PRINCIPLES FOR CULTIVATING A LIFE IN THE WORD treasuringchrist.blogspot/2011/04/feeding-on-god.html Some practical principles for cultivating a life in the Word… 1. PATTERN Nothing becomes part of your life unless it is characterised by a pattern. Commit the same time each day, spent in the same quiet and tranquil place to feeding on God’s Word. Pray and read aloud if necessary to stop mental drift. Dedicate enough time to prevent being focused on time. 2. PRAYER Study needs to be accompanied by prayer. In advance, asking for understanding, cleansing, joy and correction and in closing, offering praise and thanksgiving, and asking for grace in responding to His revelation. Closing prayer can also incorporate your general prayer time, and using a standardised framework (like “ACTS” or “The Five Finger Prayer”) to ensure prayer covers all relevant areas is a good idea. 3. PURPOSE The purpose of your study must always be learning about Him, seeing His glory, hearing His voice, being sanctified and conformed to His will. Consciously prepare your heart to be in humble submission and focus on applying what you read to yourself. Have expectant anticipation for what the Lord has to show you. Turning the Word into prayer as you read is a useful aid to enhancing your scripture memory and prayer and glorifies God. 4. PLAN This is the hard bit. You need a plan and you need to stick to it. Stretch yourself here. A broad Bible reading scheme is a great idea for covering the overarching themes, characters and stories. There are loads of good reading schemes available including one for example in the ESV Bible. There are 1189 chapters in the Bible so you need to cover a little over three every day. Many schemes for example cover some parts more than once in a year and include reading from different parts of the Bible concurrently to enrich your reading time. Many reading schemes would cover the Psalms and Proverbs concurrently with the rest of Scripture. Distinctly meditating on one Psalm or Proverb each day in addition to other study lends itself well to maintaining a heart-focus by nature of these books. An in-depth study component is required to plumb the depths of the Word. Usually, study in pre-selected books that lines up with some kind of overall plan or for instance the content your home group is studying is a good idea. Aim for one chapter per night at minimum although repetition is helpful (for example studying each chapter every night for one week). 5. PROTECTION We live in a dark and hostile world, and daily we battle “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12) The Word of God though is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) The reality is that to meditate on the Word day and night it needs to be buried in your heart and mind. Scripture memory however is probably the most neglected aspect of study today. Spending time on memorising a verse for instance which was particularly relevant to you in your other study is a good way to do this because the link back to your life which makes a verse relevant also makes it easier to remember. Now all we have to do is do it! As with everything else, we need grace! So cry out with the Psalmist “Incline my heart to your testimonies…”(Psalms 119:36)
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 13:06:46 +0000
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