Grow Closer to God

We are journeying through 12 Days of Christmas. Today we meet Kevin Cunningham who has written Time with God, how to grow closer to God.

The Time with God book by Kevin T. Cunningham, is designed to help us grow closer to God and to build confidence and consistency in our personal prayer lives. As we focus on God and spend time with him, we can bring our joys and needs to him. Then, we will be better able to partner with God in what he is looking to do in and through us.

At the heart of Time with God, is a desire to develop the habit of communing with God in practical, powerful, and personal ways. Practical, because we will balance four different aspects of prayer. Powerful, because we will use God’s Word as the basis for many of our prayers.

Filled with Scripture

This book is filled with Scripture verses translated from the original languages and reworded into prayers. They are chosen to help us nurture and develop our focus on God and our love for him. Personal because you’ll find space each day to write (or draw) your own personal prayers. As you get more comfortable with the concept, it will revolutionize the way you read the Bible on your own.

Below are two portions from the Time with God explaining how to use the book and a sample day focusing on the love of God.

How to Use This Book

The main section of the book contains sets of daily prayers, each focusing on a different attribute of God. For each day, you will find:

A very brief statement about the attribute or characteristic of God for the day.
Four sections offering a suggested Scripture Prayer
Four sections offering space for your own Personal Prayers.

Each day will include four groups of prayers, as mentioned earlier, organized by the acronym of ACTS, standing for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication.

Pray the suggested Scripture Prayer from each of the ACTS sections to God. It might help to read the prayer silently first. If you feel led, you can use the spaces for Personal Prayers to write your own prayers in each category.

Lastly, when praying in the Supplication (earnestly bringing our requests to God) sections, note that many of the verses are focused on the needs of the person praying. As you feel led, you can pray for other people by substituting their names in place of words like “me,” “we,” or “us.”

For example, in the Supplication section of the “God Is Love” chapter, we find this prayer:

Lord, since you loved us in this way, surely we should love one another. Please help me to pass on the love that I have received.

—Modified from 1 John 4:11

After praying that God helps you pass on the love you have received from God, you could then pray the same prayer for any of your family members, friends, or even your pastor. You could pray…

Lord, since you loved us in this way, surely we should love one another. Please help ______ to pass on the love that (he/she) has received.

—Modified from 1 John 4:11

This will become second nature after you do it the first few times.

Day 13: God Is Love

God proactively seeks the best for others even at great cost to himself.

Scripture Prayers

Adoration

Your unfailing love is better than life itself; my lips will praise you! So, I will bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name.

—Modified from Psalm 63:3

Confession

Please forgive me for not allowing your love to flow through me. So often, I am not patient or kind. Forgive me for times when I envy, or brag, or am proud and seek my own way instead of what’s better for others.

—Modified from 1 Corinthians 13:4-5

Thanksgiving

Lord Jesus, I thank you that you demonstrated your own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, you died for us.

—Modified from Romans 5:8

Supplication

(Pray this for yourself first. Then, pray it for someone else also.)

Lord, please help us remember that you are our God, and that you are the only God. Help us to love you as we should—with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength. Also, please help us to love others as you would.

—Modified from Mark 12:29-30

Personal Prayer

Adoration

Lord, I praise you because you are…

Confession

Lord, please forgive me for…

Thanksgiving

Lord, I thank you for…

Supplication

Lord, please…

You can learn more about Time with God: Develop Confidence and Consistency in Your Personal Prayer Life at www.TimeWithGodbook.com or on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017ETI8SK

About Kevin

Rock and roll was my life! I was a disc-jockey on radio and in night clubs. I used to entertain people for a night; now I can impact people for eternity.

My background includes Christian radio, church-planting in Milan, Italy and local pastoral ministry in the U.S. Kevin is currently serving as an Intentional Interim Pastor in Gloucester, MA. I consider myself very blessed to be a Husband to Alesa for over thirty years and a Dad to Cathy, Grace & John