A Match Made in Heaven

When was the last time you read a piece of Scripture with the purpose to drink deeply the very presence of God? Or does it feel that your time of reading through Scripture is stale? We close the book or the app and wonder what it all means? The truth is, that’s many of our stories. And maybe all we need is to reframe our thinking. Or to find a different way to connect with God through His Word. Prayer can be that useful tool to align our hearts with what God is revealing through our reading. This process can also work the other way around. Praying Scripture is using the words of the Bible to inform our prayers (Kristyn Perez, The Daily Grace Co.). We see evidence of this throughout Scripture as well. Men like Nehemiah and Jonah prayed to God when they didn’t have the words to say. When Jesus was reaching his last breath, He quoted Psalm 22.

Too often we don’t utilize the symbiotic relationship that prayer and Scripture have with one another. Each practice can stand by itself. There is no question about that. But when brought together, something wonderful happens. When we engage the practice of prayer and Scripture at the same time, we will find that the combination enhances and deepens our relationship with God. Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica to Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV). God’s will for our lives is to be in connection with Him constantly. And He’s given us the resources to be able to do that. But how often does our prayer and study life look like I'm that? And if it doesn’t, maybe we need to try a new way today.

Using Scripture to connect us to God can be that way. Maybe music is what grabs your attention. Find a song that puts Scripture to music. Maybe you need to jump start your prayer life. There’s a process called the Lectio Divina. It will help to focus your attention on Scripture through the practice of prayer. It’s a type of devotional reading that is aimed at growing your relationship with God rather than gathering information inside of the text. Lectio Divina is a latin phrase that means “divine reading” or “sacred reading” and is a practice used throughout early church history to find deeper connection with God. It’s a way to pray through Scripture and allow God the space in your life to speak through the pages.

The question for each of us is how is the relationship between our reading and prayer life? Are we trying to use them as two separate practices? Or are we engaging in the life giving process that prayer and Scripture can bring together? Because the truth is, when we bring the two practices together within our daily walk, we find that it was a match made in heaven. When we pray over our reading time for God to reveal something new to us or when we pray the Scriptures back to God, we will find the deepening of our faith the more we do it. But it requires some work on our part. Maybe to find a way to engage our faith in a new step.

Today is a great day to start!