"
Let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly!" Colossians 3:16
Probably prayer is less neglected in devotions, than is
the reading of the Bible. Many people who would not go out any morning
without a few moments of prayer, will go forth day after day into the thick of
life's duties and perils, without reading even a verse of Scripture! They feel
the necessity of asking God to keep, guide and bless them--but they fail to
realize that it is in and through meditating on His Word, that God chiefly gives
His richest and best blessings.
It is in His Word, that God reveals Himself. We cannot
know what He is like, nor what the attributes of His character
are--unless we ponder the Scriptures. We cannot learn what God's will is,
nor what He would have us to do and to be--if we do not look into
His Word. There is nothing that we need more, than to hear God speaking to us
every morning. This is possible, only as we open the Bible and let its words
whisper their messages to us.
No matter how familiar we may be with the teachings of the Scriptures, we need
to ponder them anew every morning to keep their pure ideals and
lofty requirements ever before us, lest we allow our standard of holy living
to be lowered....
Many of the blessings we seek in prayer, can come to us only
through the Word of God:
We ask to be kept near the heart of Christ--but our
Master tells us that only those who keep His commandments shall abide in His
love. In order to keep His commandments, we must know them--and we
can know them only by reading and re-reading them.
We ask God in the morning to guide us through the day,
and in one of the psalms is the prayer, "Order my steps according to Your Word."
That is, God leads us by His Word. If then we do not read the words of God, how
can we get His guidance?
The leading He promises is not general, by long
stretches--but by little steps. The Psalmist says, "Your Word is a lamp
unto my feet." It is not said that prayer is the lamp--but the
Word. We must carry it in our hand, too, as one carries a lantern to
throw its beams about his feet.
We pray to be kept from sin, and in the Scriptures one
says, "Your Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against You." Our
prayers to be kept from sin, can be answered only by getting the Word of God
into our heart!
These are suggestions of the necessity of reading the Bible
daily, as well as of praying. Neither is complete in itself alone. We must
talk to God--but we must also listen to God talk to us through His Word. We must
pray for blessings--but only through the divine words of Scripture, can these
blessings come to us.
(J.R. Miller, "Living
Victoriously")
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