THE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES – PRAYER

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

Naylor, Georgia

 

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Psalm 25:1-22

 

Psalm 25

Of David.

1 In you, Lord my God,

    I put my trust.

 

2 I trust in you;

    do not let me be put to shame,

    nor let my enemies triumph over me.

3 No one who hopes in you

    will ever be put to shame,

but shame will come on those

    who are treacherous without cause.

 

4 Show me your ways, Lord,

    teach me your paths.

5 Guide me in your truth and teach me,

    for you are God my Savior,

    and my hope is in you all day long.

6 Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,

    for they are from of old.

7 Do not remember the sins of my youth

    and my rebellious ways;

according to your love remember me,

    for you, Lord, are good.

 

8 Good and upright is the Lord;

    therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

9 He guides the humble in what is right

    and teaches them his way.

10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful

    toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.

11 For the sake of your name, Lord,

    forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

 

12 Who, then, are those who fear the Lord?

    He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.

13 They will spend their days in prosperity,

    and their descendants will inherit the land.

14 The Lord confides in those who fear him;

    he makes his covenant known to them.

15 My eyes are ever on the Lord,

    for only he will release my feet from the snare.

 

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,

    for I am lonely and afflicted.

17 Relieve the troubles of my heart

    and free me from my anguish.

18 Look on my affliction and my distress

    and take away all my sins.

19 See how numerous are my enemies

    and how fiercely they hate me!

 

20 Guard my life and rescue me;

    do not let me be put to shame,

    for I take refuge in you.

21 May integrity and uprightness protect me,

    because my hope, Lord, is in you.

 

22 Deliver Israel, O God,

    from all their troubles!

 

            -- several years ago, the East Indian evangelist K.P. Yohannan came to the United States for a visit -- he wanted to meet some of the spiritual leaders of our nation, especially one man who was known in India for his powerful sermons and uncompromising commitment to the truth

            -- On the Sunday that Yohannan visited his church, there were over 3000 people there for the worship service -- the choirs were outstanding and the preaching was everything he hoped it would be -- then the pastor made an announcement about a special emphasis at the midweek prayer meeting -- he said that there were some things laying heavy on his heart and he asked the people to come and pray -- the pastor said the service would be held at a certain chapel on the church campus at 7:30 that evening -- excited, Yohannan determined that he would attend this special service

            -- when he showed up at the chapel later that week, he brought with him some definite assumptions about prayer meetings -- Yohannan knew that prayer meetings were essential -- they were of primary importance in the life of a church

-- Where he came from in India, and in many other parts of the world where Christians are persecuted and harassed for their faith, the prayer meeting is the centerpiece of the church's life -- Everyone comes, the meetings often last long into the night, and it is not unusual for believers to arise daily before sunup to pray together for the work of the church.

-- fearing a huge crowd, Yohannan came early to get a seat -- But when he arrived at the chapel, it was empty -- and not only was it empty, but it wouldn't hold any more than 500 people -- Yohannan thought he must have misheard the pastor and showed up at the wrong place -- He was worried, so he went outside to double-check the name of the chapel, but he was in the right place

-- at about 7:30, a few people came into the room,  but there was no leader, no songs or worship -- just chitchat about news, weather, and sports -- Forty-five minutes later an elderly man, the leader, but not the pastor, walked into the chapel to offer a few devotional thoughts from the Bible and give a brief prayer.

-- [and with that] the meeting was over -- and as the seven attendees filed out of the chapel, K. P. Yohannan sat in stunned silence, his mind filled with questions: Was this it? -- Weren't they going to stay and wait upon God? -- Where was the worship? -- The tears? -- The cries for guidance and direction? -- Where was the list of the sick, and the poor, and those in need? -- What about that burden that the pastor said was heavy on his heart? -- Weren't we going to intercede for a miracle? -- And where was the pastor?

-- That meeting became a paradigm for his experience of prayer meetings in the American church -- In all his travels here, he saw the same pattern repeated over and over again in hundreds of midweek prayer meetings -- Almost anything happens but prayer

-- There are announcements, singing, homilies, and a few prayers offered, but usually only by the leader-and that's in the churches that actually have prayer meetings in their schedules -- Many more make no pretense even to have a church prayer meeting

-- There seems to be time for everything else-to study, to fellowship, to preach, but not to pray. Church leaders who think nothing of spending two or three days to plan programs or of spending thousands of dollars to hire consultants to help them do it, blanch at the thought of spending even one night to wait on the Lord to show them what to do. -- How can this be?

-- Ephesians 6:12 says that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" -- if this is true, then the first thing any church should do is pray, isn't it?  -- Can there be any other way to reach a lost world?  -- Do we really think our plans and programs can bring down dark strongholds of spiritual evil in the heavenly realms?

 

-- this morning, we are continuing in our sermon series on the spiritual disciplines and spiritual gifts – last week, we talked about the necessity of reading and listening to the Bible – of spending time with God in His word – in whatever way best works for us – because it is through His word that God primarily speaks to us today

-- today, we are going to be looking at prayer as our next spiritual discipline – prayer is our primary response back to God – prayer is the natural avenue by which we commune with our Creator and respond to His word and His direction from the Scriptures – in a very real sense, prayer is how we relate to God today, just as the Bible is how God relates to us

-- going back to 2 Peter 1:4, prayer is a way we participate in the divine nature of Christ and build upon our relationship with God

 

II.  Why is it so Hard to Pray?

-- everyone in here knows that we should pray – Scripture commands us to pray – the Spirit within us compels us to pray – as Christians, we feel this desire to pray – to cry out to God – to speak to Him and call upon His name

-- as Peter Miller puts it in his book, The Praying Life, this natural desire to pray – to commune with God – to communicate with Him in words and with our hearts –was put in us at the Creation

-- so, if that’s the case, then why is prayer so difficult? – if that’s the case, then why don’t people pray more? – if that’s the case, then why don’t we spend more of our lives devoted to calling upon God in prayer?

-- did you know that most Christians pray for less than five minutes a day? – that is remarkable – the hymn that we sang this morning, “Sweet Hour of Prayer," is a very common hymn in our churches –- we sing it quite often, but very, very few of us pray with the fervency that this song proclaims

-- even knowing that through prayer we can call on God Himself, very few of us do so – why?

 

-- our inability to pray is a direct result of the Fall – when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, mankind was separated from God because of sin and the sin nature we inherited from them – as a result, the close relationship we had with our Father was destroyed

-- the Bible tells us that in the early days of creation – before the Fall – God would come to the Garden in the cool of the day and walk with Adam and Eve – He would speak with them and they would speak with Him – they would tell Him all about their day and what they had done – and they would praise God for His goodness and kindness and providence – they would speak to Him as a child speaks to their Father

-- but the Fall changed all of that – sin separated them from God – and they were cast out of Eden and into this world – and while the desire to speak for God remained, their ability to do so was damaged – and this continues today

-- and so, while our hearts long for communion and prayer and communication with Him – our sin nature and our flesh lead us way from the very practice that can grow our relationship with the Father and lead us to walk with Him in grace and righteousness daily

-- this is why prayer is one of the most difficult things we face in our Christian lives – I’ve been pastoring a long time now – over 25 years – and during that time, the question that has been asked of me more than anything else – more than how to be saved – more than how to read the Bible – was how to pray

-- prayer is difficult – there are obstacles to prayer in our lives today that rise up to keep us from praying – some come from us as our flesh and our sin nature rise up in opposition to communicating with God – some obstacles come from the world or from Satan as both the world and Satan try to distract us and cause us to get lost in the cacophony of noise and busy-ness in the world today

-- but even though prayer is difficult, the good news is that through Christ and through His Holy Spirit who indwells us, all of us have the ability to come directly into the presence of our God in prayer – we can pray – we can speak to God just as we speak to another and know that He hears us and will respond to us – we just need to do it – we just need to put the obstacles aside and be intentional about praying – and we have to be diligent about it and make it part of our daily lives

 

-- one common theme I hear from people about why they don’t pray is that they don’t know how to pray or they don’t understand prayer -- I can relate to this -- I have struggled with this in my own life -- Even the disciples struggled with this. 

-- the disciples lived intimately with Jesus for three years -- they spent three years with the Creator of the universe and could have asked Him anything -- but the one thing that weighed on their hearts more than anything else – the one thing they asked Him to do for them was to teach them how to pray

-- they had seen Jesus go off and pray in isolation for hours on end – they had seen how He walked in relationship with the Father – how His daily life exuded prayer and communication with the Father – and they realized they didn’t have that – they didn’t know how to do that

-- so, Jesus shared with them the model prayer that we often refer to as the Lord's Prayer – a guide for us in praying to the Father – a starting place, if you will

-- but He didn’t give them step-by-step instructions on how to pray – He didn’t tell them they needed to go off by themselves in order to pray – He didn’t tell them what position their body needed to be in when they prayed – He didn’t tell them whether to pray out loud or silently – He didn’t tell them when they should pray – and He didn’t explain how prayer worked – He just gave them the Lord’s Prayer and said, “When you pray, this is how it should look”

 

-- there’s a reason for that – prayer is personal – and the way we speak to God and cry out to Him with our hearts will be different for each one of us – there is no right way to pray – no specific words – no specific body position – no specific location – no specific time

-- the Lord’s prayer is just a model – a guide – that Jesus gave us to get us started – He didn’t intend for this prayer to be something that we just recite back to God word-for-word every day – prayer doesn’t work like that

-- God doesn’t hear simply because we recite it word-by-word – He doesn’t hear us and respond simply because we have memorized this prayer and pray it to start every day because it’s not about the words

-- He hears us when we pray from our hearts – when we pray based on who we are – when we pray based on who He made us to be and when we speak to Him as only we can -- and that is different for all of us – remember the love languages that we talked about last week?

-- the Lord’s prayer can guide us into communication with God, but it should not replace heart-felt and heart-driven prayers

 

-- the important thing is not the how and why of prayer – the important thing is that we do it – that we make prayer part of our lives -- because prayer is how we speak to our God and how we communicate with Him our love and our praise and our needs – through prayer, we build and grow upon our relationship with Him – that is why prayer is a means of grace and a spiritual discipline we need to be practicing

-- don’t worry about the mechanics of it – don’t get bogged down with questions such as: How can God hear me?  How can God hear all of us around the world when we pray at the same time?  Why won't God work without prayer?  Why doesn't God answer in the way or in the time I think He should? 

-- prayer is a mystery, because it is relational – prayer works, not because we say the right words and God responds like a heavenly vending machine or a magic genie – prayer works, because prayer is simply a person speaking to their heavenly Father from their heart, as a child speaks to their parents – letting Him know what is on our minds – what is on our hearts – what we are struggling with – what is worrying us – and what we need

 

III.  Scripture Lesson (Psalm 25:1-22)

            -- I could speak for a long time about prayer, but this morning, my goal is to help you take the first steps into a life of prayer – and I say life of prayer intentionally

-- Dallas Willard suggested that we shouldn’t seek to make prayer a part of our lives – that we shouldn’t have a prayer life, as many talk about – but that instead, we should seek to develop a praying life

-- as he explained it, with a prayer life, prayer is just something else that we try to squeeze into our already busy schedules – it’s something else that we do – that we feel like we should do – and when we don’t have time for it – when we don’t pray as long as we feel we should – when we don’t pray as eloquently as we feel we should -- when we don’t spend more time in prayer – we feel guilty and defeated – and it’s at that point that many of us give up and just quit praying all together

-- for that reason, Willard suggested we seek to develop a praying life – a life that imitates Jesus – a life that is saturated with prayerfulness – with a recognition of God’s presence with us at all times as we go about our day rather than just tacking prayer into our lives as something else we have to do

-- through a praying life, we integrate every moment of every day into a time of communion with God – we pray – not necessarily with words – but with our hearts as we live our lives for God – always cognizant of His presence with us

 

-- Skye Jethani gives a good example of what this looks like as he shares an account from the life of Billy Graham – I think most of us know who Billy Graham was – without a doubt, Billy Graham was our country’s most well-known evangelist who held crusades throughout the country to share the gospel of Christ for decades

-- in 1982, Dr. Graham was invited for a live television interview on NBC’s Today Show – he arrived at the NBC studio in New York for his appointment, and one of the producers told Dr. Graham’s assistant that a private space had been arranged for him,  so that he could pray before the broadcast.

-- Dr. Graham’s assistant responded that this was a kind and thoughtful gesture, but that the prayer space would not be needed -- The NBC producer was surprised, and you could tell that he was thinking that perhaps Billy Graham wasn’t the spiritual giant the country thought he was

-- he asked Dr. Graham’s assistant, “Isn’t prayer important before a live national interview?” -- Graham’s assistant responded, “Dr. Graham started praying when he got up this morning, he prayed while eating breakfast, he prayed on the way over here in the car they sent for us, and he’ll probably be praying all through the interview.”

-- this is what a praying life looks like versus a prayer life – we experience a praying life when we walk in constant communion with God, whether we use words or not – this is the type of life that the Bible encourages when we read that we are to pray without ceasing – this is the kind of life that we see Jesus model for us in the gospels

-- so, don’t seek to develop a prayer life – seek to develop a praying life

 

            -- look with me now at Psalm 25, and let’s take a look at one of David’s prayers and see what we can learn from him about living a praying life

 

            -- verse 1-3

 

Psalm 25

Of David.

1 In you, Lord my God,

    I put my trust.

 

2 I trust in you;

    do not let me be put to shame,

    nor let my enemies triumph over me.

3 No one who hopes in you

    will ever be put to shame,

but shame will come on those

    who are treacherous without cause.

 

 

            -- David’s prayer begins where all prayers begin – with God

            -- as we have talked about this morning, prayer is an aspect of our relationship with God – prayer happens when we speak to God through our hearts and our lives – our actions and our words – it all begins with God, because prayer is part of our relationship with Him

            -- God certainly hears the prayers of sinners and unbelievers – He responds to them as their Creator and reaches out to them through His prevenient grace to call them to the cross and to salvation and the forgiveness of sins through Christ

            -- but He hears the prayers of His people differently, for He hears our prayers based on our relationship with Him – He hears us and responds to us because He is our Father and we are His children – He hears our voice when we cry out to Him and He responds to us because He loves us and knows us and is in a relationship with us

            -- our relationship with God begins with trust and faith and belief in the Lord Jesus Christ – and when we put our trust in Him, the Bible says that we become His children – as John 1:1-13 says, “Yet to all who did receive Him – to those who believed in His name – He gave the right to become the children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will – but born of God”

            -- God is our Father – our Abba – our Daddy – and when we pray, He hears us because we are His – as a parent hears the cry of their child, even in a crowded room

            -- that is what David is affirming here in these verses – I know you, God – I trust you, God – I put my faith and trust in You and You alone – for you have saved me and will not let me be put to shame – my sins are behind me – and I stand in your presence, calling on your name, as my God and my Father, whom I trust

 

            -- verse 4-5

 

Psalm 25:4 Show me your ways, Lord,

    teach me your paths.

5 Guide me in your truth and teach me,

    for you are God my Savior,

    and my hope is in you all day long.

 

            -- here we see the difference between a prayer life and a praying life – David is described in the Bible as a man after God’s own heart – he lived a life in relationship and communion with God – and, as he went about his day, he was ever mindful of God’s presence with him

            -- so, David prays here in these verses three specific requests – show me – teach me – guide me

            -- this is what happens when we pray – this is what happens when we live lives in communion and relationship with God

            -- first, He shows us His will and His way – He opens our eyes to see the world as He sees it – to see people as He sees them – to love them as He loves them

            -- He shows us how to walk with Him in daily communion – how to live for Him in this world – how to love like Him in this world

            -- and once He has shown us His will and His ways, He teaches us how to live like that and guides us into righteousness and goodness in His name

            -- through the Holy Spirit indwelling us and empowering us, God teaches us what to do and guides us the right way and gives us the power and strength to do it

            -- notice that David’s prayer is not about getting, but about giving – it’s about living in God’s righteousness and becoming who God wants Him to be

            -- this is a relational prayer – and these requests of David to show us – to teach us – and to guide us – are how we seek a praying life today

 

-- I like what John Maxwell says, "When God shows me, He has my heart.  When God teaches me, He has my mind.  When God guides me, He has my hand."  -- We need to recognize that prayer puts us into a close relationship with God.  It results in us turning ourselves over to God -- body, mind, and soul. 

-- Prayer not only causes God to work, but it also results in changing us, changing our hearts, and conforming our will to that of God.  – that is the definition of a praying life

 

-- verse 6-11

 

Psalm 25:6 Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,

    for they are from of old.

7 Do not remember the sins of my youth

    and my rebellious ways;

according to your love remember me,

    for you, Lord, are good.

 

8 Good and upright is the Lord;

    therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

9 He guides the humble in what is right

    and teaches them his way.

10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful

    toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.

11 For the sake of your name, Lord,

    forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

 

 

-- once again, we see David calling out to God – not because of anything he had done – not because of his great accomplishments or works on behalf of God – but calling out to God based on his relationship with Him

-- “Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love – according to your love, remember me, for you, Lord, are good”

-- this is a prayer for God to be with David during his day and throughout his life – to love David – to instruct David in the way he should go – to guide him and teach him and forgive him when he sinned

-- this is a reminder to us that our prayers are based on our relationship with God – and He hears us because of His great love for us

 

-- verse 12-22

 

Psalm 25:12 Who, then, are those who fear the Lord?

    He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.

13 They will spend their days in prosperity,

    and their descendants will inherit the land.

14 The Lord confides in those who fear him;

    he makes his covenant known to them.

15 My eyes are ever on the Lord,

    for only he will release my feet from the snare.

 

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,

    for I am lonely and afflicted.

17 Relieve the troubles of my heart

    and free me from my anguish.

18 Look on my affliction and my distress

    and take away all my sins.

19 See how numerous are my enemies

    and how fiercely they hate me!

 

20 Guard my life and rescue me;

    do not let me be put to shame,

    for I take refuge in you.

21 May integrity and uprightness protect me,

    because my hope, Lord, is in you.

 

22 Deliver Israel, O God,

    from all their troubles!

 

-- in the rest of this Psalm, David is building upon his relationship with God – because you love me, David says – because you are good – because of the trust I have in you – I pray that you will confide in me and protect me

-- turn to me and be gracious to me – relieve me of all the troubles of my heart – free me from my anguish – look on my affliction and distress – take away all my sins

-- turn away my enemies, for I seek you – I seek refuge in you – for it is your integrity and uprightness that protect me

-- I live my life for you – I put my hope in you – because I am yours

 

-- in this prayer, David doesn’t go into the specifics of what was troubling him on that day –  he doesn’t list the troubles of his heart – he doesn’t list the anxious thoughts within him – he doesn’t name the enemies surrounding him

-- I’m sure he did in other prayers – at other times – and we should do the same

-- the point of this Psalm – of this prayer recorded for us here in Psalm 25 – is to show us what a praying life looks like – and how living life in communion and trust in God will lead God to show us His will and His ways – and will lead God to teach us and guide us down His paths of righteousness – and will move God’s heart against all that troubles us – whether that is emotional – spiritual – or the things of this world

 

-- the important thing to take from this Psalm is that this is a model prayer, just like the Lord’s Prayer – it is a prayer that shows you what a praying life looks like without giving you specific words or mechanics to follow

-- this is our goal – this is what we are seeking to do as we try to seek to deepen our relationship with God through prayer

-- remember, it’s not about how we pray or what words we use or the position of our body or the time of day or our location – it’s about our relationship with God – it’s about doing life with Him – and that’s what we see modeled for us so perfectly in this Psalm

 

-- for prayer to truly be a spiritual discipline in our lives, we must learn to pray with the expectation that God will hear us – not because of what we do or how we say it – but simply because we are His

-- and we have to know that in all that we do, God is seeking our best – even if the answer to some of our prayers is not yes, but no, or wait

IV.  Closing

            -- in the time remaining, I wanted to share with you a few suggestions on how to begin seeking a praying life with God, using Psalm 25 and the Lord’s Prayer as recommendations on how to approach God in prayer

 

            -- first, begin with God – as David does here and as Jesus told us to do in the Lord’s Prayer – we begin by recognizing who God is and lifting Him up in praise and worship – “Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name” – “Lord my God, in You I put my trust”

            -- in both cases – Psalm 25 and the Lord’s Prayer – we are shown to begin with God – since the purpose of prayer is to grow in our relationship with God, we have to begin by recognizing who He is and giving Him the honor and glory and praise due His name

 

-- next, we ask God to show us His will and His ways – as David said here, Show Me – Teach Me – Guide Me – the Lord’s Prayer says the same thing – “Thy Kingdom come – Thy will be done – on earth, as it is in heaven”

-- show us your will – teach us and guide us – let our petitions and requests and needs line up with your word and what you would have us do – as we pray for things, let them be things we need that will help us grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ – and not things that will lead us away from God – give us today our daily bread – give us today what it is we need to live for you and serve you in the world and with our lives

-- as we pray for people or situations in our world today, let our prayers and our requests reflect God’s will and His purpose – and don’t let us make our requests selfish and self-centered

 

-- third, we need to confess our sins when we have not lived our lives in accordance with God’s standard – we need to ask for reconciliation – we need to seek to restore our relationship with God that was damaged when we disobeyed Him and turned from His ways – and we need to ask that He would help us and guide us and turn us away from temptation and sin and evil in the future

-- forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us – and lead us not into temptation – but deliver us from evil – for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory

-- it is about You, O God – it is about making your Kingdom manifest on earth today – it is about growing us in grace so that we might not sin and disobey you – but that we would be protected from evil and empowered to turn from sin and temptation

-- for it is only in your power and your grace that we live

 

-- this is the basic model of prayer that we see in Psalm 25 and in the Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6 and in the gospel of Luke

-- when we pray and take time to lift up our praises and prayer requests to God, we need to remember this model – and to pray in light of our relationship with God – as we seek to develop a praying life and not just a prayer life

 

            -- when it comes to prayer, just remember it is all about relationship – remember that God is your Father – and don’t get bogged down in trying to do it right, for there is no one right way – there are no right words – prayer must come from the heart

– so, just talk to Him – share with Him your heart – share with Him your life – share with Him your needs

            -- and know that He wants to hear from you – He loves you and He is interested in you -- He wants to walk with you in the cool of the day, like He did with Adam and Eve – and He wants to hear you tell Him about what is going on in your life and to tell Him about what you are struggling with and what you need

 

            -- don’t make prayer complicated – just make it part of who you are – and remember that you can talk to God at any time and any place – you can pray with words – you can pray without words – you can pray in your heart – you can pray through song – you can pray through your actions – you can pray without ceasing

            -- the key to prayer is simply to seek the presence of God in your life at all times – to come to Him and remember Him and acknowledge Him as your God and Creator and Father – tell Him what is going on in your life –ask Him to help you and show you what to do – to teach you and guide you in His ways – to help grow your relationship with Him as you seek to live life for Him today

            -- that is what prayer is all about

            -- so, with that, let us join together in prayer now as we close our message today

THE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES – READING THE WORD

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

Naylor, Georgia

 

I.  Introduction

            -- I’m going to open this morning by reading from the Book of Nehemiah – we’re not going to dig into this text this morning – I just wanted to read it for context and to frame the message today

-- so, you’re welcome to join me in Nehemiah 7:73b to 8:8 or you can just listen as I read this passage without comment, from the Word of God

-- Nehemiah Chapter 7, the second part of verse 73

 

Nehemiah 7:73b When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, 8:1 all the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.

 

2 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

 

4 Ezra the teacher of the Law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam.

 

5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. 6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

 

7 The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. 8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.

 

            -- I read a story about this young man from a wealthy family who was about to graduate from high school – he was looking forward to the graduation gifts he expected to get, especially the new car that he just knew his mother and father were going to give him in celebration of his graduation

            -- and that was not an unreasonable expectation – you see, his father and he had spent months looking at cars – and the week before his graduation, they finally found the perfect car – both of them agreed that this was the car he needed – and so, the young man was certain that his father was going to get it for him as a graduation present

            -- when the graduation ceremony ended and his parents came up to congratulate him on the field, his father handed him a gift-wrapped box – he excitedly grabbed the elegantly wrapped package, thinking that the keys to his new car must be inside

            -- you can imagine what went through his mind when he tore open the paper and opened the box and found only a Bible in the box – a leather-bound Bible with his name imprinted on it

            -- he looked at the Bible – he looked at his father – and disappointment and shock was on his face – he took the Bible out of the box and turned it upside down, expecting car keys to fall out – but nothing did – except for the Bible, the box was empty

            -- the young man was so angry at his parents because he didn’t get the new car he felt he deserved that he threw the Bible down on the school field where the graduation had been held – and stormed out – he went to his house and packed his stuff and had a friend come pick him up

-- his father tried to stop him – to speak to him – to explain to him what was going on – but he shrugged off his father’s hand and ran out of the house – he and his father never saw each other again

            -- he finally went home years later, after he received the call that his father had passed away – he went – not out of love – but once again, out of a desire to get what was due him – the inheritance that his father left

-- as he went through the box of possessions that his father had specifically set aside for him, he found the leather-bound Bible that his parents had given him at his graduation – he picked it up – brushed away the dust – and idly began flipping through the pages of this book that had brought him such distress

-- as he did so, a piece of paper tucked inside the Bible in the Gospel of Matthew caught his eye – he pulled it out – and saw that it was a cashier’s check, dated the day of his graduation, in the exact amount of the car he and his father had chosen

 

-- the father had been trying to help his prodigal son learn a greater message on the day he left home – he knew that his son wanted the car, and he was happy to provide it for him – but he also knew that his son’s future depended more on his relationship with God than anything else

-- so, the father had highlighted a verse in the Book of Matthew as a message to his son – Matthew 6:33 -- "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you"

 

-- now this story is probably not true, but it still speaks to us with a message that is as true for us today as it was when these words were first written down – the most important thing for us to do is to follow the precepts of Matthew 6:33 and seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteous – to seek a relationship with Him – to seek to grow in our knowledge of Him – for it is through this relationship that we will find the things that we need – the things that will give us life

-- as we talked about last week, we are beginning a sermon series on spiritual disciplines and spiritual gifts, for these are how we can do what Matthew 6:33 tells us to do – seek God – and seek His kingdom and His righteousness

-- through the spiritual disciplines – those acts on our part that we do to grow closer to Christ and grow in our knowledge and understanding of Him – and the exercise of our spiritual gifts – the supernatural empowering of the Holy Spirit through us to accomplish God’s will and direction – we become mature Christians who truly know and love God and seek His kingdom above all

 

 

II.  Spiritual Disciplines

            -- before we begin discussing each of the major spiritual disciplines, I want to take a moment and talk about what spiritual disciplines are, in general, and how we practice them

            -- last week, we read in 2 Peter 1:4 that we have been called to “participate in the divine nature” of Christ – and we discussed how this implies action on our part – that to do so – to participate in the divine nature of Christ -- we have to get up, pick up our mat, and follow Him, just as the lame man by the pool of Bethesda did

            -- so, spiritual disciplines are the practices that we take up in order to do just that

 

– these disciplines are known in the church as “means of grace” – and what this phrase means is that throughout the history of man’s relationship with God – dating all the way back to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden -- right through the church age that we are in now – men and women have experienced the grace and presence of God as they have practiced these various spiritual disciplines

– hence, these are the “means” – the ways – the things that we do – to grow closer to God – these are the things that our forefathers in the faith have done and that experience has proven that God uses as an avenue to pour out His grace and presence in our lives

-- in other words, throughout history, these spiritual disciplines are how people have found God and grown in their knowledge of Him

 

-- but here’s the thing about spiritual disciplines – they are personal – and the way that one person finds God and relates to Him may not be the way that another person relates to God – each of us must find our own way

-- let me give you a good illustration of why this is true – several years ago, Gary Chapman wrote a ground-breaking book called, “The Five Love Languages” – and in this book, he made the case that people were different – that they expressed and understood love differently – so, if you were to relate to them, you had to know what their love language was – the five love languages that Chapman listed in his book were Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time, and Physical Touch

-- what Chapman taught in this book was that some people express their love to others in words -- by complimenting them – saying good things about them – and, likewise, they experienced love – they felt love -- when others spoke words of affirmation to them

-- another way Chapman said some people express love was actively -- by doing things – acts of service – for another person – washing the dishes for them – taking out the trash – little things like that – and, likewise, when someone did a kind thing for them, some little act of service, they felt love from the other person

-- the book goes on through each of these five love languages – but Chapman pointed out that the love languages had to match the person – that if someone felt love through quality time – if they understood love to be spending time with another person – then someone doing things for them, wouldn’t speak to their hearts the same way

-- you could do all kinds of chores and things for them, but they wouldn’t be happy – they wouldn’t feel loved – they would rather just have you sit on the couch with them than do things for them, because that is who they are – that is how they are created – that is how they experience and feel love

-- so, the love languages have to match – you have to speak love in the language the other person understands, and they have to do the same for you

-- everybody is created differently and receives and expresses love differently

 

-- I believe the spiritual disciplines follow the same pattern – some people relate best to God through reading the Bible – holding a Bible in their hand and reading the word of God and listening for His voice through the pages

-- others relate best to God and feel His presence when they sing or praise God in song or other forms of worship

-- and others relate to God by acts of service – doing things for Him and in His name – ministering to other people -- for this is where they feel His presence more closely than any other way

-- some use several of the disciplines, depending on where they are in their lives or how they are feeling in the moment

 

-- so, here’s my advice – find the spiritual discipline that speaks to you – or find a way to approach the spiritual discipline in a way that makes it easier for you to relate to God

– for instance, we’re going to talk about reading the Bible today as a spiritual discipline – some people aren’t good at reading – they get confused with the words and the language and they’re just not readers – but if they listen to the Bible instead of sitting down and reading words on a page, they might find they understand it better – they might be auditory learners who learn through speech more than through reading a text

-- you do you – you do what works for you – and don’t let anyone judge you for the way you relate to God – and vice versa – just because somebody else does something else or does a spiritual discipline in a different way, that’s okay, too – because that’s their love language with God

-- everybody with me? – okay, then let’s get moving – turn with me if you would to 2 Timothy 3:16-17

 

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

 

III.  The Spiritual Discipline of Reading God’s Word

            -- the first spiritual discipline I want us to talk about is the one that everybody knows – reading the Bible – reading God’s word

            -- when you become a Christian, the very first thing you are told to do is read the Bible, right? – why is that?

            -- well, it’s because the experience of mankind is that God speaks to us through the Bible – through the Scriptures – this is God’s primary way of communicating with us today – and in His word, we find guidance and direction – we find encouragement and hope – we find comfort and salvation

            -- the Bible is the primary source of relating to God today – and the word itself tells us that

 

            -- in these verses, we read, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

 

            -- “God-breathed” – this means that these words were given by God Himself to us – the Holy Spirit inspired the human writers of the Bible to pen the words that they were given – He led them to write down what God wanted us to know – and God has kept the Bible intact and inerrant throughout history – with His words coming down to us and meaning the same thing for us – as they have throughout the history of mankind

            -- so, the Bible is literally the Word of God – and for that reason alone, we should make an effort to try to read it and understand it and apply it in our lives today

 

            -- and God tells us here in 2 Timothy that His word is useful for teaching – for gaining knowledge about God and His purposes and His ways and for sharing those with others – we know what we do about God and His interactions with mankind – of His commands and His precepts -- because of the written word that was passed down to us to teach us and for us to use to teach others

            -- it is useful for rebuking and correcting – some Bibles read, “rebuking and reproving” – very similar concepts – very similar actions

– to rebuke is a harsher form of correction – it is using God’s word to stop someone immediately with strong disapproval – if someone is blaspheming God – someone is actively sinning against another – committing an evil or an injustice – you rebuke them – you proclaim God’s word to them in a way that pronounces judgment upon them and their actions

-- to reprove or correct is a more gentle correction – it is like gently steering a horse in the direction it should go versus pulling harshly on the rein to stop it – you reprove and correct Christians when they are straying from God’s word – when they are disobeying God or making bad decisions and bad choices – you show them the way they should go by using God’s word, so that you can correct their behavior and help them follow the correct path

-- finally, Paul tells us here that the Bible is useful for “training in righteousness” – this is applying the word of God to your life – teaching provides knowledge – training implements wisdom – it means taking what you know, and doing something with it

-- think of the word “training” here in a horticultural sense – when you “train” a plant, you turn it’s branches in the direction that you want it to go and grow – for instance, with grape vines, the farmer will take the branches of the vine and train them along a trellis – showing them the direction they are to follow and to grow into

-- that is the context of this instruction that Paul gives here

-- so, when we are “trained in righteousness,” we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us and direct us down the path God wants us to go as He trains us and grows us in the grace of God

 

-- these verses conclude by telling us that if we let the Holy Spirit, through the word of God, teach us, rebuke us, reprove us, and train us for righteousness, we will be thoroughly equipped for every good work

-- in other words, it is through the study and application of the Bible in our lives that we become mature Christians, equipped to do what God is calling us to do and to become who He is calling us to become

-- and I want to make sure you see that – reading the Bible is not the ultimate goal – simply picking up the Bible and reading the word everyday and then putting it back down and going your own way is NOT what God intends

-- reading the Bible is part of the journey and is the means by which God shapes us and molds us and speaks to our heart so that we do what He wants us to do and become who He wants us to be

 

-- I have known atheists and cultists in my life that knew the Bible a whole lot better than me – they knew chapter and verse – they could recite it back to me when I tried to share with them – they had read their Bibles and they knew them inside and out

-- but the reading of the Bible had not changed who they were because they had read the Bible as an exercise – as a way of gaining worldly knowledge -- and not as a means of grace – not as a way to relate to God – not as a way to allow the Holy Spirit to work within them and through them to do God’s will and purpose

-- you can read the Bible every day – you can memorize Scripture and recite it back – but if you don’t let the word of God change you – if you don’t experience God through the reading and memorization of Scripture – you are missing the point

 

            -- George Barna, the Christian researcher and pollster, made this comment following a survey of Bible-reading habits by Christians:  "True discipleship is about a lifestyle, not simply about stored up Bible knowledge."

-- "Often, churches assume that if people are reading the Bible and attending a small group, then real discipleship is happening. Unfortunately, we found that's often not the case. Discipleship is about being and reproducing zealots for Christ.

“Discipleship, in other words, is about passionately pursuing the lifestyle and mission of Jesus Christ. Our studies revealed that a surprisingly small proportion of born again Christians claim that they are aggressively seeking to be true followers of the Lord."

 

-- Barna’s research hammers home the point that I’m trying to make here -- always remember the reason why we are encouraged to read the Bible – it is not just to read it as a daily exercise or practice – it’s not just to learn more about God – we read the Bible as a way to hear God speak to us – as a way to grow in our love and knowledge of Him – as a way to passionately pursue the lifestyle and mission of Jesus Christ and participate in His divine nature

 

-- when it comes to approaching the Bible in the church, there are two spiritual errors that a lot of people make

 

– the first is that they avoid the Bible altogether – they don’t read the Bible – they don’t take it in – they receive no nourishment from it – Steve Farrar called these people, “spiritual anorexics,” because they way they avoid the Bible is the same way someone with anorexia avoids food

-- a spiritual anorexic is a person who refuses to eat -- they refuse to take in the word of God -- sure, they own a Bible -- they may own several Bibles -- but they never open the Bible up to see what God says

 

-- the second error in approaching the Bible is “spiritual bulimia” – when someone just goes overboard on reading the Bible – it’s like they’re binging on the word of God – they are just taking it in and in and reading it constantly, but then they purge themselves of the word and deny their bodies of the essential nutrients that God has provided

            -- spiritual bulimics readily read God's word -- they may be actively involved in Bible Studies and Sunday School -- they may devote hours and hours each week to reading the Scriptures -- but there is an aversion to applying the scripture to their lives

-- just like the bulimics with the eating disorder, people who approach the Bible like this take in vast amounts of Scripture, but they don't apply it, so they lose out on the nourishment it offers

            -- scriptural facts might be in their mind, but they are not integrating them into their lives – like the atheists and cultists I mentioned – a lot of Christians do the same

            -- a person has spiritual bulimia when they consistently refuse to apply what they read in the Bible to their lives – they take the word in, but they don’t use it – the Bible warns us about this and tells us to not be merely "hearers" of the word but "doers" of the word

            -- we should be like the prophet Ezra -- the scriptures state that "Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it." -- the key to finding nourishment from the Bible is to read it – to study it -- on a regular basis -- to seek God’s presence and His voice through what we read -- and then to apply what we are taught

            -- the goal is to have a balanced approach to reading Scripture so that the Spirit can use it to mold us and shape us into the image of Christ

 

            -- so, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty – we know that we need to read the Bible – we know that God speaks to us through His word – we know that this is a means of grace that God gave us from the very beginning – and we are aware of the dangers of spiritual anorexia and bulimia

            -- so, how should we read the Bible? – once again, remember the Five Love Languages – find a way to read the Bible that works for you

 

            -- speaking broadly, you have two main avenues – you can pick up the Bible and read it as a book on whatever platform works best for you – a physical book or a screen -- or you can listen to the Bible being read to you – or do both – experiment and see what works best for you

            -- like I said, some people are auditory learners and learn best by hearing someone else speak – others can read the text and get more out of the word that way – they key is find what works for you and do it – don’t say you’re going to do it – do it

 

            -- what version of the Bible do I need to read? – what translation is the best? – the answer here is simple – the best translation of the Bible out there is the one that you can read and understand

            -- do not let anyone tell you that you have to read the Bible in a certain translation or it doesn’t count – they don’t know what they are talking about – I know that we have several denominations and Christians in our community who are King James-only Christians – and they will put down anyone who doesn’t read the Bible in that translation

            -- as one woman told me, “If it was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for her”

            -- the KJV is a fine translation, if you can understand it – but if you have difficulty reading sentence structure and words from the 17^th century, then don’t read it

– I had a friend who was discipling someone one time and asked the guy to read a passage from his Bible – he had the King James version and he read the passage and then my friend asked him what it meant to him – he said, “I don’t know – I didn’t understand it” – so, my friend asked if he could see this guy’s Bible – he picked it up – and threw it across the room – and as the guy looked on in disbelief, my friend said, “It does you no good to read God’s word if you can’t understand the words you are reading – find a Bible you can understand, and use that”

-- I use the 1984 New International Version to teach from because I have found it to be an easy-to-read and easy-to-understand translation – it is written at about an eighth grade level, so it’s not too difficult for most people to comprehend

-- this works for me – but if it doesn’t work for you, find something that does – God’s word is contained in the various translations and paraphrases – find one you can read and understand – or hear and understand – and use it

-- it is more important that you can understand what God is saying to you than to dogmatically stick with a translation because someone told you this was the only one you could use

 

-- so, first we are going to choose whether we are reading the Bible or listening to the Bible – or both – and then we are going to find a translation of the Bible that we can actually understand – and then we’re going to commit to getting into God’s word every day

 

-- next question: how much should I read every day? – once again, it’s your choice – here’s my recommendation – remember the purpose of reading the Bible – it is to grow in your knowledge and understanding of God so you can participate in His divine presence

-- you don’t have to read an entire book or entire chapter every single day to hear God – sometimes, God will speak to you from one single verse – and that one verse is enough for that day

-- Dietrich Boenhoffer, the martyred German priest from World War II, taught in his seminary the practice of seeking God in smaller passages and single verses and then rereading those passages or that single verse every day for a full week or longer

-- the goal was to let God speak to you through that passage or verse – to dwell on it – to seek God’s voice and presence – and see what He wanted you to do with that verse that week

-- don’t feel like you have to read through the Bible in a whole year – the intent is not to log the amount you read – the intent is to listen for God’s voice in what you read – whether that is a chapter or a single verse

-- read what God leads you to read and no more – and allow yourself the flexibility to go where He sends you – to the Book or Chapter in the Bible He wants you to read – instead of what you had planned to read that day

-- I did not intend to spend an entire message on 2 Timothy 3:16-17 today – I had planned to go to Psalm 119 – but God said otherwise – and here we are

 

-- it’s good to have a plan – but remember that God is sovereign – He is our Lord – He knows what you need – so, if you have a plan to read a certain passage today, but you feel like you need to read something else – follow your gut – because that might be the Spirit leading you to the particular passage and verse that God wants to speak to you through today

 

-- so, to sum all this up – the most important thing is to get into God’s word however you can – whether it’s through reading or through listening – and to make sure it is in a format that you can understand and absorb

-- read where God directs you and don’t worry about reading a certain amount every day – have a plan – follow your plan – but if God leads you elsewhere, submit to His leadership

-- in January 2025, I decided to read through the Bible again – I pulled out my one-year Bible, which is a great format for reading the word of God – but I got pulled away from the daily reading time and time again – this is January 2026, and right now I’m on August 11^th – but that’s okay

-- remember, the purpose is not to log the amount you read – but to hear God and grow closer to God as He speaks to you through His word – if you can read though the Bible in a year, great! – but if it takes you three years, that’s okay, too

-- the important thing is to stay in the word – to hear God through the Word – and to let Him mold you and make you – to let Him teach you and rebuke you and correct you – to let Him train you in all righteousness – because He is shaping you into the person He wants you to be so that you can be thoroughly equipped for every good work He has called you to do

 

V.  Closing

-- I know this has gone long, but we had a lot of ground to cover – if I didn’t answer your questions about reading the Bible today, come see me and I’ll help you work through them

 

-- I want to close with the words of George Mueller, a powerful man of God who lived over a 100 years ago -- Meuller is speaking here on the value of scriptural meditation and the study of God’s word:

 

"Now I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditate on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed; and that thus, whilst meditating, my heart might be brought into experiential communion with the Lord.

"Now what is food for the inner man:  not prayer, but the Word of God: and here again not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts."

 

-- Mueller demonstrated through his life what we have been talking about in this message – reading the word of God is one of the primary spiritual disciplines because it is known as a means of grace

-- by reading God’s word – by listening to God’s word – we commune with God in a real and personal way – we hear Him through His written word – and as we meditate on what we have read – as we think about it and apply it to our lives – it changes us and helps us grow in grace and become more like Jesus in our ways and our thoughts

-- so, let me encourage you today to take up God’s word – to pick it up and read it or listen to it every day – to seek first the kingdom of God and His presence through the word – so that you might grow more and more like Him every single day

-- with that, let us close in prayer and as the last song is played, please respond to God and His word as you feel led

-- let us pray