Scripture and Prayer

  • if you can remember back a long time ago, we began talking about the Christian life you’ve always wanted to live
  • my assumption was that all believers want to live godly lives, but we’re frustrated, many of us, by our tendency to sin
  • as the hymn says, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love”
  • how many times do we feel frustrated by our lack of follow-through when it comes to pleasing Christ?
  • so, way back in July I told you two things that won’t work
  • focusing on outward change doesn’t work
  • self-effort doesn’t work – it’s not a matter of simple will-power
  • and I began to unravel what I believe the secret is to a life that is pleasing to God
  • I told you that I believed the pathway to spirituality is through a set of spiritual disciplines that condition us to me more like Christ
  • just as you couldn’t expect to run a marathon without entering months of rigorous training, you can’t expect to live a life that is pleasing to God without entering into a regimen of spiritual training
  • really, what we do in private determines the success of our walk with God day to day
  • so far, I’ve talked about five spiritual disciplines, and I’ll bet you can’t remember what they are
  • celebration, slowing, servanthood, confession, and secrecy
  • and I have three more to cover: prayer, Scripture, and in a couple of weeks, the subject of fasting
  • so I want to ask you, how is it going?
  • have you found that your walk with the Lord has been improved by the practice of these private disciplines?
  • a few weeks ago, my schedule was controlling me, rather than me controlling my schedule
  • I was feeling frustrated in my personal devotions, fatigued, and a little harried
  • and I took a day apart
  • I actually booked a room in an Anglican convent for a day, up in Willowdale, and spent the day in prayer and reflection
  • you might not be comfortable with the idea of an Anglican convent, but the main idea for me was to get away into a place of solitude where I could spend time with my God in prayer, and in reflection of my life and effectiveness
  • but let me tell you that the time away, although too short, renewed me in a way that nothing else could have
  • in fact, I’m going back on a regular basis
  • because I’m learning that nothing can replace what God’s people throughout the ages have practiced and found to be helpful: the regular practice of spiritual disciplines, not as an end to themselves, but as a way to draw closer to God
  • tonight I’d like to talk about the area of personal devotions
  • this is probably what you thought I would discuss when I first began the series on spiritual disciplines – even though they are only two of many practices
  • I WANT TO TALK FIRST ABOUT MEDITATION ON SCRIPTURE
  • what I want to talk about is not the two most common methods of looking at Scripture in personal devotions
  • the first common method is called study
  • it’s important
  • sometimes we need to get out our Bible helps and dig down and do an in-depth study of the Word of God
  • that’s absolutely crucial
  • in fact, I believe that every Christian needs to invest in some good Bible study tools that will last them a lifetime, because the study of the Word of God is so important
  • but that’s not what I want to look at today
  • I also don’t want to look at the next common method of looking at Scripture, which you could call survey
  • I think it’s important to do this as well
  • I have a few different one-year Bibles, and I think they are useful to get an overview of books of the Bible, and to get to know the Bible as a complete book rather than a few isolated verses here and there
  • but the problem with both of these common methods of Bible study is that their goal is knowledge
  • and as important as knowledge is, it isn’t enough
  • you see, the goal of the Bible is not to give us more information but to transform us
  • some of the people with the greatest knowledge of the Bible haven’t had their lives transformed by God’s Words
  • how do I know this?
  • (John 5:39) You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me,
  • (John 5:40) yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
  • the religious leaders thought that their knowledge of the Scriptures was proof of their spiritual greatness
  • but they never allowed the Bible’s teachings to transform their minds and hearts
  • and they never met Jesus in the Scriptures
  • there is a big difference between reading the Bible to be transformed, and reading the Bible to find information or to prove a point
  • it is possible to read Scripture without being “washed by the Word”
  • as John Ortberg says, “The goal is not for us to get through the Scriptures. The goal is to get the Scriptures through us”
  • now, don’t get me wrong
  • knowledge of the Bible is indispensable and it is good, but it is not enough
  • we need to come to the Bible in our personal lives not to gain more knowledge, but to transform our lives
  • we need to come to a small passage of Scripture, and enter into it and meditate upon it until it changes our lives
  • somebody has written:
  • If you read quickly, it will benefit you little. You will be like a bee that merely skims the surface of a flower. Instead, in this new way of reading with prayer, you must become as the bee who penetrates in the depths of the flower. You plunge deeply within to remove its deepest nectar.
  • the Bible talks over and over again of this practice
  • the words for meditate in the Scriptures are used over 58 times in the Old Testament alone
  • (Genesis 24:63) He went out to the field one evening to meditate.
  • (Psalms 63:6) On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.
  • (Psalms 119:148) My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.
  • (Psalms 1:2) But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
  • and it comes from the belief that the God of the universe, the Creator of all things, desires our fellowship
  • and one of the ways he desires to meet us is through his Word
  • LET ME TIE IN THE IDEA OF PRAYER WITH THIS
  • you probably know Revelation 3:20 off by heart
  • (Revelation 3:20) Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
  • most of the time we use this verse evangelistically, but did you know that it was written not to unbelievers but to believers?
  • Richard Foster says of this verse, “We who have turned our lives over to Christ need to know how very much he longs to eat with us, to commune with us. He desires a perpetual Eucharistic feast in the inner sanctuary of the heart”
  • and it comes as we meditate on Scripture and pray
  • and this is what prayer is
  • prayer is simply opening that door to intimacy and communion with God
  • as the authors of the study Experiencing God remind us, God is pursuing a love relationship with you
  • he longs to love you, to commune with you in a way that is real and personal
  • just as Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the day, God desires to walk with you – to cultivate his relationship with you, to go over things that you need to discuss together
  • you can see how different this is from the way we normally think of personal devotions
  • instead of racing through a Bible passage or studying a passage in depth, and ticking it off on a chart, and instead of viewing prayer as a n obligation, how about viewing it as a time with the God of the universe who loves you, who wants a real and personal relationship with you, who longs to walk with you in the cool of the day, or to enjoy a perpetual Eucharistic feast with you
  • I want to give you some suggestions from an excellent book by John Ortberg that will help to lead you to this place
  • THE FIRST THING HE SUGGESTS IS THAT YOU ASK GOD TO MEET YOU IN YOUR PERSONAL DEVOTIONS
  • before you begin, ask God to speak to you
  • as you begin reading the Scripture and praying, anticipate that he will do so
  • realize that Jesus is present with you as you begin to read his Word
  • listen to hear God’s voice – a Scripture might impact you, you may feel convicted about some sin, or be prompted to take some course of action
  • ask the Spirit to illumine you as you read the Bible
  • D.L. Moody said, “The Bible without the Holy Spirit is a sundial by moonlight”
  • when we read the Scriptures, we need the Spirit to teach us
  • view your time as not a time with a book, but a time with the author of that book, who is still present to illumine his Word and to guide you
  • Dietrich Bonhoeffer underlines the importance of this attitude as we come to the Bible:
  • Often we are so burdened and overwhelmed with other thoughts, images, and concerns that it may take a long time before God’s Word has swept all else aside and come through…This is the very reason why we begin our meditation with the prayer that God may send his Holy Spirit to us through his Word and reveal his Word to us and enlighten us.
  • THE SECOND THING HE SUGGESTS IS THAT YOU READ THE BIBLE IN A REPENTANT SPIRIT
  • when you come to your time of personal devotions, surrender everything
  • read with a vulnerable heart
  • (Hebrews 4:12) For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
  • the Word of God is not simply a collection of words from God, or a vehicle for communicating ideas
  • it is a living, life-changing, dynamic force that reveals who we are and who we aren’t
  • it shows us the core of our spiritual life
  • it discerns what is good in us and what is not
  • and that is why we need to come to the Word in a spirit of openness and repentance
  • (2 Timothy 3:16) All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
  • (2 Timothy 3:17) so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
  • the Bible is meant to change the way we live
  • we should not study the Bible in order to increase our knowledge or to prepare to win arguments, we need to approach our time with God in order to be changed by it
  • so come to the Bible with a repentant spirit
  • THE THIRD THING HE SUGGESTS IS THAT YOU MEDITATE ON A FAIRLY BRIEF PASSAGE OR NARRATIVE
  • let me quote directly:
  • “So immerse yourself in a short passage of Scripture—perhaps a few verses. Read it slowly. Read it the way you would read a letter at the height of a romance. Certain words may stand out to you; allow them to sink into your heart. Ask if perhaps God wants to speak to you through these words. The question that always lies behind such reading is, ‘God, what do you want to say to me in this moment?'”
  • if you’re reading a story, read with all your imagination
  • try to recapture the setting and what the experience must have been like
  • but instead of being focused on covering a huge portion of Scripture, focus on letting a short passage of Scripture sink into your hearts
  • this is where I have had to change
  • while I still value reading the Bible completely from cover to cover on a fairly regular basis, if you just do this you’re missing out
  • we need to slow down and let a short passage of Scripture filter down into our lives
  • we need to saturate ourselves in a passage and until every aspect of our life is touched by it
  • we need to change our idea of success from how many pages we have read to how much God has spoken to us
  • we need to make it our job to stick with a Scripture as long as it takes to learn what we need to learn at the Savior’s feet
  • THE FOURTH THING THAT ORTBERG SUGGESTS IS THAT WE TAKE ONE THOUGHT OR VERSE WITH US THROUGH THE DAY
  • you can’t meditate fast
  • you need to slow down enough to meditate on God’s Word for an extended period of time – when you’re at a stoplight, or at various periods throughout the day
  • it’s compared to the process by which the roots of a tree draw up moisture from a flowing river to bring nurture and fruitfulness to the entire tree
  • this is what we need to do
  • in Scripture, meditation is compared to a young lion growling over its prey, or the low murmur of a dove, or a cow chewing on its cud
  • take one thought from Scripture, and repeat it all day, because what the mind repeats, it retains
  • make it part of your life
  • FINALLY, LET THIS THOUGHT BECOME PART OF YOUR MEMORY
  • memorizing Scripture isn’t just for kids
  • it’s one of the most powerful means of transforming our minds
  • (Psalms 119:11) I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
  • memorize statements from Scripture that will help you where you need help most
  • make Scripture part of your life until God’s Word becomes part of your thought life
  • this is what I mean by prayer and Scripture
  • one of the things my wife and I have had to do to, in order to cultivate our relationship, has been to continue dating each other
  • we don’t do it enough, but we need to regularly set time aside with no other agenda than to enjoy each other, commune with each other, reconnect and just enjoy our relationship
  • this is what God desires with us
  • (Revelation 3:20) Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
  • or, as the New Living Translation says:
  • (Revelation 3:20 NLT) Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends.
Darryl Dash

Darryl Dash

I'm a grateful husband, father, oupa, and pastor of Grace Fellowship Church Don Mills. I love learning, writing, and encouraging. I'm on a lifelong quest to become a humble, gracious old man.
Toronto, Canada