Reading For Renewal: Step One
Begin At The Beginning
What We All Want: Renewal, Relevance, and Transformation
We all want to be renewed. Right? Renewal is that sense of experiencing something different but in a good way, and Biblically the Greek word for renewal implies even more. It is something positive and never before experienced. That is the renewal for which we all are longing.
We all want a taste of the Lord and we long for it to come to us in a new and fresh way. Excitement and joy flow into us as we see something we’ve never seen before, discover something that has passed by us unnoticed previously, or, what we really love, is when the Lord just clearly overpowers us with a joyful truth from His Word…one that really fulfills a need that we have right now. (Some fellow disciples of Jesus in Columbus, Ohio and friends of mine call this being “blasted” or being “wrecked” by God! I love that!)
The Word is always relevant. It’s never stale or moldy. It never loses its flavor to the heart and mind that is needy, longing, and ready to hear from God through His Word. But the key is our heart and mind. Are we ready? Are we expressing faith? Are we expectant of His communicating to us?
The problem is not that the Word is stale or moldy is it? We all know that the Word of God is “sharp and powerful,” as the author of the Book of Hebrews says, and it is “able to discern” the very depths of our souls. It assuages our griefs as no other book, calms our fears as no other assurance, and challenges us to change in the way that we think and live.
So the problem isn’t the Bible. The problem is the way we approach our reading of it. As I said before, the Bible never loses it’s tastiness and value in our heart and mind; when we’re needy, longing, and ready to hear from God. This series of articles is about getting yourself ready to receive from God what He longs to give to you — His transformative will.
Step 1 — Precede With Prayer
Today we going to take a quick look at the importance of preceding our time in God’s Word with prayer. And not just any prayer. Expectant prayer. Prayer in faith. Believing prayer that takes the promises of God’s Word, applies them to our own reading, and goes before our Loving Father with expressions of faith that He will do for us what He promises that He will do when we read.
The Bible tells us that God will transform us as we renew our minds. From that transformation we will grow into a more apt ability to understand His will for our lives. He speaks of this in Paul’s letter to the Romans…
Romans 12:2 NASB
“ And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
My Permanent Prayer Partner
Jesus gives us a glimpse into the work of the Holy Spirit, the Paraklete, in our Bible reading. Jesus says…
John 16:12–15 NASB
“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.”
Jesus also told us…
John 14:26
“ But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”
It’s great to have a prayer partner. Someone who will be present with you, agreeing with you in prayer, saying a hearty “Amen” to your prayers and you responding the same with them. There is a unity, a fellowship, a participation in and with that prayer partner.
This is exactly what Jesus is promising. A personal prayer partner. He is saying that the Holy Spirit will be a personal partner with us when we pray prior to reading the Word. I believe that one of the Holy Spirit’s greater ministries is what theologians call illumination. This illumination is two-fold.
First, it’s like He shines a light on the Word, especially in specific portions of it that we really need to hear, and from which God will really speak. Second, He illuminates our weak human understanding, spiritually so, and from that illumination of our minds and hearts, He makes us ready and able to comprehend at a much deeper spiritual level than we’ve ever understood before.
In these few verses Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit will…
- Guide us toward the truth,
- Speak to us directly from our Father God,
- Disclose to us what is coming (God’s will),
- Glorify Jesus by disclosing to us everything about Jesus,
- Teach us, and
- Remind us of Jesus life and words.
Express Faith In Jesus Promises
Before you begin your next time reading the Word of God, pray. Ask God to do, through His Holy Spirit, what Jesus promised that He would do. This is a very simple expression of faith, and faith expressed, even in small amounts, just makes our Father smile all over. You know what I mean. One of those wide toothy smiles!
God wants to smile on your reading of His Word. He longs to impart to you something that you’ve never experienced before. In other words, He wants to renew your mind through His communication with you.
So, as you begin your next time in His Word, ask Him to guide you, to speak to you directly, to disclose to you what’s coming in your life, to glorify Christ in you, and to help you remember what Jesus said and did in every circumstance, situation and event in the Bible.
When you believe God’s promises, you will receive the renewal that you so long for. Pray and trust Him. Then read.
(More to come soon in this series: Reading For Renewal.)
