Paul reveals the process of conforming to God's Word by emphatically calling the believer to resist the ways of the world. However, there is a requirement for the believer to deliberately meditate on God's Word. God reveals Himself through Scripture; therefore, it is important for the mature Christian to have a foundation in the truth of the Bible.
The final area of consideration in the biblical meditation process is the selection of the text to be considered. The best way for a believer to know God's voice is to regularly engage in God's Word. Young adult members of Z1MBC participated in the discipleship training program through a GroupMe App message.
Results
Another area of the surveys that was encouraging was that 16 of the 18 participants at least agreed that the spiritual discipline of meditation was a practice taught in the Bible. These data provided the opportunity to train these individuals and clear up some of the misinformation surrounding meditation (see Table 2). The last point of concern from the study was that several individuals (11/18) felt they were easily distracted while praying.
While some felt distracted, 14 out of 18 participants at least somewhat agreed that they felt closer to God when they prayed (see Table 3). The spiritual disciplines of prayer, study and meditation were presented from a biblical perspective with the aim that the trainees could apply them in their lives. Improving this practice and identifying the weaknesses of the participants was the focus of this Ministry's project.
Results
I used self-administered questionnaires to conduct these interviews with the participants on April 24, 2021, to implement the education of the research project. I gave participants the option to be interviewed via a virtual Zoom conference or via telephone communication.
Results
Results
After the lecture, the young people engaged in a warm-up discussion about the big idea of the lesson. Training 7, on June 24, 2021, was introduced to participants with a thirty-minute session covering "The Foundations of Biblical Meditation According to Psalm 1:1-2." The main idea of this lesson was that biblical meditation promotes godliness - the manifestation of a renewed mind. The training featured Kenneth Bo, author of Conformed to His Image, who says, “To meditate on the Word is to take time to meditate on a verse or passage of Scripture so that its truth can penetrate deeply into our being.”6 The lesson also provided insight into enlightenment of God.
Spirituality: prayer, bible intake and meditation integration and practice. The big idea of this session answered the question: what does the daily spiritual walk of the believer look like. Each question in the survey increased in post-test results, except item 3, “I sometimes feel stuck in the same place in my spiritual life.” The improvement in thirteen areas of the survey is encouraging because it suggests that the structure of the ministry project was effective in improving previous positions in discipleship practice. The young adults' previous discipleship practices were evident through the pre-test surveys.
In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus said, “Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to respect all that I have. commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age". The Gospel of Jesus is the only practical means available to sinners to transform their lives and give them access to the fellowship of God. This project was created to address spiritual weakness in the young adult members of Z1MBC. But his delight is in the law of God; and in his law he meditates day and night." The believer's access to God's blessings comes through a willingness to abstain from ungodly counsel by meditating on God's oracles.
Current Young Adult Practices
While the previous teaching was not as detailed as the content of the project, the young adult participants had previously been exposed to teaching about discipleship and Bible study. Because the young adult members of Z1MBC had previously participated in Bible study, I was very surprised at the number of young adults who did not follow a regular plan for reading the Bible (9/18). These data are evidence that a discipleship ministry project was needed to help improve the practices of the young adults in Z1MBC.
Another area in the research that surprised me was that several individuals (7/18) felt like they were easily distracted when they prayed. During the lecture, I told them that prayer is like telephone communication between the believer and God. Prayer is a way of communication that allows the believer to remain in constant communion with God.
The final area of the survey that was not surprising to me was that 16 of 18 participants at least “agreed” that the spiritual discipline of meditation is a practice addressed in Scripture. Most of the young adult members of Z1MBC were part of a Bible study series that covered Psalm 1 two years before the implantation of this ministry project. However, 4 of the 18 participants during the pre-test at least "somewhat agreed" with item 8: Meditation is mainly about relaxation.
Recruit Discipleship Participants
Along with the engagement cards, an interview questionnaire was completed during the recruitment process that provided additional insight into the spiritual maturity of the participants. The interview questionnaire contained seven open-ended questions designed to help assess the current discipleship practices of the young adult members of Z1MBC.3 The first two questions: (“What has been most helpful to your spiritual growth?”) and (“What is the biggest barrier you face in growing spiritually?”) clarified the current development of the participants. Question 3 (“How do you experience growth while reading the Bible?”) surprisingly yielded numerous responses from the young adult participants who matched the training lesson “The Practice of Bible Taking: Hearing and Reading.” I explained to them that taking the Bible goes beyond just having knowledge of God's Word.
What I learned from this question was that the young adult participants had little understanding of how reading the Bible should affect their daily lives. Question 5 ("What are your biggest problems with prayer?") showed that most participants had problems knowing what to pray and how to pray. I was able to teach the young adult members of Z1MBC the importance of engaging in these disciplines together for maximum benefit in growing in Christ.
The final question of the interview questionnaire, ("What, if any practice do you have for meditation?") was revealing. This question gave me the insight that the young adult participants experienced uncertainty about what meditation was like. Furthermore, the young adult participants equated meditation as some mystical event practiced by people who were primarily non-Christians.
Discipleship Training Program
This information was helpful in guiding the discussion time during training session 3: “Biblical Basis of Prayer”. Question 6 (“How does prayer affect the way you live from day to day?”) provided an opportunity to connect the discipline of prayer with the discipline of Bible intake and meditation. As with the other interview questions, this information enabled me to make a more focused effort during training session 7: “Foundations of.
Increased Knowledge and Practice
The practice of Bible reading, prayer and meditation has increased in 18 of the 18 participants. This spiritual maturity can be attributed to the training of the disciplines of Bible reading, meditation and prayer. The next strength of the project was the detailed analysis of Scripture used in the training curriculum.
The scriptural basis for implementing this project was Romans 12:1-2, which was a clear call for devotion, sacrifice and conformity in the lives of the young adult participants. First Thessalonians 5:16-18 informed the young adult participants of the importance of rejoicing in the Lord in all things and consistently praying with a will of thanksgiving. As a result of this project, the young adults' discipleship practices have begun to change the sluggish habits that many had before the training.
These numbers represent the fact that 17 out of 18 young adult participants feel like they are closer to God when they pray. Therefore, the belief that Z1MBC young adults are no longer distracted when they pray can be attributed to the training provided in this ministry project. I could have been more efficient in the implementation of the project if I had spent a longer period meditatively thinking about the content of the lessons.
Would Do Differently
Each of these areas of the training lessons could have benefited the young adult participants of Z1MBC. This project was facilitated by lectures and whole group discussion of the lesson questions. The worksheet will also serve as a resource that the young adult participants can always refer to to help remind them of the training lesson content.
This ministry project has been a joy because it has exceeded my personal expectations in the lives of the young adult participants in Z1MBC. Biblical spirituality is a discipline that should be introduced and practiced in the lives of the young adult members of Z1MBC. I thank God that I have been given the opportunity to play a more meaningful and guiding role in the lives of the young adult participants of Z1MBC.
The purpose of this ministry project was to train the young adult members of the Number One Missionary Baptist Church in Barton, Alabama, to become mature disciples of Jesus Christ. This information will be used to help build a group of dedicated new adult training members of Zion Number One Missionary Baptist Church. The purpose of this project was to train young adult members of Missionary Baptist Church Number One in Barton, Alabama, to become mature disciples of Jesus Christ.
