“I exalt You, my God the King, and praise Your name forever and ever. I will praise You every day;  I will honor Your name forever and ever.” – Psalm 145:1

“There is none like You, O Lord; You are great, and great is Your name in might.” – Jeremiah 10:6

“Who can compare with God, our God, so majestically enthroned.” – Psalm 113:5

I need a stronger faith.

 If I am honest, it can be too easy for my faith to weaken along the journey of life. I actually get frustrated at times at how weak my faith can be. That is pretty sad for a guy who has been a  “professional” in the things of God for over 25 years.  Sometimes I feel more like a rookie. 

Since my faith can weaken, I need to do things from time to time to build it back up. I think it was the founder of Campus Crusade of Christ, Bill Bright, who said something like, “If you want to build your faith then study the attributes of God.”

It is a simple idea, the more you know God, the more confidence (faith) you will have in Him.

In the  book The Knowledge of the Holy, A.W Tozer wrote, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us…the heaviest obligation lying upon the Christian Church today is to purify and elevate her concept of God until it is once more worthy of Him…”

The more accurate understanding we have of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit then the more we will exercise faith and grow in our daily worship of Him. As a result of that growth, we will more fully live out a life of joyful faith, loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength,

So, how do you study the attributes of God? 

Here is one way that I want to challenge you to try as you head into 2023.  It is simple.

Set aside the month of January to slowly read and pray through the Book of Psalms.  

I love Psalms because it is like having a peek into someone’s journal as they pursue to grow in faith and worship. The Psalms are honest, raw, and reflect the reality of the ups and downs of life. Above all they show the reality of the character of God. 

Here is what I do each day.

1. Pray: Father teach me something new about You or remind me of something that You need me to remember.

2. Read and Listen: Begin reading in Psalm 1 and read slowly, looking and listening for God to say something about Him that you need to hear. You may read 2 verses or 5 chapters. It doesn’t matter. But as soon as something stands out to you about God (ie. that He is strong, faithful, providing etc) stop.

3. Worship: Spend a few moments in prayer worshiping God for that part of Him. Take your time. Tell Him you love Him for that. Tell Him how you have seen that part of Him or how you need to see that part of Him.

4. Write: I know that not everyone journals but I recommend it for the 31 Day Journey. Take a moment to record what you saw in God’s Word. It could be in the form of a prayer or even just a sentence or two describing that part of Him.

5. Remember: Think about this part of God during your day.

It is that simple. Do this every day for 31 days. It is quite probable that you will not get all the way through Psalms and that is ok. It is about God and knowing Him and worshiping Him.

As an added bonus, I will also read A.W. Tozer’s small book, The Knowledge of the Holy. There are 31 short chapters that are a great supplement, 

I am inviting all of you to join me in January 2023 to grow in your faith!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

—Doug—