.

And if you’re feeling like extra credit, you can memorize longer passages in the Extended Set or check out another 260 verses in the original Legacy Verses.

Not only that but they have an iPhone/Android app you can use to review and quiz yourself on the verses.

I told you it was the jackpot. ;)

Topical Memory System

If you want to memorize Scripture, but aren’t sure what to memorize or how, this system is exactly what you need to begin hiding God’s word in your heart.

Created by the Navigators, the Topical Memory System is a popular collection of 60 verses categorized into five main categories (with sub-categories).

The 100 Most-Read Bible Verses

What are the most popular Bible verses on BibleGateway.com?

We thought it would be interesting to find out, so we crunched some numbers from a (relatively) small sample of 25 million Bible passage searches from March and April.

Bible Gateway published a list of the 100 most-read Bible verses on their blog back in 2009. This list represents a great collection of Scripture worth memorizing. Most of them are very encouraging and/or provide great reminders about the promises/character of God.

Top Bible Verses

The Top Verses team has analysed thousands of pages of teaching material to determine the most frequently referenced Bible verses.

Check out their top Bible verses for the most referenced verses from 1 to 31,105!

Top 100 Memory Verses

This is a list of the most popular bible verses that users are memorizing on Memverse.

Memverse is an online tool used to help memorize Scripture. They’ve published a list of the top 100 memory verses submitted by their users.

Top Verses to Memorize

Do you want to memorize scripture? Where do you start? We have compiled some of the top verses people memorize and consistently resort to from all the books of the Bible.

These verses are part of a reading plan at YouVersion.com. I highly encourage anyone using YouVersion to signup for an account and download their mobile app.

This will let you keep track of your progress and have access to the Bible anywhere.

Other Memory Verses

• Successful Scripture Memory and Review
• My Favorite Best 100 Verses to Memorize
• Top 100 Bible Memory Verses

Final Words

I leave you with some final words from John Piper and others who have spent a lifetime mediating on God’s Word.

Bible memorization is absolutely fundamental to spiritual formation. If I had to choose between all the disciplines of the spiritual life, I would choose Bible memorization, because it is a fundamental way of filling our minds with what it needs.
~Dallas Willard

I know of no other single practice in the Christian life more rewarding, practically speaking, than memorizing Scripture. . . . No other single exercise pays greater spiritual dividends! Your prayer life will be strengthened. Your witnessing will be sharper and much more effective. Your attitudes and outlook will begin to change. Your mind will become alert and observant. Your confidence and assurance will be enhanced. Your faith will be solidified.
~Chuck Swindoll

If we would be changed into Christ likeness we must steadily see him. This happens in the word. […] Bible memorization has the effect of making our gaze on Jesus steadier and clearer.
~John Piper

If you have any other collection of verses, please let me know in the comments!

And no, it’s not a wife. ;)

This past year has been extremely eye-opening to me. God has taught me a lot about myself. What I love, what I hate, who I am. But more importantly, provided clarity to my life’s mission/message.

More or less the one thing I want to devote my life to.

And that is making disciples of Jesus Christ.

Can You Be Any More Generic, Alex?

Fair enough. ;) Let me go a little deeper on how that applies to me and make it worthy of being my life’s mission!

The Great Commission sums it up nicely.

Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)
¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations . . . ²⁰ teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you . . .

But it’s more than just a verse. It is me. Making disciples is how God has made me.

God definitely didn’t make me to evangelize and get thousands saved. Or to preach from the pulpit. Or have huge vision and light fires under people.

When God knit me in my mother’s womb and gave me the gifts and passions he did, I’m confident discipleship is what he had in mind for me. That is how God wanted me to serve him and advance his kingdom.

It is where my greatest eternal impact will be.

And that is the biggest revelation of this past year. Quite possibly my entire lifetime. ;)

If I Accomplish Nothing Else…

To quote the lyrics from a Lecrae song, if I accomplish nothing else but “take the Bible, create disciples, who make disciples, disciple-cycles” then I will be content knowing I have faithfully served God.

In short, I will die with a smile on my face. ;)

I’ll have a deep sense of accomplishment knowing I’ve left an eternal legacy that will continue on for generations to come.

It’s only taken me 30 years to figure this out. ;)

Part of me wishes I would have known earlier in life, but I am thankful God’s revealed this to me now. I’ve still got plenty of life to live!

So what do you think about the concept of a life’s mission/message/call/purpose? Is it all the same thing? Has God revealed yours by chance?

Do share any thoughts in the comments.

Learning from your past experiences is a great thing to do. But using your past experiences as a gauge for what God can do in the future is a horrible idea.

Often a smart thing to do is not so smart when it comes to God. In fact, it puts a lid on God and becomes the limiting factor in what God can do in your life.

As an example, let’s talk about Noah and the ark. God asked Noah to build an ark in order to preserve himself, his family and some animals.

Based on past experiences this is what Noah had to go off of.

• God had never wiped everyone off the earth before.
• This level of flooding had never been experienced before.
• Nobody had ever built an ark of that size.

If I were Noah, I’d be thinking to myself God is crazy. Nothing of this magnitude has ever been done before. And right there, our realism, the wisdom of past experiences will fail us.

It fails us because we’ve limited what God can do.What God has not done in your life does not mean he can’t or won’t.

Don’t put a lid on him by looking at your past experiences and have them dictate your level of faith in God.

If you’re believing God for a restored marriage, don’t look at how many times you’ve tried to reconcile and failed. Don’t look at the repeated unwillingness of your spouse to go to counseling. If you’re believing God for a job, don’t look at how many resumes you’ve submitted and not heard back from.

What if Noah were the Realistic Reggie type?

Based on past experience, he would have built a little life boat instead of an ark (if that even). Flood? Hah, never seen one before. Giant ark? Have you ever seen me pick up a hammer?

What has God called you to? What is his vision for your life? What are you believing for?

Ephesians 3:20-21 (ESV)
²⁰ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Do you want God to do far more abundantly than all you can ask or think in a life boat or an ark big enough to preserve every living creature on earth?

Create space for God. Give him room to fill.

Go. Build an “ark” for God.

And share with everyone in the comments how you’re going to do it. I welcome all tips/insight/wisdom cause it’s definitely a lot easier said than done. ;)

It’s story time! We’re going to talk about Minimal Mannie today. ;)

Back when I did the internship at my church, it was a full-time, unpaid gig which lasted two years. Which meant I was not able to work and would need to raise support. So kinda like a domestic missionary. We joked that we actually had to pay the church to work there. ;)

I remember sitting down and figuring out how much I would need to survive a year. The total came out to be $12,000 per year.

That’s a ridiculous amount of money to raise in a year. And I knew that. I also knew I had enough saved that I didn’t need to raise the entire amount. I could survive off $6,000 per year. So what did I pray for?

God, please let me raise $6,000. I’ll be happy if you can do that for me.

God had called me to do this internship. And when God calls, he provides. So why was I only praying for $6,000? It’s cause they call me Minimal Mannie. My personality only wants/needs the bare essentials.

I’m not a fan of extravagance or excess.

But in this situation, a good personality trait can inadvertently affect how you approach God.

What vision has God given you? What seemingly unattainable thing are you praying for? Are you actually praying and believing in faith that it will come to pass in full and exceeding all expectations?

Or are your prayers just asking for the bare minimum?

I say let’s blow up the prayers. Let’s push the envelope of what we’re comfortable praying for.

A week before the internship started I had only raised a few hundred dollars. But in one fell swoop, one donor committed $6000 over the course of the year. They answered my prayer in a split second.

From there, the flood gates opened and by the end of the year I had raised over $15,000.

You know what God taught me?

Don’t be a Minimal Mannie in my prayers. If you’re going to be bold enough to ask, ask for it in full.

God’s vision or what you’re praying for may seem impossible, but when you ask for it in full, you empower God to answer in full. Otherwise you are keeping some of the burden/responsibility on yourself.

That’s just a bad idea.

Put the ask on God. Empower him.