Helpful Verses:
"Blessed is the one... whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. The person is like a tree planted by streams of water." Psalm 1:1–3
Interesting Quotes:
“In coming to the Lord by means of praying the Scripture, you do not read quickly, you read very slowly. You do not move from one passage to another, not until you have sensed the very heart of what you have read… if you read quickly, it will benefit you little. You will be like a bee that merely skims the surface of a flower. Instead, in this new way of reading with prayer, you become as the bee who penetrates into the depths of the flower. You plunge deeply within to remove its deepest nectar." Madame Guyon
“The Word of Scripture should never stop sounding in your ears and working in you all day long, just like the words of someone you love… ponder these words long in your heart until they have gone right into you and taken possession of you.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Our desire to know more, read more and study more can be another expression of our culture and its acquisitive nature. Knowing God, not knowing more, is the goal." Richard Rohr
“When we engage the scriptures for spiritual transformation [as opposed to for information] we engage not only our mind but also our heart, our emotions, our body, our curiosity, our imagination and our will. We open ourselves to a deeper level of insight and understanding that grows out of and leads us deeper into our personal relationships with the One behind the text. And it is in the context of relational intimacy that real life change takes place.” Ruth Haley Barton
Top Tips:
Start with silence, making yourself present to God.
Read a short passage or a single verse slowly and repeatedly, letting the words resonate with you and allowing your imagination to enter into the narrative.
Ask yourself a question like ‘What is God saying to me?’ or ‘How does this word speak into my life?’ or ‘What part of my life should change after hearing this word?’
Read the passage again in light of this and allow it to sink deeper in.
Resolve to let God’s word shape you in the day ahead.