Time spent in prayer and reading the word of God..

sermonindex Dec 1, 2004

Something that has been on my heart recently is the amount of time we spend praying to the Lord and reading and meditating on His word. Perhaps to focus on the reading the Word of God is more of an applicable point to focus on. So how much time apart from ALL distractions are you sitting down to read and meditate on the Scriptures? I feel that this can be something that we can do without and just breeze by glancing at the scriptures throughout the day for our own needs. But how much time do we Un-reseveredly spend meditating on His precepts? I feel we need to un-busy ourselves and get back into His word, in a way that we can hear His word to us again. Remember those days when ever page of the Word of God jumped out at you? the Words spoke to you? God call us all back to yourself. Make for yourself a people "peculair" in this busy world that is darkened and voided in their minds and hearts.What is your true honest reaction to these statements? Are you spending that time with a quiet heart with the Scriptures letting God speak to you?

sermonindex Dec 1, 2004

What is your true honest reaction to these statements? Are you spending that time with a quiet heart with the Scriptures letting God speak to you?For myself I feel I live off past revelation and studying of Scriptures and I am not as zealous to memorize and slowly meditate on the Word of God has I used to. God be jealous over us and bring us to hunger and thrist after righteousness till we are filled.

J

Jimm Dec 1, 2004

GregI think you bring up a very valid point here. A lot of people whom I have met (myself included) have at some point hit a growth-spurt in hunger for the scriptures and the when we get to a plateau, we mellow away into complacency.One problem I have identified in myself is when I read the bible for the sake of reading the bible- take it from me that will choke the life out of the word. As Watchman Nee said in his book “Christ the sum of all things”- “if your read the bible looking for knowledge you will indeed find knowledge, but if you read it looking for God, you will find God”. This must be at the very heart of all bible study or else we study in vain. We do not want to be that generation that Paul spoke of, “increasing in knowledge but not in truth”.James

G

Gideons Dec 1, 2004

Greg, I think it's a great idea. In our church, everyone reads the entire Bible in the month of January. We meet on January 1 and read the entire book of Genesis aloud as well. I don't know that we could do that online but how about reading through the Bible in the month of January?

I

InTheLight Dec 1, 2004

For myself I feel I live off past revelation and studying of Scriptures and I am not as zealous to memorize and slowly meditate on the Word of God has I used to.I can relate to this, I have been reading through the Bible this year with the McCheyenne(sp?)guide and I was recently convicted that on some days I was just reading through the days chapters so I could say I did my reading for the day. In the process I was not really going any deeper than the surface of the texts and I wasn't meditating on what I read.I do alot of reading and have been blessed through many wonderful books but I have felt a need recently to put down all other books and focus in on God's Word.In Christ,Ron

J

JoeA Dec 1, 2004

i relate to much of this. for the longest time i only studied to gain knowledge. before that i was just looking for the contradictions (i found nothing but sweet truths). but when i study to find God, that is when the peace comes. my biggest devotional problem is praying. i never pray enough. never.

P

Porkpie Dec 1, 2004

I must confess that I find much of the language on this thread confusing. In this case I want someone to explain from the heart, not from a textbook, why it is important that we read the bible everyday and pray everyday. I also want to know more about what "meditation" is. It feels like in this topic we are using language for which we have an assumed set of parameters of what the meanings these words could or couldn't be. Language is complex. Words are just symbols. Are you saying what you really mean, or are you trying to create reality with the words you say. If you want to get to the root of why you posted this thread I would say that you must question the Holy Spirit to know why He quickened you to think of these thoughts. Bible study everyday could be useless or useful. If it is in reaction to a growing fear of worldy things, it's useless. If it's a response to the prompting of the Spirit so that you may fall deeper and more securely into the love of Christ, than you must do it... We all must listen to what God has prompted in you, if this is the case.

J

Jimm Dec 1, 2004

PorkpieYou bring a very good point to the table. Let me begin by saying, prayer is an exercise of faith, of spirit (our spirit), and of the Spirit (Holy Spirit). These three things have different manifestations in ever person and so a concrete definition is very difficult. The very essence of prayer is talking to the Father, through the Son by His Spirit. Jesus Christ is our sanctification by which we can talk to God in Holiness (pureness, or atonement from sins). His (The Father) Spirit (Holy Spirit) bears witness with our spirit, that we are his children and speaks to us what he is told by the Son (Jesus Christ). I want to go much, much deeper into this topic but I am unsure exactly what the source of confusion is….tell me, are you familiar with any Bible texts? I only ask because it will be helpful for me to know exactly how long I must make my response. The language of your post suggests that you have some good knowledge, and I wonder how genuine your post is. Have you seen a shortcoming in us we must be aware of? Please, do not be offended by my questions but, as our relationship on the forum grows we will not be quite so awkward. We (Christians) are all a family and I believe your input will bring great deal of good to this forum.Your son in ChristJames