Faith Life Area

This post is a follow-on discussion about Life Areas is based on the 90 Day Goals In Action Planner that I wrote. It's my way of planning out goals that are realistic, time bound, and achievable.

In this post I will be sharing some of my previous goals around the Faith Life Area and some resources that have helped me along the way and of course a little bit of encouragement for you.

So let's jump in!

What is the Faith Life Area?

The Faith Life Area encompasses all things religion, faith, and even some mindfulness practices. For example, this could be prayer, Bible reading, meditation, worship time, mission trips and things of that nature. Because faith is so personal, this can take many different forms. Sometimes, it is an individual activity or event. Other times it might be something you do as a group or a congregation.

Here are some of my own personal goals from the Faith Life Area over the years.

1) Read a daily devotional

I have gone back and forth with different paper devotionals, apps and online resources over the years. Here are a few of my favorites.

• First5 app by Proverbs 31 Ministries - I love how simple and beautiful their app is. It’s also FREE. Each day has a short Bible teaching that only takes 5 minutes to read. It’s packed full of practical wisdom and reads like having coffee with a good friend. Proverbs 31 ministries also has paperback & digital Study Guides on their website that dive deeper into God’s Word

• The YouVersion Bible app - There’s literally thousands of devotional plans to choose from. I like using the Bible app because most plans have audio accompaniment, allowing me to listen to the content while doing other things around the house (dishes, laundry, etc!)

• “Walking On Water: a 21 Day Devotional on Faith” by Brieanna Lightfoot Smith - Brie’s work with Black Girls With Purpose is so inspiring! I love reading her testimony and words of encouragement in this devotional book.

• Write The Word journals by Cultivate What Matters - This isn’t a devotional per se, but it’s a journal that encourages you to read and write scripture in your own handwriting. These journals are beautifully crafted with thick paper that won’t bleed your ink through. And they are themed collections of scripture for all seasons of life. I have the Cultivate Renewal and Worship journals. There’s even journals for kids!

• She Reads Truth devotionals - Excellent for reading the Bible in context with rich historical background information. Their weekly podcast is fantastic too! They offer paperback devotional books and a digital version in their app, but it’s at a cost (usually no more than $25).

• Most recently, I'm using The Bible project, which is a video-based series that explains the entire Bible in stunning detail along with hand-drawn art illustrations

2) Improve my prayer life and learn to hear from God

“Be still, and know that I am God..”. - Psalm 46:10 (NLT)

A few years ago I had a goal to improve my prayer life. It wasn’t just about praying more...  but more so about praying with intention and listening for God’s response. But my life was noisy and full of distractions. It was hard to hear the whispers of God amongst all the chaos. Most of my prayers were rushed “thank you Lord” prayers before meals or praying while doing something else.

I believe that prayer is a conversation, not a one way street. So I knew that my goal would include praying and listening in a 1:2 ratio. (After all, God gave us 1 mouth and 2 ears...right?) I was really into yoga at that time, so I decided to coupled my prayers with meditation.

I’d set a timer for 15 minutes and turn on some relaxing meditation music for ambient noise. I spent the first 5 minutes in prayer, just speaking out loud to God. Just sharing whatever was on my heart. Then I would use the last 10 minutes to lay back and receive whatever God had for me in that moment. Sometimes it would be a Bible verse, or a person that I should call/check on. (Often times when I would check on that person they would say “I’m so glad you called! I was just thinking about you, too!”)

I did that once a day for those 90 days. I think the revelations that I got from that experience were actually very insightful. I would keep paper nearby to take notes just to see what God was saying back to me. Most of the time God’s response was like a whisper. Something that could have easily passed me by if I wasn’t paying attention and focusing on Him.  That was a really good practice.

There are lots of meditation apps out there. I like to use this one (ironically called “Meditation”) for its simple, ad-free interface and customizable mediation timers.

3) Worship and Adoration

I had a season back in 2019 where I created “Worship Wednesdays”.  Every Wednesday I would take a worship song and just add it to this Spotify playlist. I would sing the songs in the car when I was commuting to and from work. I would sing the songs and talk about what the song means to me. Kind of like carpool karaoke, except I was commuting by myself - haha!

I believe there is power in music and the written word. It can change your mood and make you think about life in a completely different way. And gospel music takes it to another level! I let the words of each song really resonate and sink into my spirit. And I carried them with me throughout the day.

4) Finding a new church home and community

In 2022 my husband and I sought out to find a new church home for our family. We had recently moved to a new area and we’re looking for a community that we could connect with.

We wrote out what we were looking for - a local, Bible teaching church full of young families like ours where we could all grow deeper in our knowledge of God.

We were also looking for a place where our daughter could learn the foundational elements of the Christian faith in a children's church experience. You know, like Sunday school but at her level. (She was 2 years old at the time)

By the grace of God, our neighbors invited us to visit their church and it was a perfect fit! We didn’t have to look anywhere else.

So now we have a new church family. In 2023 we actually expanded upon that goal by joining our church small group community, attending non-Sunday events and running our church’s annual 5k race against hunger.

I’m curious to hear from you!

What sort of Faith Life Area goals have you had in the past? Are there other goal ideas that you could add to this list? Let me know in the comments below!