Read the Bible and Your Spirit Will Remember It
I’ll bet you didn’t think Google could help you hear from the Lord. Think again.
God Is Always Speaking
God is always speaking, but we aren’t always listening. It’s no coincidence that you woke up with that worship chorus on your heart and can’t stop singing it. He’s speaking to you! Maybe you heard in your heart “I can do all things,” when you were having a hard day at work. He’s speaking to you through his scripture!
Have you ever heard anyone talk about how the Word of God is alive? Sounds strange, until you experience God speaking to you through his Word. I used to think that Bible reading was the dull and drudgery part of being a follower.
It wasn’t until I read the whole Bible that I started to experience the power of knowing the repetitive themes and words of God running throughout both the Old and New Testaments.
Now, I know from experience his Word is powerful! The Spirit living in us recalls his Word to our hearts and minds in order to give instruction and encouragement.
Here’s the truth: He can’t prompt our memory of a verse we’ve never read!
We read scripture so that he will have words already waiting in our mind that he can use to speak to our heart at the right moment.
Jesus often answers my questions with a phrase or passage from scripture. Sadly, my memory for scripture references is awful! When I recall or hear a snippet of scripture in my head, I Google it. No joke, I do it all the time. In fact, my Google search history mostly consists of phrases from worship songs and the Bible as I try to locate what God is saying.
Just the other day I was trying to figure out why I was in an emotional funk. When I asked God, I heard this: “After starting this project by the Spirit, now are you trying to do it on your own strength?”
Gosh that sounded familiar. Since I’ve been reading the Word regularly, I recognized his reply as scripture. Then, I pressed the Google assistant button on my phone and repeated the phrase. Just like that, it found Galatians 3:3.
“Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?”
Galatians 3:3 NIV
Ouch, right? Of course he nailed it. I knew instantly that I was trying to rely on my own strength and skill to succeed in a project I was working on. However, when I originally started that project I had been completely relying on him to give me strength to make up for my utter lack of skill. Here I was trying to do everything on my own…again. And do it perfectly to boot. Foolish indeed.
That’s just one illustration of how God used something I’ve read recently in scripture to speak to me days or weeks later.
As a side note, I often read a few verses before and after the one I’m looking up because God often has so much more to teach me. It’s like he uses the bit of scripture I know to get me in the ballpark so that he can really start schooling me once I open the text!
I love reading a verse in multiple versions like NIV, ESV, or TPT. Sometimes a specific word or turn of phrase will drive the message home even further.
Now, Let’s Get Practical!
If you don’t know where to start, and the idea of reading your Bible sounds dry and boring, try this:
- Download the YouVersion Bible app
- Start the 30-day #WordBeforeWorld challenge by Well-Watered Women
What is it, and why is it so great? The plan helps you commit to waking up and opening your Bible first, before the social feeds or news. You will read very short scriptures about the importance of the Word. It takes 2-5 minutes, tops. If you are faithful in reading through this plan, it will start a fire in you that causes you to burn for more!
Listen to the Bible
Take if from a librarian: Listening Is Reading. Or rather, the scripture is being read ‘over you,’ which I find to be even better. It forges this wonderful connection to believers since the beginning of time. Imagine how the majority of people in history only had access to scripture as it was read aloud in the synagogue or sanctuary.
You can join their rich heritage by listening to the story of creation, the story of God’s love for his people, the story to Jesus wooing us and saving us. It’s beautiful to get swept up while listening to this story, the Good News.
***By the way, the YouVersion app will read your daily verses to you if you hit the play button, then it stops when your verses are done for the day. Now you can get your scripture in while brushing your teeth or making coffee! Choose your voice style, too. I like the British accent guy, but that’s just me. If the audio ever feels slow, try listening at 1.25 speed.***
Listening to the Bible will revolutionize your ability to read the Word consistently. If you want to hear him more consistently in your life, give this a try. Then please let me know how God is using the Bible to speak into your life!
God’s Love and Peace to you on this Easter Weekend, my friends!
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I have always struggled with reading the Bible. I’m going to start today using your suggestion. Thank you Leanna…great blog ❤️
Thank you! That’s wonderful, Betty! The Word Before Word challenge was so quick, and since it centered around short verses on how important the Word is, it really gave me an appetite for more. I am praying for you right now that you would hear God’s voice as you read.