My Time in the Word

As a young believer I was thankful for those the Lord put in my life to encourage me to spend time daily in His Word.  Sometimes it was through books I read and many times it was in seeing the difference in the lives of Christians that spent time at the feet of Jesus. I desired to be changed by His Word to reflect more of Him and less of me.

As I was reading, meditating and praying this morning I wanted to share with you what my time with the Lord looks like most days.

I am an early morning person so meeting the Lord when I first awake is giving Him the best moments of my day.  There is no set rule here and moms with littles you may not have a long stretch to sit with His Word but little bits of time to meet and ponder may be all you have for a short season.  I encourage you to not make an excuse that you can't take time to sit at His feet but to do so by keeping scripture references all around your house (kitchen sink area, laundry room, baby's changing table, bathroom mirror etc.).  Keep a Bible open on the kitchen counter and take those moments to read and meditate even if you only have moments.  Scripture memory is an important spiritual discipline to always have God's Word on your heart.

My personal time with the Lord always starts with worship music and a time of prayer before I open His Word.

Using a daily reading plan keeps me moving through my Bible.   Currently I am using Robert Murray M'Cheyne's Bible Reading Plan.  My journal is open nearby as I do my daily reading to make note of verses which stand out to me.  I'll usually focus on one verse of the several I marked and write it out in my journal.  This is a time for me of application and prayer.

Here is an example from my journal:

Luke 9:23 – And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me”.  

Application thoughts:
-Self denial is to obey His commandments and to serve one another.  To suffer willingly for the sake of the kingdom.
-Renouncing selfish ambitions
-What is my motive? – God sent His Son to die for my sins and by the free gift of His grace adopted me as His own child.
-I am saved by grace so there is nothing that He cannot ask of me.  He gave Himself wholly for me.
-I must not live to please myself but to please God and love my neighbor.
-He is good and faithful and I can trust Him
-I am now part of God's family and as a member of His family there should be family resemblance.

Prayer:
Lord, 
My motives and heart are so selfish   Help me to lay down my life daily by the power of your Holy Spirit within me to serve You and in doing so serve others.  May I continue to kill the sin of selfishness and help me to obedient to Your commands.  That I would live as a daughter of the King and put first what pleases You.

My time in prayer continues as I lift up requests to God always making His Word the basis for my prayers.  It is a time to worship and give thanks to the Lord, to acknowledge my dependence on Him and to confess my sins, to ask Him to mold me more into the image of His Son, to pray for the needs of my family and friends keeping an eternal perspective.  God is my Father and I can come to Him with any need knowing that He will always do what is best for me and what brings Him glory.

I do enjoy using a devotional guide and it comes after my time in the Word.  Tabletalk is a favorite but I must always major in the Bible.  I encourage you to make scripture memory part of your day.  There are many resources online to help you (I use Scripture Typer) but index cards still work pretty effectively if you take the time to review them.