Our pastor does this lovely thing before he preaches, where he asks us all to share a moment of silence to prepare our hearts to hear from God’s Word. I like it. I usually take a deep breath or two to quiet my body and mind. I often say a quick prayer like “Lord, speak to me today” or something of the sort. It’s a good ritual to enter into our time in scripture from a calm and open place.
This past Sunday, as I was sitting in the quiet, three words came to my mind during the silence and I realized these shape a lot of what we need when we come to scripture- whether a sermon or our own time in God’s word and I felt compelled to share them in case you, like me, need something easy to remember that can open your heart in a specific way to your time in God’s word.
Conviction. Comfort. Courage.
Conviction. My first prayer is always, Lord, show me where I need to repent, change or grow.
Jesus says “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye and do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye’ and look, the log is in your own eye. You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5)
When we listen to God’s word, we can often think about how much our husband, child, parent, friend, etc needs to hear this message. But, in reality, the person who needs to hear it most in my life is always me. I don’t control others- I can be in control of myself. If I first ask, “God- how does this apply to me?” then I am able to deal with my own sin or disbelief or weakness. No one else can repent or grow for me. It’s my work and my first response to scripture is to look for any log in my eye that is getting in the way of loving God or others.
Comfort. This world is so broken and none of us are immune to suffering. God’s love and care for us, revealed through the pages of the Bible are meant to be both healing and relieving as we face pain and trauma and grief.
Psalm 119:50 says “This is my comfort in my misery, that your word has revived me.”
God expresses so much desire to comfort his people, and scripture is the main way we hear his heart for us. We observe it through creation and other people and circumstances, but we hear it directly through his own word to us. When we read scripture, asking God to comfort our hurting places through his word can open us to see and receive it.
Courage. A big prayer of mine this year has been to act with more courage- in my relationships, in the world, in my speaking and teaching. The Bible is full of encouragement for us- a word that literally means put courage into. As we read the Bible, we can ask God to put courage into us through his word, so that we may operate with courage in our lives. It takes courage to be vulnerable in relationships. It takes courage to say no to sin. It takes courage to sacrifice for others. It takes courage to keep showing up. It takes courage to speak the truth or advocate for justice. So many parts of our lives require courage to live them well, and God, through his word, reminds us of his promises and provision and purpose- to encourage us to trust Him and do the next right thing.
God, give me the courage to live what I am reading today.