Psalm 119:105
God has many wonderful blessings in store for you each day. The most wonderful and most clear blessing He has for you each day is that He desires to speak to you, to talk to you, to have a relationship with you!
Imagine, the God and Creator of the Universe, wants desperately to have a conversation with you!
While God can speak to you through many different ways, the primary method He uses is through the Bible. While God can and does speak through His Holy Spirit, through His creation, and through His people, the most clear, common, and direct way He speaks is through His Word. While He does use other methods of communicating with us, we must remember that every other method will agree with what is written in the Word of God.
However, reading the Word of God for many Christians and hearing God speak through it, can be a struggle. So the aim of this devotional blog is to offer tips to help you hear God speak as you read His Word in 7 simple steps.
Minimize Distractions - as much as possible isolate or encapsulate yourself from outside noise. All you need is a Bible/Bible App and something to take notes on. Nothing more. Satan will try to distract you with people, technology, etc. if He can. Setting a time and a place can help, but is not always possible. Wherever and whenever you are going to read just eliminate all the distractions you can.
Begin with Prayer - Before you begin reading, thank God for His Word, and ask God to guide you in His Word. Ask Him to guard you from distraction and interruption so that you can focus on time with Him. Ask Him to speak to your heart and to help you to understand and apply to your life what you have read.
Start Reading - Often the hardest part of reading the Word of God is the “starting to read part.” It is helpful to have a reading plan or schedule, but the bottom line is just read…it is all good.
Slow down - Don’t get in a hurry. How much you read is not as important as absorbing what you read. Slowing down and focusing is essential to hearing God speak. If we are familiar with a passage or story, or if we happen to find a section of scripture “dry” we tend to skim or let our minds wander. Slow down, focus, and lean in to what God is saying through His Word.
Take Notes - You don’t have to take a lot of notes. But as you read, certain things will catch your attention or “jump off the page” to you. Write those things down. Also it is good to take not of repetitive phrases or words, or things you don’t yet understand or seem odd. There are much more and in-depth notes that can be taken but start simple and with just a few notes.
Pray again - When you are done reading, pray and thank God for allowing and strengthening you to read His Word. Ask Him to Help you in applying what you have learned. Thank Him for speaking to you, because if you are reading His Word, He is speaking.
Share -Share with others what God has shown you, discuss with others that which you are yet struggling to understand. The blessing of God’s Word and God’s voice is not meant to stay only with you.
While there are many different methods and plans when it comes to reading God's word, the most important is to just read it. So begin simple with these 7 steps, and listen as God speaks to you and guides you throughout the day.
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