Pause: A Month of Gratitude in Five Minutes a DaySample

Thank you for choosing to read Pause! This journey will be unlike anything you've ever experienced because each day has the same template to help you find a rhythm and cadence as you journey through the month: Proclaim, Prompt, Prod, Praise, and Pray.

Proclaim: Each day you will read the verse from our theme passage in Philippians. Read it at least once and read it OUT LOUD. I hope by the second or third week, you will have it memorized and can begin reciting it throughout your day as you need to. This passage is meant to become your foundation, which is why you will read it every single day for the whole month!

Prompt: This is the devotional for the day. It’s usually only about 150 words, give or take, just enough to give you the concept, encouragement, teaching, or guidance you might need for the day. Use it as a launching pad, not a destination. My goal was to plant some ideas, share some insights, and let the Holy Spirit activate in you how this applies to what you are currently experiencing in your life.

Prod: This is an activation question that I am gonna ask you to respond to. I would encourage you to write your response, thoughts, prayers, ideas, confessions, or whatever you'd like. Wherever you write, make it your own and take action! Fill up the pages with what God reveals to you! That’s where change begins and hope is activated!

Praise: This is a song I want you to listen to. You can listen to it while you read, you can listen on the way to work, you can listen any way you want. But my suggestion would be to listen to the song, with headphones on or really loud in your car WHILE you pray to close each day’s devo (more on that in the next section). This will help you to hear the words of the song, engage with the Holy Spirit, and truly have a moment with God. I am so convinced that God wants to spend alone time with you every day. Even if it’s just these five minutes, He longs to give you the hope you need not just to survive the day, but to conquer it!

Pray: Every day closes with a prayer to get you going. Obviously, make this prayer your own! Don’t just recite it—make it personal. I’ve tried to provide a prayer path for those who might be new to praying, but even so, remember God wants a relationship with you, so talk with Him and make it personal. God does not desire for you to pray perfect, eloquent, religious prayers. He just wants to hear your heart, hear your requests, hear your gratitude, and fill you with the POWER to live in freedom! God loves you!

Got it? Great! Let's start with Day 1:

Proclaim

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” (Phil. 4:8-9)

Prompt

Are you grateful in the grind?

It’s easy to be grateful when you finally reach your goal, but can you be grateful on your way there? During the tough work with no praise? During the grueling practice sessions away from the crowd? During the reps you take that bring no benefit in the moment?

Being grateful in the grind is a gift. And it takes work. Some of the most content people I know have that unique ability to stay steady when things are good or bad, up or down.

Do you know why? Because they aren’t waiting for some big win, big deal, or big moment for permission to finally be happy.

They’re just grateful to be in the grind. They’ve fallen in love with the process because they know that’s where real growth takes place.

Prod

What’s a part of the grind where you can find gratitude? Each day for the next week, identify something in your life for which you’re grateful and write it down.

Praise

Listen to “10,000 Reasons” by Matt Redman

Pray

Jesus, thank you for the grind and thank you especially for being right here with me. Give me everything I need to grow and to succeed, to make it all the way through with gratitude. There are 10,000 reasons why I’m grateful for you today! Amen.