October 13th - 17th | Student Reading Plan

October 13th - 17th | Student Reading Plan


Student Reading October 13th - 17th 

Instructions:
Read each chapter once. After, read it again this time also following along with the key points.
Then, write out answers to the questions. Then, read and reflect over the application. Next,
follow the instructions for the daily encouragement. Lastly, spend time in prayer use the
prayer prompt but also spend some time just talking to God.

Monday: Matthew 6

Key Points: 

    • When you give the generosity shouldn’t be for show. 
    • We shouldn’t give to draw attention to ourselves. 
      • Mark 12:41-44:
        • "41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
    • Giving isn’t about what you give, but it’s about the posture of your heart when you give. Giving should be done out of humility. 
    • Jesus teaches the same thing about prayer. Prayer shouldn’t be done to draw attention to ourselves or so we can receive complements about how excellent we are at praying. Prayer should be done out of reverence to the Father. So, check your heart before you pray. 
    • In verses 9-14 Jesus teaches us how to pray. This famous passage is called the Lord’s Prayer. 
    • There are many ways to pray but a model we can take from is called the ACTS method. 
    • A-Adoration: For this letter we spend time Praising God for who He is and His character. For example, God I praise you because You are the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. You are all powerful and created the Heavens and the Earth. 
    • C-Confession: For this letter we spend time confessing our sins to God. We tell Him of the sins we’re struggling with and we pray for forgiveness and deliverance. 
    • T-Thanksgiving: Spend time thanking God for the things He has done in your life.
    • Supplication: This a request for help. Spend time asking God for any requests or things you need help from Him. For example, Keep me safe. Please help me to have the strength to get through this week. 
    • In vs. 16-18, Jesus again teaches that the discipline of fasting shouldn’t be a public one. We shouldn’t fast to gain attention or sympathy from others. Rather fasting is done to strengthen our relationship with the Lord. When were fasting from food or our phones when we crave them we can rely on God and be reminded to pray to Him. 
    • Vs. 19-24 Jesus teaches us how to view worldly possessions. He doesn’t say to throw them all away or that we can’t own anything. He teaches us that we shouldn’t put all of our treasure in things of this world because guess what? Those things fail you whereas if you put your treasures in heavenly or godly things they won’t ever fail you. 
    • The last section of the chapter is about worry. Jesus reminds us that what good does worrying do. Can you change anything by just worrying. Instead, trust God look at all He has done not just for you but even for the birds and the flowers. He loves you so much more than those things He will provide so, trust Him!

How can you change your heart to enter into prayer with the right attitude?


What things cause you to worry and how can you trust God in those areas?


Where have you placed your “treasures” in life?

Application: 
Matthew 6 reminds us that following Jesus begins with the attitude of our hearts. God isn’t impressed by outward actions done for attention He’s moved by a humble heart that seeks Him in secret. When we give, Jesus teaches that it shouldn’t be for show or recognition. True generosity flows from humility when we give because we love God and want to honor Him, not because we want others to notice. The same is true in prayer. Jesus calls us to pray privately and sincerely, not to impress people but to connect with the Father. A humble heart doesn’t try to sound perfect; it simply comes before God in honesty and reverence. 

Daily Encouragement: 
Spend 5-10 minutes in prayer today and use the ACTS method. 

Prayer: 
Help me to have a humble heart that seeks You above everything else.
Teach me to give, pray, and serve not for recognition, but out of love for You.
Strip away my pride and selfish motives, and fill me with a desire to honor You in secret.
Remind me that You see my heart even when no one else does.
May everything I do bring glory to Your name, not mine.


Tuesday: Matthew 7 


Key Points: 


  • Be careful to judge others when you also have sin in your own life. 
  • Always bring forth requests to God in prayer. 
  • The gate to God is narrow. It isn’t easy to enter. There’s only one way to God that is through Jesus Christ John 14: 6 “ I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 
  • If you are a follower of Jesus then you should be producing good fruit in your life. These fruits should be evident in how you live and treat others. 
  • Jesus says “you’ll recognize them by their fruit.” vs 19. 
  • Jesus closes by the famous foundations parable. He states that those who hear or read His word and follows them is like a wise man who builds his house upon a rock. This house is secure during the storms of life. The person who built their house on the sand is someone who hears or reads God’s word and doesn’t do anything in response. They aren’t doing anything to grow their relationship with Jesus and so when the storms come they’re washed away. 

Are there things you’re scared to pray for or about? And Why? 


Why is it so easy to judge others? How can we stop?


What have you built your foundation on?


Application: 


Matthew 7 challenges us to look closely at what our lives are built on. Jesus teaches that a strong faith isn’t built on feelings or appearances it’s built on Him and His Word. A faith built on feelings, emotions, or appearances before others it won’t last through the storms. But when your foundation is Jesus, your faith can withstand the hardest storms.


Daily Encouragement: 


Focus on one Fruit of the Spirit today and look for opportunities to practice it. (Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control) 


Prayer: 


Help me build my life on You and Your Word.
When the storms come, keep my faith steady and strong.
Teach me to look at my own heart before judging others.
Let my life produce good fruit that reflects Your love and truth and points others back to you by the way I live.
You are my firm foundation keep me rooted in You every day.

Wednesday: Matthew 8

Key Points: 


  • The first half of this chapter has multiple healings. 
  • First, Jesus heals a man with Leprosy. People who had this disease couldn’t be around their families they had to live away from other people. Jesus not only healed the man, but also restored his ability to live in community. 
  • Next, A Roman centurion goes to Jesus. The man doesn’t think he’s worthy of Jesus coming to his home. He knows Jesus can heal the servant just by speaking. He believes and has faith in the power of Jesus because Jesus has proven His power time and time again. 
  • Jesus tells the man that no other in Israel posses such a faith as this centurion. 
  • Third, Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law. Then, He goes out and casts out demons. 
  • This shows that Jesus has dominion over all physical and spiritual things. 
  • Vs. 17 shows that Jesus fulfills more Old Testament prophecies by His healings further proving He is the promised one and the Son of God. 
  • In vs. 18-22, Jesus can seem harsh and insensitive, but what He is saying is that their is a cost to following Jesus. Nothing else can come before Him not even your own family. 
  • At the conclusion of the chapter, Jesus calms the winds and the waves and casts out demons. This shows that there is nothing in this world that Jesus doesn’t have dominion over. 
  • The people begged Jesus to leave. 

How should Jesus having dominion over every aspect of our world change our outlook on life? 

Do you have faith that Jesus can provide for you like the centurion did?

Application: 

Matthew 8 powerfully reveals that Jesus has complete authority over all things sickness, storms, evil spirits, and even death itself. Every moment in this chapter reminds us that there is nothing outside of His control.


Daily Encouragement: 


Write down a few areas of your life where you experience fear or uncertainty. Now write how Jesus has dominion over those things. You can even look up passages where Jesus has shown His power in these areas. 

Prayer: 


Jesus,
Thank You for Your power and authority over all things.
You speak, and sickness flees. You command, and storms grow still.
Help me to trust in Your strength when life feels out of control.
Teach me to surrender every part of my life to Your will, knowing You are faithful and good.
Give me bold faith to follow You, even when it costs my comfort or control.
Remind me daily that You are greater than anything I face.
You are my peace, my protector.

Thursday: Matthew 9 


Key Points: 

  • Jesus heals a man at the beginning of chapter 9. This time ,however, Jesus forgives him of his sins. Jesus shows that He has the power over disease, but more importantly Jesus has the power to forgive us of our sins. 
  • Jesus calls Matthew to follow Him. People are confused because Matthew is a tax collector. Jesus tells them He didn’t come for the righteous but for the sinner. He says that the sick need a doctor. 
  • Jesus is saying He came for people who can admit they are a sinner. Not for people who think they are righteous and don’t need Him. 
  • Jesus tells the pharisees that His disciples don’t fast because they are already in His presence and the purpose of fasting is to draw near to God. 
  • Jesus is touched by a woman who has a never ending menstrual cycle. While a woman was going through this they had to isolate themselves because they were considered unclean. So, this woman had spent 12 years in isolation and without hope. She has faith that if she can get to Jesus all will be well. Jesus tells her that her faith is why she is healed. 
  • Jesus has sympathy on this woman. Jesus has sympathy on us. Sometimes during the difficult times we just need to get to Jesus’s presence like this woman. 
  • Jesus heals a blind man. He then casts out another demon and the pharisees try to spread lies about how Jesus is able to do it. 
  • At the conclusion, Jesus talks about the harvest. He states that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. The harvest He is talking about is evangelism. Saving people from sin by the power of the Gospel. People are lost and hurting because they don’t have a Shepard. There is an abundance of people waiting and desiring for good news, but someone has to tell them. 
  • BE that someone. 

Have you been helping with the harvest? And how can you start?


Why is it more important that Jesus can forgive our sins then heal our sickness?


When has drawing near to God’s presence helped you through a difficult time?


Application: 

Jesus proves His authority not just by healing the sick, but by forgiving sins. Physical healing is incredible, but spiritual healing is eternal. What good would it be to have a healthy body but a broken soul? Jesus came to restore both and He offers that same forgiveness to anyone who comes to Him in faith. Finally, Jesus looks out at the crowds lost, hurting, and hopeless and says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” The world is full of people who need the good news of Jesus, but He needs faithful followers willing to go. The call is clear: BE that someone. Step into the harvest. Share the gospel. Love people like Jesus did.


Daily Encouragement: 


Write down 3-5 people who you know aren’t followers of Jesus. Pray for them everyday for a week. Ask God for opportunities to share the gospel with them. 

Prayer: 

Thank You for Your power to heal and, even more, for Your power to forgive.
Thank You for seeing me with compassion.
Help me to draw near to You in faith, trusting that You are all I need.
Give me a heart that breaks for the lost and the courage to step into the harvest field.
Make me a faithful worker one who shares Your love, Your truth, and Your hope with others.
Use my life to point people back to You, the true Shepherd and Savior. 


Friday: Matthew 10

Key Points: 

  • Jesus begins this chapter by commissioning the 12. Jesus has commissioned every follower to go out. 
  • Matthew 28:16-20 16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
  • In vs. 16-25, Jesus promises that His followers will experience hardships and persecutions. Following Jesus comes with a cost. We have to put following God above everything else in our lives. 
  • Jesus provides a hope in vs. 32-39.
  • He tells us that if we are persecuted or experience hardships but we acknowledge that He is Lord and continue to publicly profess His name we will be rewarded. 
  • We are called to faithfully serve God and in that way we prove we our His disciples. 

How do you feel knowing we will experience suffering and persecution? How can we stand strong?

How do we develop a faith that perseveres through hard times?

Application: 
In Matthew 10, Jesus sends out His disciples and warns them that following Him won’t always be easy. They would face rejection, persecution, and even betrayal but He also reminds them not to fear. Jesus calls us to the same perseverance today. Living out our faith may bring challenges or even opposition, but we can stand firm because our hope isn’t in this world it’s in the eternal reward that waits for us. When we remember that our reward is eternal, we find strength to keep going even when life gets hard. Jesus said, “Whoever acknowledges Me before others, I will also acknowledge before My Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:32). Sharing our faith takes courage, but we don’t have to do it alone. The Holy Spirit gives us confidence and words to speak. 

Daily Encouragement: 

Write down two ways you can boldly live out your faith this week. 

Prayer: 

Thank You for reminding me that following You is worth it, even when it’s hard. Help me to stand strong in my faith when I face rejection or persecution. Give me courage to speak boldly about who You are and confidence to trust that You are always with me. Remind me that my reward is not here on earth but in eternity with You. Fill me with Your Spirit so I can live unashamed of the gospel and shine Your light wherever I go.