Snow Day Time with God

Vikings, 

On the Snow MAN TRIP the senior guys discussed the importance of spending time alone with Jesus. Today is another snow day and there's no better time to carve out some time alone with the God who made you. Below are some thoughts to help you spend time with the Lord today. 

-Drew

• Remove Distractions
• Find a spot where you can be alone
• Put your phone, iPad and any other devices in another room on silent
• Grab only a Bible and pen and a journal
• Be Silent
• Try and just be still for 5-10 minutes. It will feel like forever and there's no magic number, but just be still and allow your soul to 'settle.'
• Pray: Begin a conversation
• There are no magic words- just talk to God. It might feel strange if this is a new thing for you. 
• Sometimes it helps to write out your prayer in a journal. Just write a letter to God. Tell him everything you're thinking. Example: "God, this feels strange to me. Writing a letter to someone that I'm not even sure will read it. I give you my doubts. Help me. I need you. I need to hear from you. I want to know you."
• You can also slowly pray the words of the Lord's Prayer:
• Our Father, who art in heaven,
      hallowed be thy Name,
      thy kingdom come,
      thy will be done,
          on earth as it is in heaven.
  Give us this day our daily bread.
  And forgive us our trespasses,
      as we forgive those
          who trespass against us.
  And lead us not into temptation,
      but deliver us from evil.
  For thine is the kingdom,
      and the power, and the glory,
      for ever and ever. Amen.
• Pray: Confess your sin
• Tell God how you have sinned and how you have made yourself your own god and not honored God. 
• Here's a prayer of confession you can use:
• Most merciful God,
  we confess that we have sinned against you
  in thought, word, and deed,
  by what we have done,
  and by what we have left undone.
  We have not loved you with our whole heart;
  we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
  We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
  For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
  have mercy on us and forgive us;
  that we may delight in your will,
  and walk in your ways,
  to the glory of your Name. Amen.
• Read
• Spend time reading God's Word. Take notes on what sticks out to you and write down any questions you have and you can talk about it with your YL leader. 
• Here are a few places you can start reading:
• Read 1 chapter of Psalms each day. Read it out loud as a prayer to God. There are 150 so you can do one a day for 5 months and then repeat.
• Read 1 chapter of Proverbs each day. There are 31, so read one a day each day for a month.
• Read the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. (Historical accounts of Jesus' life.)
• Pray: Tell God what you're thankful for.
• Write a list of all the things you want to thank God for. 
• Pray: Ask God for your needs and others needs
• Write a list of your requests to God
• For yourself
• For others
• End with a song
• Below are some songs you can play on Spotify or YouTube. It's not worth having the distraction of your phone in the room, so only go get your phone to play a song after you've gone through the other steps above. 
• No Longer Slaves
• Good, Good Father
• Below is a Spotify worship song playlist