“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”
Matthew 6:19-21

I don’t know about you but I love January. Let’s be honest though, the weather’s awful, next Christmas is a long way off, we’re all back to work or school after a lovely break — you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a pretty bleak month. So, what exactly is so good about January I hear you cry! Well, for me it’s one thing: 21 days of prayer and fasting.

I love seeing our church family come together as one and cry out to the Father in prayer and worship, setting the tone for the year. This year, the Father has been speaking to me out of Matthew 6 and especially about storing up treasures in heaven.

I’ve been really challenged about the values of my heart and the fact that, while prayer is a big priority in January, if I’m honest the other 11 months look very different. You see, the Father and the treasures of heaven, in the form of prayer, are very much my focus in January and He’s been challenging me to focus on those things throughout the year and not just for this 21-day period.

What might this look like for us to seek the Father all year round with the fervour we have for 21 days in January?

CONSISTENCY

A good friend of mine who is a personal trainer always says, ‘Consistency is key’ and he applies this to his spiritual life as much as to the physical. Look at your busiest week and ask what’s the minimum amount of time you could spend with the Father in prayer, reading the Word or just soaking in His presence? Then, make that your goal for every week. When we consistently hit our goals it’s encouraging and we are more likely to carry on. If we set unrealistic targets on the other hand it’s easy to get discouraged and, if you’re anything like me, the person you find it hardest to have grace for is yourself!

USE RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO YOU

There are lots of books on prayer which you may find useful. “How To Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People” by Pete Greig is a great place to start. My favourite resource though? Our very own Devoted booklet which can focus your heart on the treasures of heaven that are there waiting for us to seek them out.

DRAW NEAR TO PEOPLE WHO PRAY

If there’s a prayer meeting, make it a priority. Before the start of every Sunday meeting, there is a group of people who gather to pray. Join them, whichever location you call home! We also gather regularly as a whole church to pray with our weekly Wednesday Morning Prayer Zoom and our monthly Revival Prayer meeting. Join us as we cry out to the Father with the desires of our heart. Being around powerful intercessors as they pray stirs my heart and focuses my attention on the heavenly realms, I’m sure you’ll find the same. To see all of our Prayer opportunities available, go to kingsarms.org/prayer

So, finally where are you storing up treasure? Your health? Career? Relationships? Hobbies? None of these things are bad by themselves, but they shouldn’t distract us from where the real eternal treasure lies and I don’t want the Father to only be front and centre for January.

Brothers and sisters, let’s all check our hearts and ask ourselves: Where am I storing up my treasures? If it’s with earthly things, how can I refocus my gaze onto the things of heaven?

Much love,
Tim Brown and the eFocus team

My favourite Bible verse of the last two years is John 6:68, “Simon Peter answered [Jesus], Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

I suppose that I like this declaration of follow-ship both because it feels like my true sentiment of trust, and because these words also hold a level of uncertainty that I often relate to. When I think about prayer, a large part of this, for me personally, is how my heart is postured in the ‘gap’ moments of my ordinary days. It’s how my inner narrative is going as I wake in the morning, as I leave a social gathering or work meeting.

[I am a firm believer in set rhythms of focused prayer, where we’re intentionally talking to God about situations that matter to us (and Him) and listening to His guidance. I believe in laying out my plans before God and contending for breakthroughs; where I can see the need for God’s kingdom to come and His will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.]

It’s the ‘gap’ moments of life that Simon Peter’s words affect for me, those moments of worry, or meditation, or prayer: Jesus, I’m confused by some of the things that happen in life, and some of the things that you’ve said. I’ve seen others walking away, and I have internally walked away from You plenty of times too. But, I think that I will choose to stay. I choose to follow, because in You, Jesus, I find the words of eternal life.

I heard John Mark Comer end an interview recently with this advice, “Find the goodness of God in the life that you do have.” I love this because the temptation for me is to believe that God is good once a certain thing happens, in a life that I don’t yet have. I tell Him, I’ll stop compromising once certain issues line up. You can have all of my finances, once I feel I’ve got enough. I’ll trust You, once I’ve run out of things I can control.

Perhaps, like me, you started 2024 with an idea of how the year would map out. Some of this was based on intentionally postured prayers, but other aspects were simply where my trust was falling in life’s ‘gap’ moments. There were hopes and dreams, with many of these matters well outside of my control.

Mid-year is a good time to review where we are up to.

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As you reflect on your life and look at the things that you can and can’t control, how is your heart posture feeling towards following God? In the ‘gap’ moments, is your heart’s cry one of trust and follow-ship?

In the life that you do have, where good and evil seem to co-exist, will you join me today in posturing your heart in a declaration of trust? Watch your ‘gap’ moments becoming opportunities to partner in prayer — prayers of trust and follow-ship.

Much love,
Katy Rylan and the eFocus team

Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on His law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither —
whatever they do prospers.

Psalm 1:1-3

Today we begin our 365-Days Daily Bible Reading Plan, meditating on the New Testament and Psalms throughout the year. What an appropriate verse to begin with!

As we look forward to 2024, today is a good day to make some decisions about how we would like our year to look. Many of us have developed an aversion to setting ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ because we’re fed up with the feeling of failing by January 5th! Instead, what if you received this invitation to dive deeper into God’s word without ‘success’ and ‘failure’ as your measure, but rather a deeper desire to draw near to God this year.

What if success isn’t never missing a day’s reading but taking the time to ‘be still and know that He is God’ (Psalm 46:10) on the days that you read; taking deep breaths and recommitting your plans to Him. What if success looks like your family spending one meal a week studying that day’s New Testament reading and discussing what it means?

I’ve discovered that in the unseen realm there’s a battle going on for my attention. The enemy who comes to ‘steal, kill and destroy’ (John 10:10a) wants me to believe that I’m failing before I’ve even begun. He wants me to believe that, because I didn’t read yesterday, I’m less worthy of God’s love today.

Here are some truths that I have learnt about God over the years:

I am unable to earn His love, not matter how well I behave — it is freely given (Ephesians 2:8-9)
When I repent, my sins are removed as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12)
His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23)
There is no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)
Absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of God! Romans 8:38-39)

So, with these truths in mind, will you join me in choosing ahead of time to meditate on God’s word? Let’s become those who are planted by streams of water! Let’s be a people of extraordinary devotion!

With love,
Katy Ryland and the eFocus Team

What would it look like for our whole church to decide to ‘fully consecrate’ ourselves to God? What would that consecration look like, what would the fruit of this consecration be?

Consecration is a word of discipleship: devoting ourselves to God in response to the grace He has freely given to us. Take a look at this video to find out about what we feel God has been calling us to:

The journey of discipleship under Jesus is a lifelong journey of growth. At King’s Arms we love to use the word ‘extraordinary’ to describe this kind of this discipleship — especially in regards to our prayers and devotion to God. We take what was ordinary, add something extra, and we have something extraordinary.

extra + ordinary = extraordinary

It is about growth and it’s possible for every single one of us no matter where we’re starting, and it’s an invitation to all in our community.

What does it look like to devote yourself? In Acts 2:42 the early church was just beginning and “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

We can use this verse to show us what it means to be devoted,

We read the scriptures (‘apostles’ teaching’)
We come together as a community (‘fellowship’)
We partake in Communion (‘breaking of bread’)
We pray (‘…and to prayer’)

With this in mind, we are inviting our church family to go on this journey with us in 2024!

We created a resource to help us with this, our new Devoted booklet. This contains:

365-days Bible Reading Plan (Psalms and New Testament)

The New Testament readings will track with this YouVersion reading plan made by the Bible Project, meaning you can access the readings on your device through the YouVersion app too — and there are excellent videos to accompany this plan.

We love the idea that on any given day you could pray the Psalm reading knowing that many others in our community are using the same scriptures as a basis for their prayers as well. Our Daily Devotion emails will also link with our reading plan which can aid you as you walk through the year.

Tools on how to Pray / Fast / Read the word

You’ll find multiple ideas and resources on how to pray, ideas on how to fast (watch out for more information on this — including starting January with 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting!) and a useful model for reading the Bible.

Make it personal and journal daily

We also have a Devoted Journal edition available (£5) which includes space to write your own notes as you work through the Bible readings. We know that for many, journaling is a means to listen to God and keep a record of His words to us.

Want to find out more?

If you want more information about the booklets, journals and other resources, go to kingsarms.org/devoted.

I often find that I make better decisions when I have time to think about them in advance, and get the chance to prepare and make adjustments ahead of time to enable me to live the devoted life I actually want to live! Come, join us!

Much love,

Katy Ryland and the eFocus Team