Oct 25 - How to Experience God's Presence (3B) PRACTICE: MEDITATE ON WORD

Do you want more of the presence of God?

Today, we will discuss the third step of

Practice and Discipline and Making it Happen.

Drawing closer to God is a three step process. 1) First, scripture tells us that we must intentionally choose to spend more time with God! 2) Second, God (through scripture) tells us that we need to humble ourselves, submit, and obey. 3) Third, we are called to be disciplined in continuing to draw nearer to God. We are calling this practice.

Yesterday, the first form of practice we talked about was prayer. Prayer is talking to God. It is listening to God. Most of all, prayer is the primary channel for developing a relationship with God.

Today we talk about the second of these three steps: Meditating on God’s Word. This indeed is what God called the Israelites to do if they wanted to be successful living his land – “This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night” (Joshua 1:8

2. “Meditate [on his Word] day and night” (Joshua 1:8)

Scripture is the second way in which we listen. Why? Because scripture is literally God’s Word. While my prayerful listening is important, it is often subjective. The written Word is clear, objective, and unchanging. God has promised to meet us on these pages. Indeed, he’s intentionally revealed himself here.

Assignment 1: Pray to develop a hunger for the Word of God. At first, reading scripture can be hard and it may require intentional discipline. As you become more familiar with “sound of God’s word” and as a hunger develops, reading scripture can be your day’s greatest joy.

Assignment 2: Read (at least) a “section” a day. What’s a “section”? If you do not already have a reading plan, let me give you some suggestions:

•       Read a Psalm a Day; or …
•       Or … read a New Testament chapter a day; or …
•       Or … if you’re less experienced with reading scripture find a good devotional book that starts with a scripture passage (a good devotional will help you make sense of the scripture passage) BUT THEN ALSO look up in the Bible that Scripture passage and read the paragraphs surrounding the scripture that you found in the devotion (this will help you learn to make sense of verses in context and gradually acquaint you with more of scripture).