In John 4:23, Jesus says that the Father is seeking true worshipers—who worship him in Spirit and in truth. One purpose, then, of listening, reading, and studying the Bible is to grow in knowledge so we can fulfill the goal of worshiping him in truth. But we need more than intellectual understanding of who God is. We need a relationship with him. I strive to look for three things with any scripture I’ve studied: life lessons, prayers to pray, and scripture to meditate on. Let’s take at them one at a time.
Life lessons are those places where scripture speaks a truth I need to hear. What I need to hear one time is not necessarily what I will need to hear another time. This is why no matter how many times I read a passage, I often learn new life lessons. Here are examples of some of the life lessons I wrote in a journal the last time I studied Philippians:
- God began a good work in me—he will complete it (1:6). This is a truth I need to remember because sometimes I find myself dealing with the same sins and I can be discouraged. But I see places where I have changed and I know that God has begun a work in me. I need to trust to him those areas where I still struggle.
- The antidote to anxiety is God’s peace—which I receive by making known my needs to God with thanksgiving (4:6-7)
- Paul has learned to be content in all circumstances (4:11b-13). He identifies the secret to contentment in this way, “I am able to do all things through [Christ], who empowers me.” His focus is on Christ, not the circumstances. If he is in need, he can trust Jesus to either supply the need or give the strength to respond rightly to the unmet need. If he has abundance, he does not put his confidence in it, but in Christ. I think the bottom line is that he has learned to be content in all circumstances because he does not look to his circumstances for his welfare, but to Jesus. He has realistic expectations. Circumstances change and if they are my source of contentment, my contentment will come and go. Jesus and his love are unchanging. He also empowers me to meet whatever life throws at me. Keep my focus on him—in difficult times and in good times.
Scripture also provides us with many opportunities to see ways we can pray for ourselves and for others. Sometimes we can just take a prayer straight out of scripture. The Lord’s Prayer would be a common example. Paul in his letters tells different churches what he is praying for them—Ephesians 3:14-21, for instance. These are also good prayers to pray. Sometimes we can also see things to pray for based on passages that are not prayers. For instance, in 1 Thessalonians 1:5, Paul says they can know they have been chosen by God “because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” I desire my church and the ecumenical fellowship I’m a part of to receive the gospel in word, in power, in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. I also desire that we would be a part of the way God can, in the same way, bring his gospel to others. So I pray these two things regularly.
It is my experience that the main way scripture moves from being something I know in my head to something I believe in my heart is through meditation. This is what can make the lessons for life stick. This is what can produce changes inside me. One example of a way I have been changed by scripture meditation is that I used to avoid ever telling God, “Do whatever it takes,” when praying about changes I knew needed to be made in me. After a topical Bible study, I ended up meditating on Isaiah 48:10-11. It says, “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.” About a month later as I was praying I found myself saying, “Do whatever it takes.” It completely shocked me and I asked myself if I really meant it. Much to my surprise, I found that I did. I would prefer to go through a furnace of affliction than be someone who causes God’s name to be profaned. This was a profound change! Another example is meditating on the 23rd Psalm. It made me realize that the shepherd loves the flock because he loves the individual sheep. I had come from a perspective that God loves “the world” and because I’m a part of “the world,” I got in on the deal. This psalm made me realize I had it backward. God’s love for the world flows from his love for the individuals who make up the world. These are changes in my heart beliefs, and they affect me and my relationship to God in significant ways.
Because of the importance that I see of meditating on scripture, I plan several posts on that topic. How we meditate will vary—depending both on what we are like as individuals (my husband wants the facts and I want the stories) and what kind of scripture we are meditating on (theology, history, poetry, etc). I will cover what meditation is and some different ways I meditate based on the type of scripture I’m pondering.