Key scripture-“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

Are you ready to have an invigorating encounter with Scripture?

You can have it by inviting the presence of God into every day of your life. To help you with this, below is a five-day prayer guide by Lysa Terkeurst, that can help you start experiencing Him in very real ways each and every day.

Day 1 Prayer: Father, I want to see You.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

Thought: Remember a pure heart doesn’t mean a perfect person. If your pure intention is to see God, you will. While you can’t see the Lord’s physical form, you can see evidence of His activity all around you.

Activity: Ask God to open your eyes to the many things in your life that speak to His presence. Look for and record evidence of God around you. It’s amazing: The more we recognize even the smallest things as gifts from God, the more we start to realize how present He is in our lives.

Day 2 Prayer: Father, I want to hear You.

“He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed. The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious.” (Isaiah 50:4b-5a, NIV)

Thought: While I’ve never heard God’s audible voice, I do feel Him speaking to me. The best way I’ve found to start hearing the Lord’s whispers in my heart is by getting into His Word and letting His Word get into me. The more Scripture I memorize, the more clearly I hear Him.

Activity: Ask God to help you wake up early enough in the morning so that you can read the Bible first thing. Before checking texts, social media, and email … tune into God’s life-giving truths.

Day 3 Prayer: Father, I want to know You and Your ways.

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.” (Ephesians 1:17, NIV)

Thought: I love the words, “I keep asking.” Persistence and consistency are key in our walk with the Lord. Ask the Lord to give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so you may know Him better. Make knowing Him, His character, and His ways the focal point of every prayer today and make it more important than anything else you are asking for right now.

Activity: Write this verse on a card and carry it with you. Make a point to pray this verse out loud often throughout the day. When you pray the Word of God, you pray the Will of God.

Day 4 Prayer: Father, I want to follow hard after You.

“Teach me your way, LORD; that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” (Psalm 86:11, NIV)

Thought: Is there something dividing your heart and distracting you from seeing, hearing and knowing God more? Ask God to reveal one distraction that you could distance yourself from today in order for your to more fully embrace an awareness of Him.

Activity: Spend a day fasting from your distraction. Each time you think of what you’ve given up, use that as a trigger to pray Psalm 86:11.

Day 5 Prayer: Father, I say yes to You even before I know what Your request will be today.

“Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.” (Philippians 2:4-5, NLT)

Thought: The more we know God, the more we want to say yes to Him. The more we say yes to Him, the more we realize there are divine opportunities to participate in His activity all around us.

Activity: Today let’s be others-focused. Let’s ask God for opportunities to honor Him by looking to the interest of others. Let other people who are in line with you at the store go ahead of you. Let the conversations be about the other person. Make your focus giving rather than receiving.

Pray this – Our Precious Heavenly Father, I believe with all my heart that You want us to know You, Your ways and Your character. That is what I want too. Father, my desire is to walk in the Law of the Lord, to seek You with my whole heart, to walk in Your ways, to be steadfast in keeping Your statutes, to be righteous and blameless, and to praise You with an upright heart. Open my eyes so that I can behold wondrous things out of Your Word. My soul longs for Your Word at all times. Jesus said, ‘Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.’” (Mark 4:9). Father, open my heart and my mind so that I hear, and follow You, and I acknowledge You in all my ways. Use this day to make me more like Jesus. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.