“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14
How many of you have had the experience where you’ve been reading page after page in your textbook and all of a sudden you realize… you have absolutely NO idea what you’ve just read. None of it clicked! You’ve just been reading words the past hour but none of them actually registered in your brain. Well, to be quite honest, that’s how I feel sometimes when I read the Bible. It’s hard for me to focus on what I’m reading, find meaning in the words, and apply the lessons to my life. There is a way to get past these barriers though, and that’s by praying while you read. How do you do this? Well, it’s not nearly as overwhelming as it sounds.
Basically, you just take what you read and say it back to God. For example, say you read Philippians 1:10 which says, “For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.” So then you would say something like, “Lord, I want to understand what really matters to you, so that I may live a pure and blameless life until the day of your return.” It’s that simple! But by taking that extra step to put it in your own words, you’re forced to think about what you’re saying and reading. It doesn’t have to be in this exact format either, but I’m just trying to show you how to take a verse or a passage and change it so it applies directly to you. Some verses might not even apply to you, but if you read with the intention of finding those that do, you’ll be able to stay a lot more focused too.
Sometimes verses or passages will lead you to ask for forgiveness, want to stop and praise him, to thank him, ask a question, promise to obey him, or anything else. Whatever you want to tell him, do it right then and there! Not combining prayer with reading your Bible is like if you could only communicate with your best friend through letters. If she sent you a letter saying she had just gotten engaged, you would want to see her right then to give her a hug, see the ring, and talk about all the gushy details, right? The story would lose some of its excitement and passion if you had to wait a week before talking.
Well, that’s how my relationship with God used to be like; a loving, but long-distance relationship through letters. I would tell him everything I wanted to say in prayer, and then at a later time I would read what He had to say in the Bible. It was never immediate or back & forth like a real, in-person relationship is. Therefore, my relationship with God never really grew any deeper until I started to communicate with Him while He was communicating with me through His word.
When you read your Bible, I want it to be a conversation between you and the Lord. When you do this, God’s story begins to be woven into your life; becoming your story as well. You’ll remember later how certain verses sustained you through difficult times; how you were strengthened and challenged by God as you read His Word. You will be amazed at how God can use a simple phrase or even just a word to speak into your life – if you’ll let him!
“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Romans 15:4
“Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
Currently Listening To: A Beautiful Collision by David Crowder Band
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