Ruins to RestorationSample

### PRAYER: PRAY THAT GOD WOULD SPEAK TO YOU OVER THE COMING WEEKS DURING THIS SERIES THROUGH THE BOOKS OF EZRA & NEHEMIAH. ### DEVOTIONAL: Hello! We are so glad that you have decided to join us in reading through the books of Ezra and Nehemiah! Our heart over the coming weeks is that the Bible would become a part of your everyday life and routine. During this devotional, we will have Scripture for you to read alongside a devotional two times each week to help and challenge you to live out what it is that you’re reading. On this very first day of the devotional, we wanted to help equip you to get the most from these coming weeks. So, we have put together a list of tips for making your time in these books impactful and consistent! 1.) Have a set time and a set place \- Consistency is key and if you don’t intentionally plan to read your Bible then chances are that you won’t. Pick a time and a place that you plan on getting alone with God over these next few weeks as we go through these books. You may even turn on some soft worship music to help you set the atmosphere to focus in on what God is saying through His Word. 2.) Turn off all distractions \- It’s hard to focus when your phone is buzzing and dinging with notifications every few minutes. We have found that turning on the “Do Not Disturb” feature can work wonders for your devotional time. 3.) Don’t get discouraged \- Let’s all be honest, the Bible can be intimidating and hard to understand. If you miss one day of reading, don’t feel like you’ve completely failed but instead, start again the next day and keep moving through the devotional plan! 4.) Pick an understandable translation \- We suggest using a translation that you can understand easily so that you can receive the most during this devotional. We really like the New Living Translation (NLT), Christian Standard Bible (CSB), English Standard Bible (ESV), and the New International Version (NIV). 5.) Finish strong \- Even if you miss a few days over the course of all the weeks of this devotional, make a decision now that you will finish and finish strong! We are proud of you for taking the time to get into the Word of God and believe that it will change your life forever!