HDWN? Five faith-strengthening habits anyone can achieve

Y’ALL!!! WHAT’S UP? I’ve missed you guys! I hope you’ve had the best week ever!

Recently, I’ve been getting a lot of requests to cover how to establish healthy habits of faith - i.e. how to involve Jesus in your everyday routines, how to grow your faith, how to actually practice Scripture, etc. I put up a poll on my social media and over 40 of y’all voted to take a teeny tiny break from Abe & Sarah, and instead spend some time talking about healthy Christian habits. Y’all spoke, I heard, the Holy Spirit flowed - LET’S GO!

Okay, let’s set some groundwork before we dive into the deep end of the pool, shall we?

I want to make some promises to you. 

1. I promise that every single habit we cover will be backed by Scripture. It is my duty as a writer to research, and it is my duty as your sister in Christ to steer you towards Him. So, just like in the posts about Abraham and Sarah, there will be Scripture quoted and linked in every single habit.

2. I promise that every single habit I list is a habit I practice. I’m not about to sit here and say “Try this! Try that!” without actually having done it myself. I can’t write about what I don’t know! So I won’t!

3. I promise to be here for you through your habit building. This blog (and eventually the podcast) has been created for the glory of God and FOR YOU. There is a space through the website for you to leave me a message. My Facebook and Instagram are linked throughout the website as well. If you want help establishing habits or you need a friend to keep you accountable in doing these habits, I! AM! HERE! As Jerry McGuire says, “Help me help you!”

The game plan is to cover 5 faith-strengthening habits. If y’all find them helpful, please let me know so we can continue this series!

Alright y’all let’s run it!

Habit #1 - Be in Da Word Er Day

You eat every day right? You (hopefully) drink water every day, too? Just as food and water are fuel for our physical bodies, the Word of God is fuel for our spirits. We are spiritual beings living in a physical body - you have to feed the spirit just like you do the physical. When the enemy tempted Jesus to turn a rock into bread, Jesus told him, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). 

It is the living word: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”  - John 1:1. By reading the Word every day, we better understand the Trinity. To read the Word means seeing example after example of how God speaks and acts - it’s how we understand His character. We are able to find a relationship with Him through His Words. We are fueled every single day by the Word God gives us.

Reading the Word of God can be difficult, trust me I know. I remember reading through Leviticus - which is a book of kinda crazy laws like “Hey guys! Don’t have relations with animals and don’t have a crush on your mom!” - and being like “Dang, this is just not as story-driven as the Gospels or as life-changing as Paul’s letters… I lowkey wanna skip over this.” To establish the habit of reading every day, we need to set ourselves up for success. Here are a few tips I wish someone would have told me when I started to really try reading the Bible:

• Understand that the Bible is a collection of books; it’s like an entire library bound within one physical book. It’s going to take some time to get through - don’t let this intimidate you! There are 66 books of the Bible, split into the Old Testament (life before Jesus walked the earth) and the New Testament (life during and after Jesus walked the earth). Within these two halves, the books are split into 5 different categories: history, poetry, prophecy, Gospels, and epistles (the letters of Paul).

• If you have never read the Bible before, or you’ve tried to read the Bible and found it super confusing, I would suggest reading the book of John first. The book of John really delves into Jesus as God, as you can see in the verse I quoted above. This book will give you a great baseline in establishing the divinity of Jesus.

• FIND A TRANSLATION THAT WORKS FOR YOU. Y’all this is a GAME CHANGER! I would be lying to y’all if I said I ever truly understood the King James Version (KJV), or even the New King James Version (NKJV). Personally, I own the Christian Standard Bible (CSB). I highly recommend CSB, the English Standard Version (ESV), or the New International Version (NIV). These versions convey the same messages as NKJV, just in more modern (more understandable) English. Click here to see the Bible I have! Another great option is The Daily Bible, which is an NIV Bible that provides a plan for reading the Bible chronologically. 

• Read at least 1 verse day. Y’all, I have had seasons where I’ve finished entire books in a day, and seasons where I’ve literally had to cling to one single verse for weeks. What matters is not how fast or how much you read, but your heart when you read. Are you reading to check a box off the list, or are you reading to connect with God? Are you taking the time to fully understand what you read? Rome wasn’t built in a day. Take your time! Reading a whole chapter or whole book at a time can sometimes be intimidating - I get it. Take it a verse at a time, talking to the Holy Spirit and asking for understanding throughout. 

• Grab a pen & highlighter! Don’t be scared to take wild notes in the margins or highlight verses that mean something to you. I’ve had my Bible for 3 years now, and I’ve seen myself change as I reread notes I’ve written in the margins. I’ve seen words from God be fulfilled through the conversations I’ve had with Him through my notes and highlights. Heck, I’ve even had some inside jokes with God that you can see through my different studies of Scripture. Sometimes, my notes feel like me and Jesus are sitting and passing notes back and forth in class. If you are hesitant to actually mark your Bible, use post-it notes to place between the pages, or buy a cute notebook to take notes in!

Romans 12:2 tells us “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” This transformation happens through the sacrifice of Jesus and reading the Word of God. So, let’s be in da Word and transform into the best versions of ourselves together! The spirit of the ONE TRUE LIVING GOD IS IN THESE PAGES!!!

Habit #2 - Build Your Secret Place

Jesus says in Matthew 6:6-7, “But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Building a “secret place” for just me and the Lord to dwell in has leveled up my faith. Now, because I have a tiny dorm room, I don’t have a full prayer closet yet. Instead, I’ve dedicated one corner of my room as my secret place - I have my Bible, my devotional, my prayer board (we’ll get to this habit later!) there. Every morning, the first thing I do is go to this corner and sit with Jesus, reading the Word and praying.

Your secret place might be a walk-in closet, a special corner, a special comfy chair, a place on the front porch, or a different room in your house. The point here is to establish and dedicate a physical space in your life to spend time with the Lord. There is nothing the Father wants more than to spend time with you and speak to you! 

Don’t get it twisted - I am NOT saying “only pray one time a day in this one space, and you’ll be fine!” RED ALERT! RED ALERT! It’s important for us to dwell in the spirit, talk to Jesus, and come to God throughout the day - we’re establishing these habits next! What I AM saying is that it is important to God that we set aside time and space to communicate with Him. Personally, I can attest that being able to run back to my secret place to be alone with God has been such a huge means of rest for my soul. And let’s not forget… BONUS! THIS MEANS YOU GET TO HAVE FUN AND DECORATE A SECRET PLACE! Woo!

Habit #3 - Prayer Triggers

Y’all this habit - BONKERS! In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul writes, “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). When I first read this I thought, “Pray constantly? My brother in Christ, do you know how busy I am?” But here’s what’s up - God is our FATHER, Jesus is our BEST FRIEND, and the Holy Spirit is our GUIDE… We need to be in regular and consistent communication with the Trinity. 

The easiest way I have found to do this is through what I call a prayer trigger. A prayer trigger is either a part of your routine, an object, a word, etc. that reminds you to check-in with God. Here are a few of my own personal prayer triggers:

• My lipgloss be poppin’! I put on lip gloss at least once an hour if not more. Every time I want to reapply, it’s a reminder to check-in with God or lean into the Holy Spirit.

• Living water flowing! I have a 16 oz water bottle that I am constantly refilling. Every time I refill the bottle, it’s a reminder to me to take a drink of the Living Water that is Jesus Christ.

• No idle hands here! I wear a cross ring on my right ring finger… every time I take notice of the ring, or start fidgeting with it, it’s my reminder to give thanks to God as He holds me in His hands.

What part of your routine can you set as a reminder? Is there a habit you already have that you can give over to God to better connect to Him? I mean, who would’ve thought I’d be using lip gloss as part of my everyday faith routine…

Habit #4 - Let’s Get Biblical, Let’s Get Visual

In the Old Testament, God understood that the Israelites were a forgetful people… They tended to forget how He delivered them from slavery, parted the Red Sea, and provided manna for them in the wilderness. This caused them to delay the promise God had in store for them. Moses tells the Israelites, “Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

Now, there are two ways you can take this, and honestly I try to act out these verses in both ways. #1 - We can take these verses as a call to love and respect the Lord so much that we involve Him in every single aspect of our life no matter where we are, what we’re doing, or who we’re with. #2 - We can take these verses literally and sprinkle God’s Word throughout our lives, keeping it physically visible in whatever aspect we can.

Remember when I mentioned that prayer board? I keep a corkboard in my secret place - this corkboard holds the names of the people who have asked me to pray for them, key verses I’m clinging to, and mementos from moments where I really felt God move in my life. I have verses pinned on post-it notes, letters from my family, my wristband from the Passion conference and more. To me, this is a physical and visual reminder that God has been with me in every moment, the highs and the lows. It reminds me to pray for those around me, and it reminds me that God is always working.

Another thing I make visible are verses that either (1) remind me of what God sees and feels when He thinks of me, (2) remind me of my worth and value through Jesus Christ, or (3) remind me of what the purpose of my life is and the calling God has for me. I keep post-it notes everywhere; every morning, I write a new verse on a post-it note, and I place it somewhere that is consistently visual throughout my day. My favorite places are on my bathroom mirror, below the keyboard on my laptop, and in my car.

Keeping our faith visual can work wonders in our spiritual life, especially if you find yourself doubting yourself or God’s plan for you.

Habit #5 - Get Rooted in Godly Community

About halfway through writing these first 5 habits, I realized that they were solitary activities. While it is crazy important to dig in deeper with God one-on-one, we have to understand that we, as humans, were created to be in community. Matthew 18:20 reads, “For where two or three are gathered in My name, I am there among them.” 

There are so many blessings that come from being in community with other Christians. You can find a faith mentor, make new friends who are also in the body of Christ, partner with friends to keep you accountable in your faith, and… hey… you might narrow down that dating pool to the men of God/women of God you surround yourself with and find your spouse!

Here are a few pieces of advice I wish I could have shared with myself when I was searching for the right Christian community.

• You are never walking in a room alone. First and foremost, Jesus is with you dabbing you up the whole way. Secondly, the people in whatever space you find yourself in are your brothers and sisters in Christ - if you are truly connected to each other by the same Holy Spirit within you, connection will happen.

• Open your eyes and your heart. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control… Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-25). Have observant eyes and a heart set on God… be looking at potential communities and friendships with a careful eye. Does the community embody the fruit of the Spirit? You, as a child of God, deserve an uplifting community that grounds you in your faith and keeps you accountable in your walk with God. What if you’ve found yourself in a community that inspires shame, fear, gossip, envy, or other “bad fruit”? 100%, check in with God. Pray about it. Ask God to give you wisdom and discernment about any situation you find yourself in. God, time and time again, promises us that He will provide - this may, however, lead you to step out of your comfort zone by either joining a community or leaving a community. But keep in mind those fruits of the Spirit - that is the good fruit, the characteristics of good friendships and relationships, and the blessings God wants you to have - because He cares for His children and wants the best for them.

• HAVE AN ALL OUT BLAST! Y’all think of all the craziness that happened with Jesus and His disciples. Christianity IS NOT, SHOULD NOT, AND CANNOT BE BORING! Speaking as a bonafide weird Christian, there truly is nothing like connecting with someone who is spiritually on the same page as you… running the same race, towards the same destination, for the same goal, yelling “WHAT’S UP BROTHER! TUESDAY, TUESDAY! LET’S GO!” at you. God doesn’t do next, He does NEW. We are meant to live LIFE MORE ABUNDANTLY! TO BE JOYFUL IN THE HOPE WE HAVE IN CHRIST! Y’ALL CAN I GET AN AMEN???!!!!

If you need somewhere to start, I invite you to start here. Yes, here. Grab your friends and read through this blog. I personally invite you to visit my church, Twelve. I will literally save you a seat. Connect with me - I want to hear what you’ve been reading, how God is working in your life, and how I can support you! Let me play match-maker and connect you to some of the Godly mentors and friends. Most importantly, invite Jesus with you on this journey!

I hope that these first 5 habits encourage you! Your faith is doable! We are truly all in this together. Literally… this is us: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DykVJl6wr_4 

Let me know what you thought of this post! What habits would you suggest to me? Do you want to see more posts like this? Remember, this blog is for His glory and your encouragement. Thank you for being on this journey with me! I appreciate you!!!!!

I love you, but nothing compared to how much Jesus loves you! Until next week! I miss you already!!!!!

P.S. If you’ve made it this far, HOORAY YOU! I super appreciate you! To show that appreciation, I want to give you a little hint… be watching on socials for a surprise this week! * wink, wink *Alright, I love you, see you next week!