Bible Study and Meditation

Bible Study and Meditation

Does your life include bible study and meditation? As in, do you spend time actually studying the bible and then spend time really thinking about what it says. Or as most of us, just read a few cursory verses, throw up a prayer, and put our bibles away for the day.

It hurts to admit that when life gets crazy my habit used to be the latter. I would say my morning prayers and either listen to or read the assigned scripture for the section that went along with my annual bible reading plan…and be done.

And believe it or not, I wondered why I often felt disconnected to God. Duh right? I would cry out when things that tough that I felt so alone, that I couldn’t hear or feel God.

Hello Sherryl?!?!?

I was lamenting my feelings of being alone and unheard by God to a friend one day and she asked me if I was:
Spending time in prayer everyday… check
Reading my Bible everyday… check
Committing the Word to memory… check? I do learn my memory verse each week with the kids
Allowing the Word to take root and make changes in my heart and life.. ummm
Praising God for the blessings – everyday little blessing… not always
Looking for opportunities to bless others.. that would be a negative – my focus in times of being alone is on me not others

Whew.. that hurt!

One of my dearest friends just called me out that my walk and my talk were not in sync. Busted!

So I went to the Lord in prayer and started spending intentional time in bible study and meditation each day. Some times I just journal or take notes. Other times I use study guides and books on topical studies.

One of the books I am using now is from the series of Spiritual Practices for EveryDay Life. This series has twenty-four spiritual practices that are one way to spend intentional time in the Word. The areas of study are Acceptance, Bible Study & Meditation, Celebration, Community, Confession, Contemplation, Faith, Fasting, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Hospitality, Justice, Mentoring, Outreach, Prayer, Reconciliation, Sabbath Rest, Service, Silence, Simplicity, Solitude, Stewardship, Submission, and Worship.

In this book, each section is broken down in to daily devotional sections. There is a passage to read and meditate on, questions for you to ponder over, and possible ways that you could incorporate the words into actions in your life.

I can tell you that when you spend intentional time in God’s Word, and let it start making changes in your heart and life; you will never feel alone or unheard.

We have amazing power and strength at our fingertips through understanding and applying God’s word to our lives. This discipline looks at the prayerful deliberation of and digging into the Scriptures in more than just a cursory read.

This book, on Bible Study and Meditation is available on Amazon. The other books in the series are as well and can be found here. Most of the series can be purchased on Kindle and in paperback versions.

Don’t have a Kindle? Grab one for yourself. They are so nice to use for reading. I love my Kindle Fire and my little one uses the e-Reader version (just for reading without the added games and internet options).