One Habit to Rule Them All
Transform Your Life with One Powerful Habit
“People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures.”
—Frederick Matthias Alexander
Ever since I listened to Atomic Habits by James Clear (affiliate link), I have become much more aware of my habits, both the good and the bad. I noticed I had been spending more time on social media than I wanted to; it had become a habit, and it did not contribute to the man I want to be.
I am writing this post in January. This is when many of us decide what we will change about our lives for the new year. Of course, this does not have to happen in January; it could happen at any time, but January seems to be a popular time to want to create a new version of ourselves. In January, we decide that this is the year we will run that marathon, learn to play the guitar, and read the entire Bible… My wife and I gather the kids, and we make plans for the new year as a family. We talk about our goals and what we want to accomplish in the new year.
One habit I have kept for several years now is that of deleting all my social media apps from my phone. This helps quiet the noise in my mind; it helps me think and reflect. It is surprising how many times I’ll reach for my phone the moment I have some quiet or dead time. If I am waiting in line or between tasks, I reach for my phone and realize all my social media apps are gone. This year, I even deleted YouTube, which was difficult to do. I can access all these on my computer. I have not deleted my accounts; I simply made it one step more difficult to access social media throughout the day. Not having the apps on my phone greatly diminishes the noise in my mind.
I do this to slow myself down. To make myself sit in silence, let my mind wander, and see where my mind goes. To see what I think about when I am not being constantly bombarded by what others want me to think about. The habit of deleting social media apps helps me sprinkle moments of silence throughout my day. But creating the silence is only step one. The question then becomes, what do I do with the silence?
I have decided to increase the amount of prayer in my life.
The ONE Thing
A few years ago, I read The ONE Thing by Gary Keller (affiliate link). I am not sure if I ever finished the book. It gets rather repetitive after a while, but the main idea is valid. Gary proposes that if we ask ourselves what he calls “the focusing question,” our lives will not only be more intentional but also more successful. I am oversimplifying it, but that’s the gist of the book. Here’s the focusing question:
“What’s the ONE Thing I can do such that by doing it
everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”
—Gary Keller
When I first read the focusing question, the answer was clear and obvious. Prayer!
I am hard-pressed to think of anything in the world that a man, woman, or child could do that is more powerful than prayer.
Jesus prayed
Jesus is our greatest example of how to live, and Jesus prioritized prayer.
But the greatest argument for the priority of prayer is the fact that our Lord was a Man of prayer. Thus far we have seen that He prayed at His baptism (Luke 3:21), before He chose the Twelve (Luke 6:12), when the crowds increased (Luke 5:16), before He asked the Twelve for their confession of faith (Luke 9:18), and at His Transfiguration (Luke 9:29). The disciples knew that He often prayed alone (Mark 1:35), and they wanted to learn from Him this secret of spiritual power and wisdom.
If Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God, had to depend on prayer during “the days of His flesh” (Heb. 5:7), then how much more do you and I need to pray! Effective prayer is the provision for every need and the solution for every problem.
—Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 214.
I have written many posts on prayer, but for this one, I would like to focus on Luke 11.
Teach us to pray
The disciples witnessed Jesus praying, and something was different enough that caused them to desire to be taught to pray.
Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
—Luke 11:1 NKJV
Most of us have probably never been taught how to pray. We just pick it up as we hear others pray. Jesus will give His followers a model prayer that provides a structure and principles we can apply to all our prayers. By this, I do not mean that we need to always use this model, for example, when you pray for a meal or when you experience turbulence on a flight, but rather when you have your longer prayers, the model Jesus gave us is an invaluable guide.
Whose will be done?
So He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
—Luke 11:2 NKJV
When we pray, we must keep in mind that prayer is not about us twisting God’s arm to do our will in heaven, but about God using us to expand His kingdom here on earth. We must keep in mind that God’s will is superior to ours. Our will and our kingdoms are largely the cause of much of the suffering on earth. What we need most is for God’s will to be done on earth. Prayer is not magic that compels God to do our bidding.
Prayer is not to work any change in God; it is to bring us into harmony with God.
—Christ’s Object Lessons (Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1900), 143.
Daily bread
Give us day by day our daily bread.
— Luke 11:3 NKJV
How often I have become anxious about the bread for next year, for six months from now, for the bread a decade from today, when God has never failed to provide me with what I need to survive each day. There’s nothing wrong with planning for the future, but Jesus also reminds us that much like the manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16), we should ask God and trust God for our daily bread.
Forgive us
And forgive us our sins,
For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.”
—Luke 11:4 NKJV
God forgives us, God saves us. We do not have to deserve it. We do not have to forgive others in order to earn God’s forgiveness, but because God forgives us, we also extend forgiveness to those indebted to us.
The hand that reaches out to God for forgiveness cannot withhold forgiveness to others (cf. Matt 6:14–15; 18:23–35; Mark 11:25).
—Robert H. Stein, Luke, vol. 24, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 326.
Three truths
Three truths to keep in mind regarding how God relates to human petitions.
Sometimes, God does not answer our prayers the way we think he should at the time. Yet God is the judge of the earth who always does what is just in light of all factors (cf. Gen. 18:25; Deut. 32:4) —including factors invisible to us—so God can be trusted even when prayers seem to go unanswered.
God welcomes honest questions and pleas, even if God does not answer as we have in mind. God is willing to engage in dialogue with humans even though, in his perfect wisdom, God has already taken into account the very things humans are inquiring about or requesting.
God works to save us far beyond what we deserve or merit. Whatever else petitions might accomplish, they do not make God more benevolent toward us-God already wishes to deliver each person (cf. Ezek. 18:32; 33:11; 2 Pet. 3:9).
(taken from Peckham, J. C. (2024). Why we pray: Understanding prayer in the context of cosmic conflict. Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group. pp25-26)
The verse that transformed my prayer life
For brevity, I will skip to verses 9-13.
9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
—Luke 11:9-13 NKJV (bold mine)
I boldened verse 13 because while in school, I read that Luke 11:13 is inscribed on Oswald Chambers's tombstone for its profound impact on his ministry. The original marker was a wooden cross with a carved stone Bible (a gift from Peter Kay) at the base. The Bible and highlighted Luke 11:13.
I am sure I had read Luke 11:13 many times before, but that made me look at it with fresh eyes. Ever since that day, Luke 11:13 and praying for the Holy Spirit have become integral to my prayer life. I wish I could tell you that after I prayed that prayer, I felt power coursing through my body and lightning shot from my fingertips. I wish I could tell you that, suddenly, I could hear God’s voice like I hear a friend’s voice standing next to me.
I felt no dramatic difference. I feel, for the most part, like a human being struggling with life on earth, often feeling overwhelmed and weak. So how do I know if it has made any difference at all?
I have been reflecting on my life recently. I will be turning 42 this year. Cloverdale (the church I pastor) seems to be healthy, active, and growing. Cloverdale is not perfect, but it is a pretty special place. I am not perfect, but somehow I seem to have some pretty amazing friends.
What I am trying to say is that my life, though not easy and far from perfect, seems meaningful to me. I believe that the level of success I have achieved as a husband, father, pastor, and friend is not due to my innate or cultivated abilities, but to God, in His mercy, providing for me one day at a time, one struggle at a time.
In my life, God’s blessings have not presented themselves as an explosion, as I have seen friends around me experience. In my life, God’s blessings have presented themselves as me somehow making it from day to day and being able to help those around me. I do not have it all figured out. I have my fair share of struggles. But day by day, I believe God has been answering my prayers and providing for all my needs.
Practical Application
There is a constant temptation for us to feel like we know enough. That we don’t need to pray or read the Bible regularly. That we can keep our favorite sin since we are going to sin until Jesus comes anyway. There is a danger that we settle for where we are and what we have achieved and received, and in this manner, miss out on what God wants to give us.
So here is my challenge for you. I challenge you to pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in your life every day for a month and read a Bible passage. If you don’t know where to start, read the Gospel according to John. Each day, read a chapter or at least a few verses and pray for the Holy Spirit, and observe the changes you begin to notice in your life.
I pray that you will finish the month and decide to keep this habit and make it a part of your life for the rest of your life. I ask for a month because, at least in my life, the change was neither immediate nor obvious, but felt over time as I looked back.
There’s a quote from James Clear (author of Atomic Habits) that has stayed with me.
"Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits. Your net worth is a lagging measure of your financial habits. Your weight is a lagging measure of your eating habits. Your knowledge is a lagging measure of your learning habits. Your clutter is a lagging measure of your cleaning habits. You get what you repeat."
- James Clear
Develop the habit of reading the Bible every day and praying for the Holy Spirit, even if you don’t really believe in God. Give it a try. For 30 days, read the Bible each day (start with the gospel of John), and pray for God to give you the Holy Spirit. Repeat this daily, and your life will be transformed in ways you can’t imagine.
(For more posts on prayer, click here.)
