Spiritual Disciplines: Study

Good morning and welcome to another week of church here at the Bridge. I am so glad that we are able to come together and join together in worship this morning.

Hunger

Last week we talked about fasting from food. We looked at the ability to abstain from food and the connections to prayer and the importance of that in our spiritual lives. What i find interesting is that this weeks message is in many ways about consuming. It is about taking in and feasting.

Next week is spring break for us here in Bloomington. Often fro spring break Angie will take the kids and they will head to her families house to spend a few days. This year i am staying home because i have class and work that needs to be done. Any time this happens it is always interesting to me because i get to do something i look forward to.

See there are things that i like to cook that not everyone in my family enjoys eating. If i make these foods when their home i basically have to make two dinners which is a lot of work. I get to make things like ribs, or barbacoa, or a Mississippi roast with some gravy and roasted potatoes and carrots. It is always a tough choice for me what i want to eat those days. Needless to say i hunger for these days because i get to eat some really good food. Even now its making my mouth water a little bit because i am excited for it.

It was this hunger that got me thinking about this weeks topic. We are talkig about study. Now i know what many of you are thinking. Studying! Who wants to study? Many of us have been out of school for a long time and studying is something that we probably have fallen out of practice with. Yet, this is an important aspect of our Christian faith.

You see we are to Hunger for God and his word and to hunger for His word means we need to study his word.

Hunger for God and His word

I have a simple question for you.

Have you ever hungered for an experience with God?

How about this one.

Have you ever hungered for His word?

We mentioned it last week. Jesus talked about this.

Matthew 4:4 NIV

4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

or how about this scripture

Matthew 5:6 NIV

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

This hunger for righteousness is also a hunger for seeking truth.

John 8:32 NIV

32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

That passage always invokes memories of the movie a few good men. Except for we need to be ready to hear the truth.

The reality is that we need to find in us a hunger for God’s word. We need to be passionately seeking his guidance and direction through the power of prayer and the scriptures. Opening ourselves to what he has to say to us. Listening to the truth that God wants to put in our lives.

“To hunger after God’s Word is to desire to hear it. Many there are that hear holy reading and go away empty.”

Hugh of St. Victor

It isn’t enough for us to just listen to the word we must desire it. to Hunger

To Hunger for God’s word is to Study God’s word

Our appetite is growing we want to hear the word so now what? The challenge we have been trying to address over the last couple weeks when we are tackling the spiritual discipines is the fact that we want to draw closer to God. So far we have covered. Meditation, prayer, and fasting. The truth is these are all very spiritual and devotional based disciplines. They require the emotions and the heart and the passion to achieve. Study is a very different discipline.

To study is to be analytical.

Now i know some people might get scared by that idea. We have to be analytical. That sounds kinda complicated and difficult. The reality is all it requires is to think logically. To take time to process and to keep ones mind clear and focused.

If i was going to summarize one of the defining attributes of what Studying is as a spiritual discipline i would say that it is one that requires structure more than any other discipline. While we can learn in different ways to truly study there is a clear process and goal that is trying to be achieved.

Let us look at some of steps for studying.

Four steps for studying

Repetition

Repetition regularly channels the mind in a specific direction. Repetition becomes important because it doesn’t require us to entirely understand what it is we are reading. This is the goal of just continuing exposure to the ideas and passages of scripture even without full udnerstanding. It is in this regular exposure that we open ourselves to creating ingrained habits and practices that help center us on God. It is here that we gain insight and we begin to grow by increasing our awareness of what is in the scriptures. Think of it this way.

my favorite passage of scripture is

Philippians 4:13 NIV

13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

I have studied this verse i have repeated it to myself over and over again. I can’t tell you how many times i have looked to this verse. Yet, still even though i think i fully understand it i have grown and changed and been shown new things each year around this simple verse. I don’t ever dare to think that i have complete understanding of scriptures.

2. Concentration

Oh boy. This is one that is difficult for us in western culture. We are distracted by the shiny objects to easily. This is one that i struggle with as well. I can’t always sit in silence and just read. I usually have some kind of music on in the background. We struggle often with the idea of one thing at a time. We like to try to multi task. Yet, for good times of study we must sometimes quiet our world and just simply concentrate. If i am honest with you this is one that i struggle with and I am working on personally.

3. Comprehension

Remember John 8:32

John 8:32 NIV

32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

It is that “eureka” experience that we need in our lives when we have read something over and over again and then suddenly it makes sense. It is the moment of repetition that we have been devoted to and then it clicks. We understand what Jesus was talking about. We see why he shared the story he did. It is in these moments of concentration and study that we come to know the truth and it is important part of our study.

4. Reflection

Although Comprehension defines what we are studying. Reflection helps us see the significance of what we are studying. Easter is coming. We talk about the cross and what it means to us more this time of year than any other. It is the focus on God in this time that is powerful and meaningful. Many come to comprehension that Jesus died on the cross for them. It takes more though than just comprehending that it take reflection to realize the significance of that moment. What was really happening. It is in the reflection that the power is really seen and that we are transformed because it becomes significant for us.

The truth is that study is important it is something that we must engage in to grow closer to God and to strengthen who we are as Christians. WE must learn repetition, concentration, comprehension, and reflection to allow us to grow in our understanding of God’s word. Many think though that they get to a certain point. The accept jesus as savior and that is all they have to do.

To study God’s word is to never stop.

Can’t Stop

Paul speaks to us regularly about pressing on. Pushing forward. To not stopping when it comes to the race of our faith. He uses analogies and examples to help us see that we are in a race to return home some day but while we are here we are to be serving and living for God. This never became more clear to me than in his instruction to Timothy a young leader he had put into place.

2 Timothy 3:14–17 NIV

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

He didn’t say to Timothy I taught you everything you are done. No he instructed him to continue in his learning. To no stop to move from infancy to growth in our relationship. He told him the tools. The very Word of God the Holy Scriptures as his guide to moving forward as a Follower of God. This was so that at any moment he would be prepared to answer for his faith.

Everyone as access

One of the great challenges in teh church that if you talk to a pastor for awhile is that we are expected to have all the answers when it comes to spiritual matters. I must confess i don’t have all the answers. If i stood up here and said i understand every word that is in this book and what God is trying to teach us i would be a liar. I can’t do it. Yet, Pastors are expected to have these answers. The truth is that we don’t want to be the only one with the answers. We want to help you find the answers for yourself. We want to help you grow in how to find the answers. WE want to guide you to the answers not just to give them to you. Yes, there are times that we need someone to give the answers but the answers that truly change us are the ones that we come to the realization ourselves.

This is why studying is so important. We must commit ourselves to the engaging of God’s word so that we can better who we are and what we have learned.

Let us pray.