"Praying the Scripture"

This comes from the book I read and reread throughout the year, "100 Days in the Secret Place" complied by Gene Edwards. What I am copying comes from Jeanne Guyon who was born in 1648.

"Praying the Scripture" is a unique way of dealing with the Scripture; it involves both reading and prayer.

Here is how you should begin.

Turn to the Scripture; choose some passage that is simple and fairly practical. Next, come to the Lord. Come quietly and humbly. There, before Him, read a small portion of the passage of Scripture you have opened to.

Be careful as you read. Take in fully, gently and carefully what you are reading. Taste it and digest it as you read.

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.

You may then want to take that portion of Scripture that has touched you and turn it into prayer.

After you have sensed something of the passage and after you know that the essence of that portion has been extracted and all the deeper sense of it is gone, then, very slowly, gently, and in a calm manner begin to read the next portion of the passage. You will be surprised to find that when your time with the Lord has ended, you will have read very little, probably no more than half a page.

To receive a deep, inward profit from the Scripture, you must read as I have described. Plunge into the very depths of the words you read until revelation, like a sweet aroma, breaks out upon you.
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After spending my devotional time doing this, I came away from a totally mountain top experience with our Father. While mowing today, I was praying and reflecting on this time with Him and realized how very tempting it would be to become a monk. Never having that communication with Him interrupted by other voices.

And then I realized that isn't how God meant for us to be. We are to be in constant communication with Him, and share Him with the world. If not for the voice of the Christians, the unsaved would remain unhearing of His great news. It also lead me to think about the voices I hear in my life. Words can not convey what a blessing it is to hear my husband say he loves me, to have heard my children call me "mommy" and now even as "mom". To hear family and friends express their love for me. To hear them share their hearts.

The Scripture is so alive with His words. My life is so alive with them and the words of those in my life.

How thankful I am that He is so big and so wonderful that His voice may always be heard even while I am hearing others.