Christian Living Prompts

Personal Note: The prompts that I tend to like are the ones that make subtle, but long lasting changes to my behavior. I developed each of these four prompts because I found that each of these caused noticeable changes to my actions and thought processes. I found myself praying for people more, becoming gradually more charitable and patient, and finding God everywhere, in all things. You find what you seek in life, and these prompts are to help you seek God everyday in your life.

Prompt: What have I done for God today?

Purpose: This prompt is to help you re-orient your life, and your mindset to put God at the center. Your daily actions have a greater impact on your mindset than mere lip service, or telling yourself that God is important to you.

Below are examples of things I did in response to this prompt, and my personal reflection on the difference each has made in my own life:

• 20 minutes of Bible reading: Reading a few chapters of the Bible everyday has become part of my routine. Some books are more engaging than others, but the Old Testament contains the history and literature of the Jews, which is the greatest of the founding philosophies of the west and Christianity. 
• Intentional, focused, slow prayer.
• Christian Meditation. Christian meditation is different than pop culture or yoga meditation. Christian meditation is quietly pondering a topic related to Christ or Christianity, such as something in the Bible, mysteries of the Rosary, the Passion of Christ etc. Quiet meditation has given me a new appreciation for the topics I’ve meditated on. As a Catholic, I’ve meditated on the mysteries of the Rosary from various perspectives, and grown to have a deeper, more profound love for Jesus, and his Blessed Mother. Meditating on how she must have felt saying “Yes” to God in the Annunciation, and her sorrow as she watched her perfect Son be brutally killed is humbling as I’ve realized that she gave everything out of love for God, and for the Christians who were to follow His will over the ages. It has lead me to realize why Catholics love her so much – the Woman who was obedient to God’s Will, despite the suffering involved, and is the perfect counter to Eve’s disobedience.
• Noticing a temptation, and not giving in intentionally, noting that you resisted as a way to show love to God. If you are a Catholic that was taught to offer up suffering or sacrifices, you can offer up not giving in to temptation. Noticing when I am tempted, and offering up resisting the temptation has helped me not only become more aware of my own weakness, but I believe that God also helps give me the strength to weather the storm of the temptation when I turn and offer it to Him instead of just giving in, or relying on myself.
• Make quiet time to talk to God, such as when you will be driving 30-45 minutes alone. For Catholics, going to Adoration once a week for an hour will completely change your relationship with God. While all the suggestions listed have been vital in my spiritual growth, Adoration has been the most important, and the greatest of all of them. The way I think of mass is like being invited to an important event in someone’s life – it’s imperative to go, but you are one among many. Adoration to me has been the weekly visit to someone I love that has helped deepen and expand the relationship. It is a time to go and talk to God with no constraints – bring your troubles, concerns, questions, petitions, thanksgiving, love, worship and anything else that you wish and lay them at the feet of Jesus. To me, Adoration is a foretaste of Heaven in that it will help deepen your love of God, and give some peace among all of the challenges of life. Related to this is the quiet time spent in what I call unstructured prayer. I like to do this a few times a week, and I have found that it is similar to Adoration, although it does not replace it as Adoration is in the presence of Christ Himself.
• Intentionally thanking God for each of your blessings. In Luke 17:12-19, Jesus cures ten lepers, but only one comes back to thank Him, prompting Jesus to say, “Were not ten made clean? And where are the nine? There is no one found to return and give glory to God, but this stranger.” Jesus told the man “Arise, go thy way; for thy faith hath made thee whole.” We should strive to imitate that man, and thank God for each of His blessings. Thanking God for each of your blessings will help you realize how blessed you are, and also how many wonderful things in your life are due purely to the Grace and Love of God. Every time I see something beautiful, like a mountain covered in fresh snow, I thank God for giving me the ability to see and appreciate the beauty, and for putting me in a place full of such beauty. I try to thank God when I notice I have something to be thankful for as it happens, and also when I am at Adoration or during the quiet time I use to talk to God. 
• Intentionally submitting to the will of God. When a cross presents itself in your life, pick it up, and tell God (and yourself) that it is in obedience to His will. Strive to do it with love for God. Intentionally submit to the will of God in times of trouble, disappointment or uncertainty in your life. If you have been working tirelessly towards something, only to have it not work out, tell God that you accept His will, and strive to do so with loving obedience. This is also applicable if there is something in your life that you can only have if you sacrifice your morals. No matter how great the temptation, remember that God’s will is more important than any earthly good or desire, and tell God that you submit to His will, and give up the thing you desire in obedience to His will. If this is a large sacrifice, it may take months of working through the sadness or disappointment. When this happened to me, I would mentally tell God that I gave up my desire out of love and obedience to Him every time I thought of it.

Eventually, the thought process should become more habitual, helping you to put God at the center of your life. 

No matter what you choose to do each day, try to stick with something for a few days or weeks before deciding if you like it or not. I have frequently found that I end up loving something I try for this prompt so much that it becomes part of my daily or weekly routine.

Personal Note: I knew of the traditional ways to keep a relationship with God (go to Church, morning/evening prayers etc.) but this prompt ended up helping me discover many more ways to worship God, and develop a relationship with Him. Going beyond the bare minimum and discovering new ways to worship God and develop a relationship with Him has been the most rewarding decision of my life. 

Prompt: How have I treated each human being as a creature of God?

Inspiration & Purpose: C.S. Lewis wrote, “It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in light of the overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe, and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”

This profound quote from C.S. Lewis, arguably the most influential religious philosopher of the last century, is the inspiration for this prompt. It is the greatest summation of Christian charity I’ve read. When I interact with someone boring or unlikable, I try to remind myself of C.S. Lewis’ words, and recognize that even the most boring or annoying person may end up as an immortal splendor loved by God. 

I developed a few methods to satisfy this prompt, although it is open to more if you find yourself called to fulfill it in other ways:

Method 1: each time you meet someone you’d rather dismiss out of hand, remind yourself to treat them instead with charity, as an immortal being created by God. If you forget this in the moment (as I frequently did) try to say a quick prayer for them after your interaction when you remember.

Method 2: Pray for people that you would rather see fail, such as: 

• people that have hurt you, and that you are inclined to hate, or wish evil upon, such as an ex
• people you feel some sort of forbidden emotion towards such as jealousy or covetousness
• people that hate you, or treat you poorly

Praying for people that you would rather hate, or that hate you, is a core tenet of Christian charity.

Method 3: Say a quick prayer for anyone new you interact with throughout the day. At first I just did this for people that were a thorn in my side in submission to Jesus’ command to pray for those who hurt you. However, this didn’t feel fair to all of the people who were friendly, considerate and thoughtful, so I expanded it to pray for everyone I met one on one when I remembered, even if it was a quick prayer.

Method 4: Pray for people as they annoy you. There are inevitably going to be people who constantly annoy you. When I know that I am going to be in a situation that a person is going to probably annoy me, I try to remind myself that I should use it as an opportunity to be charitable, and then when I notice that people are getting on my nerves, I try to pause and say a prayer for them instead of letting myself get angry or show annoyance. 

Final Reflection: Charity is the greatest of Christian virtues, and this quote, and prompt are reminders to be charitable to all the people that we meet, and to treat them as children of God, individually made by Him, even when we are tempted to do otherwise. I try to remember this quote whenever I get the urge to be dismissive, uncaring or impatient with people. Everyone – good, bad, boring, annoying, saintly – is a creature of God, and we should strive to treat each person as a child of God. If you disagree with someone, try do so politely, and try to overcome the urge to be hurtful, or throw dismissive cheap shots at another. This prompt is to help you overcome the temptation to let pride and the desire to prove yourself better than the other person be your immediate response. We constantly have to ask for God’s forgiveness and pardon, and we should strive to forgive others and extend grace as we hope to be forgiven, and have grace extended to us.

Prompt: Pick Up Your Cross

Inspiration: In Matthew 16:24-26, Jesus says, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For he that will save his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it. For what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul?” In this manner, Christians are instructed to pick up their Cross, and follow Christ. 

Details: When life becomes difficult, stressful, or overwhelmingly painful, either mentally or physically, intentionally pick up one part of your Cross. It can be just a small part of the cross you are facing, if that is all you can handle. Be sure to offer that suffering to God. Sometimes the suffering/cross you are facing in life is so overwhelming that even thinking of picking it up and facing the suffering is paralyzing. In times such as these, focus on picking up one little section of it, and pray for the strength and courage to handle that little part. For example, if you need to forgive someone, but find the prospect daunting, focus on picking up a little piece of that cross. Instead of wishing the other person ill, offer your suffering to God. When you find yourself able to do that consistently, then take the next step towards forgiving them. When it becomes difficult, remind yourself of how much you ask God to forgive you, and work towards forgiving others as you wish to be forgiven. 

While suffering may feel like a lonely burden, it is something that every human experiences throughout their journey on earth. One of the great differentiators is how each person handles the crosses they encounter, and whether they strive to accept their cross and suffering voluntarily with grace, or whether they let it take over their heart, and destroy their soul and relationship with God. If you find yourself struggling with your cross, imagine following Christ with His cross. He was weighed down with pain from all the sins of the world, but He bore His cross out of love for you.

It will not be easy to pick up your cross, and all but the best saints fall and fail many times. Whether it’s letting a disappointment embitter your, or anger poison your heart, suffering will frequently present a great temptation that only the grace of God will help you overcome. Picking up your cross, even if it’s only a small part, and offering it to God will help you learn to bear your sufferings. 

For Catholics: Catholics are taught to offer up their sufferings to God. You can offer it up for something specific, such as:

• Grace for someone suffering or struggling
• Your beloved dead, or the souls in purgatory
• In reparation for sins
• The intentions of the Church
• Sinners who need prayers (as directed by Our Lady of Fatima)
• Anything you feel called to offer it for

Every day, write one thing intentionally offered to God. Strive to do so with love and charity towards others.

Personal Observation: On days that I was too tired to journal, I would try to journal the next morning about the previous day. Unless my cross from the day before was something extraordinary, I frequently wouldn’t remember it. To me, this seemed to be a wonderful gift from God. We can pick up our cross in the moment and offer it up as we are instructed to do (and as an act of love for God), but the burden frequently only lasts for a short time. We have a choice each moment a Cross is offered to us; to accept it and offer it up, and so obey Christ, or to reject it and move away from Christ.

While we are all asked to carry heavy crosses, we should not lose sight of the smaller crosses that we are asked to carry everyday, and should instead strive to carry them with grace, patience and obedience.

Outlook – Everyday Contemplations of God

A Personal Note on Choosing Your Outlook: Your outlook is usually something that you can actively choose yourself by focusing on different perspectives and opinions, or finding both the positive and the negative in a situation. I’ve always found it helpful to make myself evaluate things from different perspectives both as a mental exercise, and to understand whatever I am contemplating more deeply. This prompt was one of my favorites as it guided me to think about God everyday in all the many ways He impacts my life, and the world in general. It helped me appreciate both His magnificence, and His love for His Creation. It also inspired me to listen to more religious talks as I grew more interested in other’s perspectives on God, which in turn subtly changed how I thought about various topics I was considering. One of the many amazing things about God is that if you are searching earnestly for an answer to something, He will frequently help you find it. For example, if I am contemplating something, videos will pop up on YouTube where that very question is answered. This prompt helped me formulate a better understanding of God in my life, which changed my everyday outlook.

Purpose: This prompt is about contemplating God. The responses to this prompt will vary considerably between people, as it is whatever occurs to you rather than a specific topic. An example of some potential topics include: evaluating your life in relation to God (gifts from God, God’s will in your life, obedience, crosses, graces, blessings, temptations), gifts God gives to the whole world, what God teaches us through the Bible, learning from the life of Christ and anything else that occurs to you. This prompt was the most varied for me because every day it forced me to reflect on my day and find unique and specific ways that God was in my life or in the world. 

Below are some examples, but you will probably find that your own responses are completely unique to you.

• Trusting in God’s plan for your life, and accepting His will as an act of obedience. If our prayers are not answered on our own timeline, or in the manner we hope, or if we don’t understand why God asks certain things from us, it is important to intentionally accept God’s will. Original sin was an act of disobedience to God’s will, and the life of Jesus, Mary, Joseph and all the saints shows us that God wishes us to be obedient to His will. When we don’t understand God’s will, intentionally tell God (and yourself) that you accept, and are obedient to His will.
• Related to the response above – recognize that many times God saves us from ourselves, and helps us avoid being able to make disastrous decisions or mistakes. This is a blessing that we should strive to be thankful for, even if we don’t feel thankful in the moment.
  • A few things may be true simultaneously:
    • We may desire something that would be detrimental to us
    • God may put obstacles in your way (you may still have to resist temptation) which leaves you sad/disappointed/heartbroken
    • We should still strive to be thankful to God for His protection
• View temptations and crosses as ways to move closer to God. St. Therese of Lisieux and St. John of the Cross both believed that God gives us all the crosses we need in this life to purify us to get to Heaven in the next. However, we must strive to overcome temptation, and accept our crosses. For example, one of my journal responses to this prompt was “Woke up early for work, and offered getting out of bed this morning, because if God offers little crosses to help me get to Heaven, I need to accept them intentionally.”
• In the story of Job, God allows Job to be tested through intense hardships. His friends all believe that Job is being punished, which seems to be a common view (God uses hardships as a punishment). If you are going through something extremely difficult, remember how Job did not sin against God, even in the midst of his hardship.
• Hardships in our lives may serve many purposes, such as purification, teaching us how much we can handle, or bringing us closer to God. Although we may not understand the reason for our crosses while we are on Earth, we are still called to trust God, and accept our crosses.
• God has provided us with many gifts in life such as beautiful places in the world that move us in incomprehensible ways, people and animals to love, and plenty of people, places, ideas and mysteries to engage our minds and indulge our curiosity. We should remember to be grateful for each of these reminders of God’s generosity and love.
• Jesus displayed the three most important theological virtues of faith, hope and charity, even during His passion and death. By this, He set an example for us to follow, even in the midst of difficulties. 
• A society that lives by the morals and commandments given to us by God fares far better than a society that has abandoned them, and it is far better for an individual to live by Christian morality, even in an immoral society, than it is for the individual to abandon their morals. One of the reasons I believe that Jesus is God is that His teachings are necessary and beneficial to individuals and societies in this life.

As you can see from the examples, the responses to this prompt can vary completely. Even focusing on one thing, such as the small intimate ways God moved in my life provided a variety of material for me to contemplate (such as individual crosses and graces, small personal answers to prayers, things working out, or not working out as I hoped or resisting temptations and bearing difficulties with obedience). Not all my answers were reflections on my own life. Many were about the gifts God gives to all humanity such as natural beauty and a guide to living a moral life.

Seeking God is a challenging, fulfilling, adventurous, lifelong pursuit that is full of crosses, but will fill you with wonder and awe. This prompt in particular lead me to love God more as I reflected daily on how He was always in my life, calling me to Him, even in surprising ways and places. As I saw His love for me woven into daily life, I also came to recognize that I should strive to love Him as much as I was able. I realized that just as a wife wants her husband to stay faithful out of love and devotion to her (rather than just out of fear of divorce or alimony), so God too wants us to strive to avoid sin out of love for Him. I realized that fear of Hell should be a backstop to motivate me to avoid serious sin rather than the main motivation as trying to love God became a central theme in my life and actions.

One of the key things I liked about this prompt is that just as you can either view everything as a miracle, or nothing as a miracle, so too can you view all challenges, actions and decisions as ways to lead you to Christ, or away from Him. Today, when you face a challenge, or a tough decision, ask God for help, and ask yourself what response will best lead you to Christ.