The First 40 Days

This list is for the believer who has already believed and already been baptized. The passages about the cross, new birth, and baptism are here so you can look back and understand what has already happened to you — for assurance, not as steps still to take. (If you’re walking with a seeker who hasn’t yet believed, use the Come and See seeker journey first.)

How to use it

• One passage a day, the DBS way. Read it, re-read it, and retell it in your own words — if you can’t retell it, read it again; that’s the test that you understood it. Then the four questions: What does this show me about God? about people, and me? a command to obey, an example to follow, or a promise to hold? Turn it into a concrete “I will…” for today, and name one person you’ll tell what you learned.
• Then pray the day’s prayer — and keep going in your own words. The prayers are short on purpose; a new believer can pray them honestly and make them their own.
• Alone or with a discipler. You can do this on your own, but it is far richer one-to-one or in a small group with someone a little further along — who models the retell and asks questions instead of teaching answers (“Where do you see that in the passage?”). Don’t chew their food for them.
• Keep a simple journal: the day, the passage, my “I will,” and who I told. Reviewing it at day 40 shows how far God has grown you.
• Pace is a guide, not a law. If a day’s passage opens up, stay in it a second day. Missing a day is not failure — pick up where you left off. The goal is meeting God and obeying, not checking a box.

The five movements

1. What already happened to me (Days 1–8) — grace, assurance, new identity.
2. Walking with Jesus (Days 9–16) — what your baptism meant, and the practices that feed you.
3. New life and character (Days 17–24) — the Spirit’s fruit, love, forgiveness, temptation, peace.
4. Life together (Days 25–32) — the body of Christ: church, serving, generosity, the table.
5. Sent to make disciples (Days 33–40) — witness, testimony, the person of peace, the Commission, endurance.

Order matters, but it isn’t rigid — grace before practice, character before mission — yet a discipler can swap a day to meet a real need (for example, move “when you sin, confess” earlier if the person is wrestling with guilt). If 40 days feels long for a first pass, the first 16 (Movements 1–2) are a complete, standalone “first steps” set; add Movements 3–5 as the believer keeps going.