This week’s blog post is going to be a bit different as I share a recent practice I added to my life that I feel is helping me spiritually. It’s not, by any means, earth-shattering. I’m certain the idea is not original to me – I borrowed it from a friend. Perhaps it could be beneficial to you as well…
If you’ve tuned in for the last few episodes of the podcast (as well as the one coming out tomorrow!), you know we’ve been spending some time discussing prayer and reading/studying the Bible. Prayer and Bible study are both essential parts of our relationship with God:
Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6)
Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures. (Romans 15:4)
All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
I recently began a daily practice that combines these two important components of discipleship that I want to share with all of you. I’ve been calling it “Praying through the Scriptures” and the idea is this:
- Each day, select a short passage of scripture, 1-3 verses perhaps, and write it down in a journal, notebook, or some other physical medium. I suppose you could do this on a computer or in the notes app on your phone. For me, it just hits differently when I write it out by hand.
- Then, I write a short prayer to God about that passage. Perhaps, I’m asking for the abilities or opportunities described in the passage. Maybe, I’m seeking protection from the things the passage is warning us about. Or, it could be a prayer of thanksgiving for the blessings we have access to as portrayed in Scripture. It doesn’t have to be long. Most of mine have been 2-3 sentences. The idea is just to focus a prayer on the topic of the scripture.
As for finding a passage to pray about – most of us probably have some kind of Bible app on our phone or tablet, or access to some kind of Bible website that we use regularly. Many of those platforms have a feature called “Scripture of the Day” or “Verse of the Day.” I did some really scientific research (aka crowdsourcing through social media, texting family/friends) to find out what people are using:
- Olive Tree (which I’ve been using as a mobile Bible app since I had a Palm Pilot)
- YouVersion
- Blue Letter Bible
- e-Sword
- Life Bible
- Bible Gateway
- Logos
…just to name a few (if you’re using one that we didn’t list, drop the name of it in a comment below).
This is just one idea. If you have a daily practice that combines prayer and scripture reading, please let us know. In the meantime, I’m praying you grow closer to God this week through prayer and study.
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