Review. The challenge? A daily challenge in August designed to help you grow in your faith in Jesus by establishing (or adding to your already-existing!) daily habits of Bible reading and prayer. The participation part is designed to both allow us to encourage each other and to hold each other accountable. Jump in any time (even if it’s not August)!
Day 1: Thankfulness & Prayer
Day 2: Praise & Prayer
Day 3: Watchfulness & Prayer (my fave so far!)
Day 4: Devotion & Prayer
Day 5: How to Pray
Day 6: Who to Pray For
Today’s Inspiration. If you’ve been following the challenge posts, you know by now what our inspiration for today’s challenge is, because it has been the same since Day 1 and will continue to be the same for a few days more. It’s Colossians 4:2:
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
Today, we’ll look at the second of the “five W questions”: What should we pray for?
Today’s Challenge. Today your challenge is to read and note (that means write down!) the types of things people in the Bible prayed, and use one of these as a model for your own prayer time today. For example, you could look at Jesus’ recorded prayers (this blog post lists some) or the way Paul prayed in his letters to the churches (see here for a list). Or you could go back to the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:5-15 or Luke 11:1-13) again and use that as a model.
Today’s Participation. Choose one thing someone in the Bible prayed for that you don’t normally pray for but think you should pray for. Write about it in today’s comments and tell us where it’s modeled in the Bible. Alternatively, depict it in a post on Instagram using #writinglifeaugustchallenge. I look forward to hearing from you and am praying for you!
Writing Life: Faith, Failings, & Grace 
One of the things I’ve been learning lately has a lot to do with the photo I put above in Challenge Day 7. It’s to trust in the Lord.
Wait. If I’m honest, one of the things I’ve been learning more and more for several years now is to trust in the Lord. This time around, I’m learning to trust him with my family’s provisions. With taking care of us on a daily basis, not exactly knowing how that will work but trusting that it will.
Why is it scarier to trust God with our provisions than with our hearts?
Maybe that’s not what it’s like for you, but that’s what it has been like for me for years now. I trust his love. I trust his salvation. But still I find that I strive—I strive so hard to take care of myself. So does my husband, to care for our family. And I’m not saying we shouldn’t work to care for each other; rather, we shouldn’t put all of our trust in our own ability to provide. Because God promises to care for us. And by not trusting in that—in him—I may be holding myself back from the path that he truly has for me.
Guess what? I’m not holding back anymore. I’m taking the path that leads me to put my trust in him more, and I’m so excited to see where it—where He—will lead me.
#writinglifeaugustchallenge #challengeday7 #twodayslate #whatiprayfor #Godsprovision
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