Is There "A Word from the Lord"?
Christians agree that the Bible is the most important book to know and to live by. But most of us admit that we do not read the Bible as faithfully as we feel we should. Why? Maybe we can't pronounce the names in it, or we find it difficult to read. Or we feel inadequate to understand it. Though we yearn for "a word from the Lord" (Jer. 37:17), for many reasons, we may be reluctant to read the Bible.
Yet believers through the ages testify to the power of meditating on its words. Psalm 119 expresses gratitude to God for this gift: "Your law is my delight. ... The unfolding of your words gives light" (77, 130, NRSV). Dietrich Bonhoeffer said we ponder scripture "on the strength of the promise that it has something utterly personal to say to us for this day and for our Christian life." [Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Life Together. Quoted in The Spiritual Formation Bible (Zondervan, 1998).] So how can we hear God's personal word to us?
For centuries, Christians have practiced a life-giving way of listening to scripture to link its wisdom with daily joys and challenges. Though simple, the method outlined below is not familiar. School teaches us to read books in order to finish them, to master their content, to outline and organize. But we read scripture differently. [For an extensive explanation of this way of reading scripture, see Robert M. Mulholland's book Shaped by the Word: The Power of Scripture in Spiritual Formation (Upper Room Books, 2000).] This method invites us to read scripture not to master it or get to the end of it but to hear what is the heart of it for us on any given day. Here are the five steps:
Step 1: Read/listen. Choose a passage -- no more than a few verses -- and read through to see the overall content. Then read again, more slowly, pausing when a word or phrase gets your attention. After reading, remain silent and inwardly repeat your word or phrase. For example, today as I read Mark 4:26-28, the phrase that stopped me was "he does not know how." I silently repeated that phrase slowly to myself several times.
Step 2: Relate. Consider how your word or phrase connects to what is going on in your life. Pay attention to feelings, memories, thoughts that arise. Ask yourself what God may be saying to you. For example, as I thought about my phrase "he does not know how," I became aware of rising anxiety. I feel anxious about someone I love who is in a difficult situation. I cannot see a life-giving way out for this person. And then I realized that I do not have to "know how" because God is at work in this situation beyond my understanding, in ways and places that I cannot see.
Step 3: Reflect. Consider what invitation God offers you for today regarding the connection you made. I sensed an invitation to let go of my anxiety and trust that God is at work, to entrust this one I love to God's care. This is the "word from the Lord" that I take away from my time with the scripture. (At this point in my regular reflection, I note in my journal the scripture passage and date and the invitation I sensed.)
Step 4: Pray. Ask God to empower you to respond to the invitation that you heard in your reflection. I asked God to help me let go of anxiety and allow the peace of Christ rule in my heart (Col. 3:15). I once again consciously placed the one I love in God's care. (I also write my prayer in my journal.)
Step 5: Rest. Simply sit quietly in God's presence and allow God to love you. This step is the hardest one for us busy people to do. I liken resting in God's presence to holding my young daughter years ago after she fell asleep as I rocked her. Though there was no need to continue holding her once she fell asleep, I enjoyed feeling her close to me. I wanted to be with her. In a similar way, God wants to be close to us, to hold us even when we no longer need or ask for anything.
Some people add a sixth step to the process, action -- making the invitation into an action for the day. In my case, that might mean praying again the prayer above each time I feel anxiety returning.
This process gives us a way to receive "a word from the Lord" each day as we spend time with God by reading and reflecting on scripture. We can do a similar process in a group. [See Norvene Vest's book Gathered in the Word: Praying the Scripture in Small Groups (Upper Room Books, 1996).] Having access to the Bible and education and leisure to be able to read and study it are gifts. We honor God when we take advantage of them.
Several meditations in this issue speak of Bible reading as a way to receive guidance from God and strength for our journey. You may want to read again the meditations for May 1, 4, 12, 14, and 28 and June 1, 12, 13, 23, and 24 before responding to the reflection questions below.
Questions for Reflection:
- Do you often receive direct guidance for your daily life as you read the Bible? If so, how does it come? Will you try the method outlined here? Why or why not?
- Besides Bible reading, what can we do to hear God?
- Do you believe that God has something "utterly personal" to say to you each day? Why or why not? If so, how can you prepare yourself to hear God?
- What most often keeps you from reading the Bible? What supports you in reading it?
- For what situation do you need "a word from the Lord" today? How can you listen to/hear from God?
- Mary Lou Redding
From The Upper Room daily devotional guide, May/June 2008. Copyright © 2008 The Upper Room. All Rights Reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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