Week Two: Pray Before You Read

“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” Psalm 145:18

Last week I stressed the importance of setting a specific time each day to spend with the Lord.  Well, if you’re anything like me, you’re thinking “how do I do that without getting bored and distracted within the first 10 minutes”?  What I’ve found is that you’ll come to enjoy reading the Bible if you’re actually understanding it, and one of the main ways to understand it is to pray before you start reading.  This may seem simple and obvious to some people, but I always considered prayer and Bible study separate.  It really wasn’t until last month that I realized how important it is to do both together.

James 1:5 says “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”

So first of all, let’s just pause and realize how awesome this verse is.  This means that God didn’t just give us the Bible and be like “here ya go, good luck figuring this all out on your own!” No, he says that if we don’t understand something that we really want to, just ask and he’ll make things clear.  Not only does He promise to help us understand His word, but He promises to not even get angry or annoyed that we don’t get it.  This past break especially, I’ve been asking God for wisdom about certain things and I’m so thankful that each time I ask he isn’t thinking “seriously Sarah?  I’ve tried to explain this to you 20 times… why don’t you get it yet?”  Instead, God actually tells us to ask and He will give generously.

1 John 5:14-15 says “And we can be confident that He will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with His will.  And if we know He is listening when we make our requests, we can be sure that He will give us what we ask for.”

Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean He will give us everything we want.  If that were the case, I would for sure have a car by now, and probably a hot boyfriend too. This means that if what we want is also what He wants (“in line with His will”), then we will receive it.  Knowing and understanding His word is definitely something He wants for us, so we can be confident when we ask that He will be faithful and give it to us.

This week, begin your quiet time by simply asking God for wisdom and guidance, and for Him to soften your heart to receive His truths.  Just by adding prayer before studying the Bible, you’ll find that God will be faithful to hear your prayer and will start to give you a deeper understanding of His Word.

Currently Listening to: Dove’s Eyes by Misty Edwards

**A dove (also called a Love Bird) is able to only put attention on one thing at a time, so we ask God to give us dove’s eyes so that we may focus our whole heart and life on only Him.