Jen began sharing how her sons, both football players prepare for football season. Before football season, they are in intense training - early mornings with weight lifting and practice, then throughout the season they are working hard for the team. Once the season ends, they are already setting goals for next season and working in the off season to achieve those goals. This scenario is much like any other activity or job out there - we work hard and set goals for the things that we are passionate about. But what about our realationship with God? Do we spend all of those long hours in preparation for the Lord, just like we do with athletics, or our careers, or our families?
The book Bible 360 by Daniel Lim talks about giving the Lord our first fruits, not our left overs, then gives examples of how to get into the Word.
1. Read it.
The average reader can read the Bible in 90 hours, so that means if we read it for an hour every day, we could read it in 90 days. That means we could read the entire Bible through 4 times in one year.
Yes, the Bible should be studied and meditated on, but reading the Bible all the way through breaks the unbelief that it can be read through. It's a big book, but it's doable! There are 66 books in the Bible, written over 600 years by 40 authors with 1 Holy Spirit and it's still relevant today. There are 1,189 chapters, 31,000 verses and 770,000 words. If you invest 1 hour a day for 30 days reading the New Testament, it can be finished in 30 days. What a return for a 1 hour a day investment. Image what the Lord would do with that! Where else to we invest 1 hour of our time each day? Are there other distractions that we could give up to spend 1 hour a day in the Word? We are to give 10% to the Lord. 10% of 24 hours is 2.4 hours. Are there ways we could make time in our day to give the Lord 10%?
2. Meditate on it.
To meditate means: thinking on, imagining and resolving the mind. Psalm 1:1-3 Says that we should be mediating on the Word day and night. We can just take small pieces of scripture and slowly chew and digest them.
3. Live it.
James 1:22-25 tells us to be doers of the word. Mark 16:15-17 says to cast out demons and speak in new tongues. We are to be the Church, living in community.
4. Write it.
Deuteronomy 17:18-20 says, “When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the Lord his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees. This regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. And it will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel."
The kings had to write (copy) the word down and read it daily! Just start with writing 1-2 verses, eventually work up to more - maybe even a whole chapter! Then underline what sticks out. This is a great way to see the word in a new way.
5. Pray it.
Praying scripture essentially demands that we put our faith in God's word and utter it back to Him - expecting HIM to stay true to His word in His time. Praying and agreeing with the truth in the Bible will also assure us that we are praying in the will of God and he delights to perform that which was written in His word. When we're praying the word of God, we are praying His will.
6. Sing it.
Not just songs, but scripture. Most worship songs come straight out of scripture. When you hear a song, look up what scripture it is referencing - it will change the way you sing the song.
Remember that if you don't se a goal and know where you are heading you'll always hit a target, but it's a moving target. You want to aim at the target God has in mind for you.
We use apps for tracking fitness and health, work, and scheduling, but what about for prayer?
Download the app called "Prayer Prompter" or the "Read Scripture" app!
Another idea is to take a blank calendar and write down things you prayed for or write down praises. Then when prayers are answered, you can highlight them and be able to look back at where you've seen God work!
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