FOCUS: August ONE WORDS

[image credit]

Hopefully after this month of August, 

we will find ourselves better

ROOTED - REFRESHED

and all the One Words in between

will firmly plant, grow & make

our relationships deeper

STILL

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In the month of August, these will be the 4 One Words for us to "Focus" on:

ROOTED

week of August 4

RESTORATION

week of August 11

STAY

week of August 18

REFRESHED

week of August  25

{surely there must be a correlation in these "roots"}

For this 1st week, we will FOCUS on
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ROOTED

"Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong." Ephesians 3:17 NLT

Surely this will make or keep us ROOTED!

I found that I like this scripture verse even better in:
The Voice"... so that through faith the Anointed One will reside in their hearts. May love be the rich soil where their lives take root. May it be the bedrock where their lives are founded so that together..."
and the Amplified actually uses our One Word:
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith. And may you, having been [deeply] ROOTED and [securely] grounded in love,... Ephesians 3:17 AMP
Using Life Search I found that there are 44 verses containing ROOTED.
The author uses these others scripture verses:
Jeremiah 17:7-8 NIVJohn 15:5 NIVColossians 2:6-7 NIVMatthew 13:6 NIV

"Jesus, ROOTED in You, I stand secure."

possibly more to come on this
You can STOP here now
but please skip to the part at the bottom after the
next image of 
LIVING WATER
(and 5 of <> these)
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Definitely more to come in the following 3 One Words:

in the 2nd week of August, we will FOCUS on
RESTORATION 

This is what the LORD says: "When I bring Israel home again from captivity and restore their fortunes, Jerusalem will be rebuilt on its ruins, and the palace reconstructed as before. Jeremiah 30:18 NLT

Other Scriptures given for devotional:
Psalm 147:3 NIVIsaiah 57:15 ESVJeremiah 17:14 NLT1 Peter 5:10 NLT
[of course, other forms of RESTORATION may give us more choices for verses with the One Word, such as RESTORE, RESTORED, RESTORER, RESTORES, RESTORING]

"Jesus, in my brokenness, You RESTORE."

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in the 3rd week of August, the FOCUS: One Word will be:
STAY

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.1 Corinthians 16:13 ESV

The other scripture verses for this devotional:
1 Corinthians 10:13 ESVHebrews 6:10 ESVActs 20:24 ESVHebrews 10:36 ESV
Yes, Lord
I will STAY where You instruct me, lead me, and
whisper to me the word
STAY
let me know in what ways You want me to
STAY
still & be still,
as I loosen my grip
give me a sense of Your Peace
so my heart and mind know
that being still is/was the
right move.
And as I
STAY
even when or if it is hard
this will be when I will grow the most
firmly ROOTED and RESTORED
confident in You as You move

Listen, STAY alert, stand tall in the faith, be courageous, and be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13 Voice

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and in the last week of AUGUST (25th-31st)
the FOCUS: One Word will be
REFRESHED

He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Psalm 23:3 ESV

In the devotional, these are the other scripture verses:
Jeremiah 31:25 ESVPsalm 19:7 ESVProverbs 3:7-8 ESVActs 3: 19 NIV

"Jesus, when I drink {deeply} You REFRESH me."

{reworded so that I use the One Word}
I am REFRESHED!
We can be REFRESHED!
Drink in deeply as you wake every morning
be REFRESHED in
your soul
by God
Dip, soak, and plunge into
His Living Water

[image credit]

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As you may notice I have shared all 4 weeks of FOCUS for AUGUST in this one blog post along with the author's (CCR) main chosen scripture and the other verses included to go with her devo. I still hope that you will only do One WORD each week and then come back here or to the current week blog post to share fromthe FOCUS devotional by Cleere Cherry Reaves.
At the time that I am preparing this post, I have not yet read any of the devotions nor have I decided how, or if I will be able to expound further due to a personal family situation.I will fill in each week (possibly more, especially empty boxes) or share a new post.
But I will still be reading and FOCUS on each of these One Words each week.
I have an inkling that this month & these 4 One Words are probably going to be
a very important connection and especially significant in our maturity as
Christians, followers of Jesus Christ
anointed by the Holy Spirit
in a fresh way!
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The Father is calling us to really
FOCUS
and deepen our spiritual lives even more
[it's CLEERE (I mean CLEAR)]
The combination of these 4 One Words seem very powerful!
I pray that our Heavenly Father touch you as you trust
Jesus Christ in making His home in your heart
even deeper still so that you are
ROOTED
into God's love even more 
and your faith roots
will keep you
strong
as you receive
RESTORATION
and 
STAY
close to the heart of Jesus
and find your 
life journey
REFRESHED
by His Spirit
alive in
you

[image credit]

TAKING INVENTORY - on JULY FOCUS

I decided that TAKING INVENTORY at the end of JULY
is a good idea
For more than the important 4 One Words.

"... It's a good point according to the book of 1 John: to stop, to shut down everything, and to take inventory of our lives." ~ Steve Brandon (sermon) "By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before Him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and He knows everything." 1 John 3:19

Taking Inventory is even customary in regular life, like in stores or businesses.It's a time purposely set aside to take count of what they have on their shelves.
So clearly, it's a beneficial practice for us, too to take inventory of our livesin particular, in our spiritual lives - of our spiritual condition.
[if you have time, I linked in the box to a very applicable Sermon on Taking Inventory]
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In 2024, we have our FOCUS on specific 
One Words
Here are the ONES completed so far:

"1. Diligent 2. Kindness 3. Position 4. Follow  5. Discipline 6. Worship 7. Notice 8.Invest   9. Anticipate  10. Authority  11.Transformation  12. Advance  13. Alert  14.Choose  15. Forgiveness  16. Rhythm  17.Seek  18. Arrive  19. Timing  20.Clarity  21. Little  22.Honesty  23. Silence  24. Pace  25. Release  26. Prayer  27. Joy  28. Movement ...

I am wondering (curious) which of these One Words or the devotionals so far has God spoken to you the most or the clearest - the right WORD at the right time? Amazingly, there have been quite a few for me. Or perhaps, if you go back you will find the One Words & devos that did? God never wastes a moment or a situation to speak to & with you. It's actually aMazing for me still after many, many years to see that God lines up what I read for His glory & to bless as He speaks personally time & time again. It's the perfect, melodic MOVEMENT in the middle of my crisis, melt down or trouble as if the Master Conductor indeed never missed a beat & His symphony of Grace, Love, Peace continue to rehearse and fine tune my life - syncing with His Word to me - from all different angles if I just open all all of my senses & breathe deeply. Each Word comes alive!

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These are the Reflective Questions given by CCR for the month of our July One Words in the section of "Taking Inventory". Perhaps by now, you've done them all. If not here they are altogether & if you'd like you can share 1 of them in the comments, but I suggest that you save this blog post (tuck it away in your book) so you have these four all in one place, where you can insert your thoughts (unless you don't mind and have already written in your book)

"RELEASE 1. What burdens did you release to the Lord? 2. You cannot change the past or control the future. How, then, should you spend the present? 3. Were you able to release something from your past? Have you seen the benefits of letting it go?

"PRAYER 1. Do you truly believe that God hears your prayers? 2. How often do you pray because you are happy? Why would God like to hear from you in those times? 3. Did you pray for wisdom or discernment? What was the outcome?

" JOY 1. Did you think of a friend, teacher, or colleague who walks in joy consistently? Were you able to learn from them? 2. Did you notice anything that tended to override your joy? Were you able to overcome that and concentrate on bringing more joy to your life? 3. What did God reveal about Himself as you focused on being joyful?

"MOVEMENT 1. Did you notice that adding physical activity to your life helped strengthen your faith? 2. Did you notice changes throughout the week? Did adding movement to your schedule invigorate your soul? 3. How will you be integrating movement into your schedule in the weeks and years to come?

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I love these summation prayers of all 4 One Words! Thanks CCR!

4th July FOCUS: One Word - MOVEMENT

For the month of July, these will be the 4 One Words for us to "Focus" on:

RELEASE

July 7

PRAYER

July 14

JOY

July 21

MOVEMENT

July 28

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This week's

 FOCUS isMOVEMENT
in our opening of the devotional
with this Scripture verse

Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Romans 12:1 NASB

I'm almost ready to break my general format here & read the devotional before I share this blog post, as I look at all the words for this month, searching for some thread, or correlation or any clue at all as to what or how MOVEMENT fits (and the Topical definition didn't help) nor does Romans 12:1 scripture verse so I decided to read a bit further in Romans 12, before I break my own rule & read CCR's devotional. And then I find the One Word FOCUS in verse 9.
Reading in The Passion Translation (TPT): 

Let the inner MOVEMENT of your heart always be to love one another, and never play the role of an actor wearing a mask. Despise evil and embrace everything that is good and virtuous. Romans 12:9

In my search for the One Word: MOVEMENT in God's Word;I encountered another verse not too far from the above verses, just a few chapters back, but this time in The Voice:

Now we are able to live up to the justice demanded by the law. But that ability has not come from living by our fallen human nature; it has come because we walk according to the MOVEMENT of the Spirit in our lives. Romans 8:4 VOICE

In all honesty, this is more what comes to mind to me, when I hear the word
MOVEMENT
(except for MOVEMENT as regards social movements: organized efforts by a large number of people to bring about change)
Usually a social movement is to "bring about or impedesocial, political, economic, or cultural change" but might I also include spiritual, such as a PRAYER MOVEMENT oras the last verse indicates a MOVEMENT of the Spirit(hopefully all prayer movements are)Often a Spiritual Movement is one for REVIVAL!
{don't get me started on how much this nation and our world needs this one}
Yet each week in July as we approached this last One Word, especially back at PRAYER, my thoughts were headed in this direction and most certainly when Paul is URGING us ... we need to listen and act
I just happened to look up steps to build a MOVEMENT and I found that choosing your cause, reading up on your cause, spreading the word and being creativeare just the initial ones suggested; yet it seems like the book of ACTS attempted this but
"... the MOVEMENT fell apart" (VOICE, Acts 5:37)
Other verses in ACTS with our One Word: MOVEMENTActs 5:36(NLT); 5:37 (VOICE); 5:38 (AMPC); 5:39 (TPT)
Acts 9:24 (TPT); 15:7 (Voice); 17:5 (Voice); 22:4 (Voice); 28:22 (NLT)
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Once again, I'm very tempted to read the devotional first by Cleere Cherry Reaves before I write (I'm sure that you wish I just would do that every time) but sometimes or many times, I do these, hoping for a MOVE of the Spiritas to what He might want me to share as His vessel with the One Word prompt.
Some times, God's Spirit is just waiting to lead, guide; or for me, just burst forth {although at times it may look as if I'm headed down a rabbit hole, or rambling on with no real message or point, but when ... (or until)I look back or read it over, I can tell it wasn't me writing any longeror what I thought that I was suppose, or intended to write;because before I sit down to begin typing, I pray.
Now it may not look like it to you,but ya' gotta trust me,I go with the flow.(lol)
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Back to the definition of
MOVEMENT
{which I tend to really dislike when they do this in any definition}
"the act of moving"
however, I'm thinking this is more powerful than it appears - followed by
"... change of place or posture..."
the rest of the definition - this first one, then 5 more may make a difference asyou read the devotional, and/ or search for scriptures that have the One Word: MOVEMENT
because we all have different perspectives about MOVING or MOVEMENT
{yep, that was a 'rabbit hole' but for some reason, I think it's key for our frame of mind}
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When I looked at the search that I usually do for the One Word in our devotional book (or even in the various translations) for MOVEMENT in God's Word,
the sentences in the devotional seem to indicate that I'm not even close to how CCR is using MOVEMENT
since we're on separate pages of thought,  I'll skip sharing any quotes for now
because the FOCUS TIP alone lets me know, I'm pretty far off base.
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Here are the other scriptures for this week:
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV1 Thessalonians 5:23 NASBRomans 8:10-11 NASB1 Corinthians 10:31
and as often is the case the concluding statement is my favorite quote (so I'll share that){I saw it when I read the FOCUS tip that had MOVEMENT}

"Move. Get outside of yourself and do diligence to the gift of life you've been given. Moving your feet helps you put everything else at His feet." CCR

I paused after I read "get outside" and was going to comment that this is exactly my plan for this beautiful day - to get outside. But she went on to write something even more important.
"Get outside of yourself" which goes perfectly (of course) with the verses and the 1st definition of "change of place or posture" and definitely with the quote. We (the world, our society) would benefit a great deal to "get outside of ourselves" - to think of others before our own selfish needs and as CCR further recommends to "do diligence ..." 
{I'm skipping the rest of that part about our precious gift of life given to each one of us and should be valued much more than "WE" as a whole seem to be failing at doing miserably}. 
I took the time to look up what these mean:

"to get outside of ourselves" [one source] "It means you let go of what you want, what you think you need or should have (beyond the bare necessities obviously) what you think other people should give you, what you think you are entitled to, of your beliefs about what you think the world should be, how your family should be, etc...." - stepping out and watching your own interactions and see yourself - what you do and how you act {ouch, a real self evaluation] "Take a step back, take a step out, remove yourself from the circumstances, the situation, the stress, the thoughts, the pressures" {this is the best one for me!}

"do diligence" (or possibly due diligence) [source] dictionary of "diligence": steady, earnest and energetic effort: devoted and painstaking work and application to accomplish an undertaking; so DO this by doing what follows in CCR's quote "moving your feet"

showing our gratitude to God
"Jesus, when I move, I feel You work"
after all
"In Him, we live, and MOVE and have our being"Acts 17:28
A song, a verse, and my belief; and now back to another point that I was making on
MOVEMENT
"... But if this MOVEMENT is of God, you won’t be able to stop it. And you might discover that you were fighting God all along!”[Gamaliel’s words convinced the council].

Acts 5:39 TPT

Isn't it time for a some 
MOVEMENT?

"outside of ourselves" and with "due diligence"
or simply walk away - take a walk outside
both are good advice😉

Next Week:
We MOVE right into AUGUST
One Words
so you'll have to squeeze the
TAKING INVENTORY
in, 
if you haven't already done them
Or else, wait to do July & August together the first weekend of Septemberbecause there will be NO post on September 1st.
😉💙😉


[this was written on the day of the Celebration of Life of Tim Anderson (former student's) being held today at an Athletic Field facility. I will go (masked) & be there for the family🙏]

3rd July FOCUS: One Word - JOY

[image credit: Rachel Wojo]

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For the month of July, these will be the 4 One Words for us to "Focus" on:

RELEASE

July 7

PRAYER

July 14

JOY

July 21

MOVEMENT

July 28

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This week's

 FOCUS 
One Word
 is
JOY
{I don't know about you, but my JOY tank is running on low
so it's a good FOCUS for me for now}
I need to refill my
JOY
tank with God's Word
and plenty of Jesus!
The devotional's opening Scripture is from

Psalm 16:11 ESV
and it even has the One Word: JOY

You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of JOY; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11 ESV

This is a good verse to compare in other versions.
I like how The Voice shares Psalm 16:11
[known as the perfect JOY verse]
but there are plenty (228) Psalms with JOY

Instead, You direct me on the path that leads to a beautiful life. As I walk with You, the pleasures are never-ending, and I know true JOY & contentment.

However, in His Presence "there is fullness of JOY" (ESV)
after a week with PRAYER is so true,
although the past week also had moments of tears as well.
Yet, knowing true JOY and contentment
leading to a beautiful life
and never-ending pleasures is really fullness of
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The other Scriptures for the devotional this week are:

John 16:24 NLT; Psalm 119:111 NIV; 1 Peter 1:8-9 ESV; Philippians 4:6 ESV

Back in April, completed a YV 30 day plan on JOY then in June: PEACE
in September, I plan on doing PRAYER and November, GRATITUDE,
although every day, I do PRAYER with GRATITUDE, 
somehow it's not the same for me with
JOY and PEACE
but it should be.
So more Holy Spirit power and fruit, please!
There are almost a thousand verses
with
JOY
in one of my sources
and the topical search shows 3990 for all the JOY searches
or more specifically for just the One Word: Joy (422 occurrences)
(with the Definitions, Strong's Greek and Hebrew, etc.)
So there are plenty available and enough
JOY
to soak ourselves with this week

"Jesus, because I have You, I always have JOY. Amen"

... just help me show my JOY more often around others, please!
especially when things are difficult, may Your JOY shine above
all else. That's when we really need Your JOY!
This world tends to sap the JOY out of us.
Fill us with more of You & Your JOY!
🙏
The FOCUS tip
should help us remember ... always

" ...  that no matter what happens, we have Jesus, and that alone fills our hearts with never-ending delight."

Having not read the devotional before I write my blog post, 
I did a quick search for the One Word: JOY (showed 14)
but I'm only going to share from the last paragraph
(quite often that's my favorite anyways)

"May others who see our lives never have to ask whether we believe in Jesus because our JOY so obviously will be because of Him. Much like all the gifts our Father offers us, the more we choose the JOY of eternity, the more JOY will make itself known while we're here. "

This is exactly what I hope for and expect in my Jesus filled life
with the Holy Spirit.
More JOY! More power! More of You in my life!
{I'm pretty sure that's suppose to be "more love ..." but each of the fruit fits}
Galatians 5:22-23
More than ever, our world needs to see
Christ-followers
overflowing
with
MORE
JOY
and less of all 
we have been seeing, reading, hearing 
and experiencing
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In the beginning, I started with an image from Rachel Wojo.
She offers Reading Challenges monthly on her Blog (website) and I noticed
that she has repeated one called Pure JOY, which tells me that the need  
for JOY is for more than just me; and her plans list 31 verses!
The most recent JOY one was in 2023 (2021)
Rachel is the one that inspired my 2024 One Word: CALM.
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NOTE to self: I've read often that there are enough verses in the Bible on "fear" to read one every day; so the same seems to be true for JOY, one for every day and then some. Looks like I can fill my cup of JOY overflowingly by just dipping into God's Word each day & choosing JOY and being more JOYFUL. Since the "JOY of the LORD is my Strength" worked for Nehemiah (8:10), it'll work for me, and you, too. An important part that precedes this portion of the verse that I quoted is: "do not be grieved." And I have needed this part so often.
But my first JOY verse chosen is:
Nehemiah 1:11 VoiceO Lord, hear Your servant praying to You and pay attention, and not just to my prayers but also to the prayers of these very Jews whose greatest JOY is to live in fear and awe of You. I am asking for success today, God; please make sure this man is compassionate to me, Your servant. In that day, I was cupbearer to the king.

And my second one to start out this JOY focus week (before an upcoming memorial/ life celebration this next Sat. of one of my students from when I taught 5th grade; and it seems like so many others have been facing also) however, this verse is for all times, not just sad times and this is my PRAYER for you from Jesus' words:

John 15:11 NLT

I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my JOY. Yes, your JOY will overflow!

"Open His Word and let His Truth be the standard for your life. Resume your authority as a child of God and choose to practice JOY in every step of the journey." CCR (p.71) "Our JOY is not in our arrival (in the walk, in the journey, in the process, in the blessing of taking each step, one by one ...continually being refined) but in our walk with Him." CCR (p.74)

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Yes, be filled with Jesus' JOY and may your JOY overflow!

Rejoice!

EnJOY your week soaking in some JOY - lots of JOY!

Search for JOY in each day!

[image credit: Positively Jane]

This quote from Henri Nouwen was a favorite with many choices but I chose this one, because 

of the "blues" & scene. Thanks Jane! (esp. your positivity in your graphics, joyful living & words).

2nd July FOCUS: One Word - PRAYER

For the month of July, these will be the 4 One Words for us to "Focus" on:

RELEASE

July 7

PRAYER

July 14

JOY

July 21

MOVEMENT

July 28

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This week's

 FOCUS  One Word: PRAYER
with the devotional's main verse from
1 John 5:14 NIV

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

3 of the other verses this week do use the One Word: PRAYER
and the other one has PRAY from James 5:13
So the other Scripture verses are:

Philippians 4:6 ESV; Ephesians 6:18; Mark 11:24 NIV

I'm sure that there are plenty of verses (over 400) for the 
One Word: PRAYER (or PRAY)
The topical search has much on PRAYER: definitions, articles, occurrences, Greek (proseuche) and Hebrew (Tefillah) and others;much more.
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Again as I look at the combination of One Words for July,
I like that there seems to be an interesting correlation
between RELEASE (letting go) and PRAYER
resulting in JOY and propelling us toward
MOVEMENT
(perhaps a PRAYER MOVEMENT)
(perhaps a MOVEMENT of the Holy Spirit)
both are much needed in our world
and in our personal lives
since PRAYER is 
not just communication
but communion 
with
our Creator
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Hopefully
your PRAYERS are more than just "asking" for something from Him
(although 'supplication' is an important part of our prayers)
for our Father to supply our needs
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As I'm sure you're aware of there are many acronyms and formulas
for how we should pray and that you already know the best one
is when Jesus taught the disciples to pray the
"Our Father"
yet He never showed us that our Father, was just a "genie" 
or a "vending machine" to go to with our many needs.
The structure of the "Our Father" basically gives us:
Adoration, Consecration, Supplication, Intercession, Protection
I read that "the prayer itself is composed of 7 petitions:
3 "Thy (Your) petitions"
[Thy Name, Thy Kingdom, Thy Will]
 and 4 "us-petitions"
[give us, forgive us, lead us not, and deliver us]
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PRAYER
is vital to me!
PRAYER
is the most precious tool I have been blessed with -
to spend time communicating in communion with God
any time, any place, any circumstance.
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I have plenty of PRAYER resources but I'll try to refrain.
And probably like you, I have more than enough needs to stay in PRAYER:
Supplication/INTERCESSION
for family & friends, for others, for our nation & others, for myself
but I want my arsenal of
PRAYER
to start with Adoration and so much Thankfulness
yet I'm sure I have much to Confess, too
{I did these out of sequence, but they compose one of the 1st acronyms that I learned}
A.C.T.S
Another one is 
P.R.A.Y.
for 
Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield
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Let's do a word search of our devotional
(because I don't read it until after I post this)
to find PRAYER in context
and present some quotes from the author (CCR)

"What would our lives look like if PRAYER became our way of life rather than our life support?"

That's a great question to begin our reflection!
with the following part

"... Prayer is the portal to success of every kind; it it also in the communication of PRAYER and understanding our Father's heart that we learn what true success means ...  "

{I was thinking of stopping after "that we learn ..."}
CCR continues her thoughts about PRAYER
(much more than and better, I'm sure with the full devotion)
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Here are a couple more snippets that stand out:

" ... PRAYER can be the way that our soul sings ... " AND "If we allowed PRAYER to become our go-response ... (because) "... the more we turn to Him, the more our heart looks like His."

one is these snippets is my favorite part so far (I think)
Looking forward to the Focus Tip
and repeating this 
PRAYER
daily:
"Jesus, help me to PRAY.
I know You're listening."
🙏
now that's 
the confidence in
1 John 5:14
(since this came to me as I finished I am sharing it here, but I know that there are so many great songs on PRAYER)
"... This is my confidence ..."
You're in it with me

Maybe you have one that you'd like to share too!
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NOTE: there are many YV reading plans on PRAYER; but I chose a 7 day one that looks good
"No Prayer, No Power"(sample of a (2017) 365 book)