Getting the Most out of God's Word

1 Timothy 4:13 NKJV

Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life Reading God’s Word

John Blanchard, in his book How to Enjoy Your Bible, writes,

Surely we only have to be realistic and honest with ourselves to know how regularly we need to turn to the Bible. How often do we face problems, temptation and pressure? Every day! Then how often do we need instruction, guidance and greater encouragement? Every day! To catch all these felt needs up into an even greater issue, how often do we need to see God’s face, hear his voice, feel his touch, know his power? The answer to all these questions is the same: every day! As the American evangelist D. L. Moody put it, “A man can no more take in a supply of grace for the future than he can eat enough for the next six months, or take sufficient air into his lungs at one time to sustain life for a week. We must draw upon God’s boundless store of grace from day to day as we need it.”

1. Hearing the Word

Romans 10:17 NKJV

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Hindrances to Hearing the Word of God

An Unreceptive Mind This is a mind that is closed to God’s Word because of…

Unresolved conflicts –

Matthew 5:24 NKJV

leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Unforgiving spirit –

Matthew 6:15 NKJV

But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Inconsistent life –

Matthew 6:24 NKJV

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Disobedience to the known will of God –

Matthew 21:28–32 NKJV

“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to Him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.

A Preoccupied Mind This is a mind that is focused upon self-interest, personal ambition, and pleasures of this world.

James 1:8 NKJV

he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

How to Improve your Hearing

Prepare your heart

Psalm 119:33–34 NKJV

Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes, And I shall keep it to the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart.

Desire to hear and learn

Psalm 119:103 NKJV

How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Acts 17:11 NKJV

These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.

Confess and forsake known sin

Psalm 66:18 NKJV

If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.

Take notes on what you hear

Incorporate into your life what you hear

Keep listening!

Proverbs 1:5 NKJV

A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,

2. Reading the Word

Psalm 19:7–8 NKJV

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;

2 Peter 2:2 NKJV

And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.

Reading Tips

time / place

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life Reading God’s Word

Perhaps one of the main reasons Christians never read through the entire Bible is discouragement. Most people have never read a thousand-page book before and get discouraged at the sheer length of the Bible. Do you realize that tape-recorded readings of the Bible have proven that you can read through the entire Book in seventy-one hours? The average person in the United States watches that much television in less than two weeks. In no more than fifteen minutes a day you can read through the Bible in less than a year’s time. Only five minutes a day takes you through the Bible in less than three years. And yet the majority of Christians never read the Bible all the way through in their whole life. So we’re back to the idea that it’s primarily a matter of discipline and motivation.

Discipline yourself to find the time. Try to make it the same time every day. Try to make it a time other than just before you go to sleep. There’s value in reading the Bible just before you drop off, but if this is the only time you read Scripture then you should try to find another time. There are at least two reasons for this. First, you will retain very little of what you read when you’re so tired and sleepy. And second, if you’re like me, you probably do very little evil in your sleep. You need to encounter Christ in the Scriptures when it will still have an impact on your day.

follow a plan

outloud / listen & look

look for at least one phrase, verse, thought to meditate on

3. Memorizing the Word

Hiding God’s Word in your heart provides protection.

Psalm 119:9–11 NKJV

How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.

Hiding God’s Word in your heart will help in times of difficulty.

Psalm 119:52 NKJV

I remembered Your judgments of old, O Lord, And have comforted myself.

Hiding God’s Word also helps us be faithful to the Lord.

Hebrews 2:1 NKJV

Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.

How to Memorize the Bible

Choose verses that are helpful to you or teach key truths.

Write the verse on one side of a 3 x 5 card and its location on the opposite side.

Read the passage aloud several times in the morning, and then try to say it without looking.

Take some cards with you, and review the verses when you have an opportunity during the day.

Don’t settle for less than word perfect!

When & Where to Memorize Scripture

During your daily time with God

Skip a TV program and devote that time to learning God’s Word

Pull out your cards during down time (like when you are waiting for someone)

Memorize at bedtime

Psalm 63:5–6 NKJV

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.

4. Meditating on the Word

Meditation means to think about, to ponder the meaning and spiritual depth of Scriptural truths. This is accomplished through prayer and a desire to know the deep things of God.

Consider the following verses on the benefits of meditating on the Word:

Joshua 1:8 NKJV

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Psalm 1:1–3 NKJV

Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.

Some Great Truths to Meditate On

God’s Word of Creation – Psalm 19

The Perfection of God – Deuteronomy 32:4

The Character, Office, and Work of Christ – Hebrews 12:2-3

The Office and Operations of the Spirit – John 15-16

The Promises of God’s Word – Various Passages

The Depravity of our Nature – Romans 3:10-12, 23

The Grace of God in Salvation – Ephesians 2:1-9

Applying the Word

Jesus’ story in Matthew 7:24-27 illustrates the need to apply God’s Word:

Matthew 7:24–27 NKJV

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”