Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Prayer Journal: Meditate on the Word

Written on January 06, 2016, Wednesday at a local bookstore

My love,
Do you want more delight in your life?
Delight means: Desire, good pleasure, and care.
Delight is when you bubble up with glee... and when you curl up with a good companion (loved one, book, pet). Delight is deeper than happiness. It is pure enjoyment.
If I were to tell you that you can find delight in my Word, would you believe me?
I know that at first perusal, my Word can appear confusing, boring, or both. If you read my Word once, and then close it off from you because you find it one of those things, you will never find delight in it. Reading a verse or once does my Word injustice. You will never understand it or find delight in it with one reading or even two. Your human, sinful, finite mind requires more.
My Word is not faulty. You can find delight in my Word. You can find it delightful and can understand it deeply. However, it requires more than one reading in one sitting.
There is a way to find delight in my Word. You need to meditate on my Word morning, noon, and night. The more you contemplate it, think on it, ponder it, pray it, the more delight you will find in it.

Psalm 1:2 New Living Translation (NLT)
2 But they delight in the law of the Lord,
meditating on it day and night.
-- New Living Translation (NLT). Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

My love,
My Word is best treasured and best understood through meditating on it and praying on it without ceasing for an extended period of time.
Again, write down our moments in the Word and as I reveal more to you from the verse and passage. As you continue to meditate on it over a long period of time, I will reveal more and more. After all, each time you think on it, you grow. It requires growth for you to learn from it and to hear from me about it. The more you grow, the more I will reveal, and the more delight you will find in it. It requires each of these things. They go together.
Multiple readings are needed.
Multiple prayers with each reading.
The think on the verse or passage over and over, morning, noon, and night.
With each reading, with each prayer, with each pondering, you will grow.
The more you grow, the more delight you will find in my Word.

Psalm 1:2 Expanded Bible (EXB)
2 They ·love [delight in] the Lord’s ·teachings [laws; instructions],
and they ·think about [meditate on] those ·teachings [laws; instructions] day and night.
-- Expanded Bible (EXB). The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.

My love, you will delight in my Word and will love it, but only with multiple exposures. It also takes multiple exposures over the long-term, over the long-haul, where you meditate on it daily.
Each time you read a verse, you grow a little more and your life experiences have grown you as well. Therefore, with every reading, with every meditation, you will get something more out of the verse or passage. You will go deeper, will learn more, and will communicate with me more.
Every time you talk to me about a verse or passage, I will reveal more to you. I will grow you more and the verse or passage will grow you.
The more you grow, the more delight you will find in my Word.

Psalm 1:2 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
2 Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction,
and he meditates on it day and night.
-- Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB). Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.

My love,
How can I instruct you and grow you unless you are in my Word? Unless you meditate on my Word and pray about it, day and night over a long period of time, you will not grow enough to find the delight.
My Word is how I communicate with you best. Find delight in it through multiple and intentional exposures.

My Lord,
Thank you for the insight you have given me. It has been a light bulb moment, a life-transforming moment for me. I realize how important it is for me to keep meditating and praying on your Word and about your Word. Help me to remember all of these things and try to meditate on your Word as much as possible and pray about it.

Psalm 119:33-40 New Living Translation (NLT)
33 Teach me your decrees, O Lord;
    I will keep them to the end.
34 Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions;
    I will put them into practice with all my heart.
35 Make me walk along the path of your commands,
    for that is where my happiness is found.
36 Give me an eagerness for your laws
    rather than a love for money!
37 Turn my eyes from worthless things,
    and give me life through your word.
38 Reassure me of your promise,
    made to those who fear you.
39 Help me abandon my shameful ways;
    for your regulations are good.
40 I long to obey your commandments!
    Renew my life with your goodness.
-- New Living Translation (NLT). Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Psalm 119:105 New Living Translation (NLT)
105 Your word is a lamp to guide my feet
    and a light for my path.
-- New Living Translation (NLT). Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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