Faith: Feed Your Faith with The Word

I mentioned in one of my posts on faith, that I was interested in S.O.A.P Journaling. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with my first whack at it. I think it was my process. Check it out.

This is B’s crappy process for S.O.A.P journaling. Be better than B.

B

• Step 1: Google: “What does God say about women?” (BIG MISTAKE, BIG MISTAKE)
• Step 2: Hate all the random passages and decide on one that doesn’t make me side-eye my faith.
• Step 3: Find a random Matthew scripture and follow the S.O.A.P process, and feel nothing about the message.
• Step 4: Post it to my blog with disappointment, and dis-continue the process after that.

Well now that, that was over, I decided to head over to some trusted friends so that I could get this right or at least better. My homie over at Kristi, Founder of the Chandelier Room, was full of resources. I’m so happy to know her. I’ll include her list of faith feeders below.

Do you know what I found interesting? I asked pretty awesome faith leaders for a recommendation on a bible, and they had a hard time making a recommendation. I unwittingly stepped on a subject that is pretty intimate. When we fill ourselves with the guidance of God, it’s a very intimate experience. My Christian homies were like… Well, it depends.

I ended up getting a final recommendation from a good friend of mine who LOVES bible teaching. I just so happen to admire everything about this woman, and so her recommendation goes a long way. I know some of you may be thinking…

Why not just search for a bible online and buy it? Well, people be messing with stuff!

B’s good sense

PLUS, you saw what I did with Google last time, right? I don’t want to buy a bible and someone messed with it. I wanted an endorsement from more spiritually mature folks. So I GOT ONE! I’m pretty excited.

Something that many folks don’t know about me is that I am a Christian who finds beauty in other faiths. I think there is something to admire about many faiths. My favorite faith to admire is Islam. Yep! I said it. Here’s why:

• They are very forward about a woman’s place and a man’s place. I love a man who can lead and protect the things he commits to. I love the power of a woman who honors and owns her position with pride.
• They have so many physical expressions of their faith. Be it that they pray multiple times a day, in not only a formal way but a clear and visible way, or based on their attire and the food they consume.
• I love how there is no seeking to assimilate into contemporary politics to satisfy people who aren’t of the same faith. (This isn’t an absolute, as there are some things I don’t agree with about this faith, and I’ve seen women stand for themselves in a way that will progress the whole of the people and their faith.)

So here are some ways that I plan to make my faith more visible and family-oriented.

Pray multiple times a day with my children – I pray all the time by myself. Even if I briefly see an accident on the highway. I also pray before I eat and sometimes while I cook. I pray when people ask me, usually immediately so that I don’t forget. However, I’ve got three babies who don’t have a prayer life because I haven’t been, I mean we, my husband and I haven’t been doing our job. We MUST model a strong prayer life if we want them to have an intimate and familiar relationship with the lord.

A prayer board – At our former church, New Life Community Rogers Park, the awesome pastors, and elders created a prayer room in the church. All the members were encouraged to pray at each section of the room, which was focused on specific areas. For example, one section may be for the City of Chicago and all the governing organizations within it and all the people impacted by the city. While another section would be dedicated to the neighborhood of Rogers Park. A praying member would choose a time and date (usually multiple) and pray around the room. I want to build a sticky note board of prayers for my children to see and for us as a family to focus on. I think this is an awesome visual representation of our faith. I saw one on “Renovated Faith, By Karin that is elegant and an opportunity for DIY!“

Daily Devotionals for me and my family and a weekly study as a family – My husband isn’t much for words, but we do align on our faith. He is more of a solo practitioner, but I do believe in his place and mine. I’m excited to see how he leads us, in bible study, with my assistance of course. I’ll let y’all know how that goes.

In order to do that, I need to have a handy dandy tool kit of faith feeders. Here are Kristi’s picks:

Daily Devotionals: Proverbs 31 First 5 – They are quick reads with an option to go deeper.

Bible – The Bible App – You can search by the topic you want to focus on. Some plans are only three days a week and others last 30 days. You can even find some that last a year!

My friend Kadesha (the awesome) recommended the NIV Life Application Study Bible, Second Edition. And just like Kristi, she also recommended “The Bible App.”

It’s pretty important to me to have a physical copy to use when teaching my kids and following my husband’s teaching. However, I love the feature-packed Bible App. They put together a cute little promo video.

Side note: I often find Christian marketing and positioning to be pretty white-centered. This video is pretty diverse with a good representation of people, but not exactly appealing to people of color. But I give them an A for effort.

Feeding your faith is SOOOOO important. The more I grow in my relationship with God, the stronger I become in all areas of my life. You would think I’d be on top of this, but I’m not. I’m only getting started.

So tell me, Sis. What are the ways you REPRESENT out in these streets and at home, no matter what your faith is? What are your favorite tools for keeping close to God? Is faith feeding a priority in your life? If not, why? Let’s grow this list together, Sis. We need to feed one other. I’m ready to throw down. How about you?