He
restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name sake.
(Holy Bible: New American Standard Bible, Ps. 23:3)
But
Hannah replied, “… I have poured out my soul before the Lord. (Ibid. 1 Sam.
1:15)
One of the
questions that the early church asked in recognizing which writings were
Scripture [i.e., Bible] and which were not, was whether or not a text had life-transforming
power (From God to Us How We God Our Bibles, Kindle
location 1319) . In one sense, they were asking the texts, did
they contain truth and did that truth set them free (John 8:23). The next step in this ancient Bible reading
practices involves this question; however, it is us asking the text or the
truth of the text to set us free. In
other words, we shape our prayers to God through the freedom brought through
the texts.
In the
first part of this series we listened to the text of Psalms 66:16, “Come and hear,
all who fear God, and I will tell of what He has done for my soul” (NASB). If you went through step two, described in
last week’s blog meditation, then you should go back and apply that lesson to
Psalm 66:16 also. Now we pray as we read
the Scripture. Ask the Holy Spirit to steer
feelings that arise in your soul from the Scripture. When they spring up, offer them back to God
as the Spirit leads.
For example, Ps. 66:16 contains the
words, “fear God”, what emotions or ideas do these words produce in your
soul? This can be a profound or powerful
idea. Remember the children of Israel at
Mount Sini, in fear of God they cried for Moses alone to speak to them (Ex.
20:19). In Deuteronomy, there is a command
to, “… fear the LORD your God and walk in all His ways and love Him…”
(10:12). Jesus, who reconciles us to the
Father and shows us the Father’s love also says to fear Him (Matt. 10:28). Ask the Holy Spirit, what does it mean to
fear God in the way the Scriptures teach?
Offer it as a prayer, asking Him to instruct your heart, your mind and,
your soul to fear God in this way.
However, do not neglect the second part of the verse, where the Psalmist
is excited to tell of what God has done in his soul. What has God done in your soul? Perhaps ask for the opportunity to tell
someone what God has done in your soul.
Scripture is a powerful tool that
God uses in our lives. Praying and being
attentive to how the Holy Spirit can lead you through the Scriptures can remind
you of the power found in the Word of God.
For
the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and
piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow,
and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Holy Bible: New American Standard Bible, Heb. 4:12)
[Next week: Hearing from God]
Written by Pastor Ozzy
1995. Holy Bible: New American Standard Bible.
LaHabra: The Lockman Foundation.
Norman L. Geisler and William E Nix. 2013. From God
to Us How We God Our Bibles. Matthews: Bastion Books.
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