After taking time to significant time for prayer (in fact, the majority of my devotional time is spent in prayer), I will begin my study time. I will either focus on studying out a specific Bible topic or story, or I will follow a daily Bible reading plan, such as we’ve been doing with the Revived by His Word initiative.[i] As I study the Bible, I’m constantly asking myself, “How can I apply this to my life today? What is God trying to teach me through this passage today?”
Besides the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy, I also sometimes read other devotionals, but I think it’s very important we not let contemporary devotionals, powerful as they may be, take time away from actual time in God’s Word. Nothing can replace God’s Word!
Inspiration tells us, “The Bible is God’s voice speaking to us, just as surely as though we could hear it with our ears. If we realized this, with what awe would we open God’s Word, and with what earnestness would we search its precepts! The reading and contemplation of the Scriptures would be regarded as an audience with the Infinite One.”[ii]
Furthermore, we are told, “There is nothing more calculated to strengthen the intellect than the study of the Scriptures. No other book is so potent to elevate the thoughts, to give vigor to the faculties, as the broad, ennobling truths of the Bible. If God’s Word were studied as it should be, men would have a breadth of mind, a nobility of character, and a stability of purpose rarely seen in these times.”[iii]
I've just recently written a Bible study handbook with another church leader which will be published and shared on a large scale this fall. [Note: This booklet Revived by God's Word: Mini-Handbook for Bible Study is now available online for download at: www.revivalandreformation.org or write me and we'll send you a copy at: revivethemission@gmail.com]
Again, the key point is not that you must follow a certain plan or method every day, but that you take time each day consistently, and that during this time, you give priority to prayer and Bible study, being open to however God leads you.
[i] To learn more and join thousands of others reading through the Bible, visit: www.revivedbyhisword.org
[ii] Testimonies, Vol. 6, 393
[iii] Steps to Christ, p. 90
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