Engaging God's Word

Eternal truth, healthy food for our souls, and trustworthy direction for how to live are all to be found in the Bible. You want your marriage to change, it’s here; you want your nation to change, it’s here. Economics, war, government, morals, joy, parenting, education, truth—it’s all in the Bible.

God will teach you, equip you, speak to you, and transform you as you engage with His Word on a regular basis. 

Scripture References

Matthew 24:35 (NIV)

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 

Matthew 4:4 (NIV) 

Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 (NIV) 

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 

Psalm 119:105 (ESV) 

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. 

James 1:22 (NIV) 

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 

Helpful Ways to Develop a Healthy Habit of Engaging with God's Word

• Learn from the Bible (from teachers/preachers, discussion in Small Groups) 

• Listen to the Bible (online, audio Bibles, Bible apps) 

• Read the Bible on your own (personal devotions, reading plans) 

• Read the Bible with others (Small Groups, family) 

• Memorize verses from the Bible 

• Meditate on verses from the Bible 

• Obey what is written in the Bible

Communicating With God

The quality of our relationships often depends on the quality of our communication. Communicating is a fundamental part of our everyday lives. We communicate with many different people for many different reasons. We make requests, exchange ideas, and listen to what others are saying. It’s very natural to us.

God wants communication with Him to also be natural to us. It is His desire that we develop a life-giving prayer life. At its core, prayer is communication and conversation with God. God wants us to cultivate our ability to communicate and converse with Him. He wants us to learn to hear what He is saying to us.

Growing in our prayer life will enhance the quality of our relationship with Him. 

Scripture References

Mark 1:35 (NIV) 

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 

Jeremiah 33:3 (NIV) 

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. 

John 10:27 (NIV) 

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 

Philippians 4:6 (ESV)

...Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving (“thank you” are the two greatest words of faith) let your requests be made known to God. 

Matthew 6:9–13 (ESV) 

Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 

When You Pray:

P—Praise God: Choose to focus on God, and establish right positioning. He is God; you are not. 

R—Repent: Turn from or surrender anything the Lord brings to mind, especially any areas of unforgiveness. 

A—Ask 

Y—Yield: “Your will, not mine.” 

E—Expect: Expect to hear from Him and for Him to move in your life. 

R—Respond: When He prompts you, respond to Him; do what He tells you. 

Enjoying God

“Worship is our response, both personal and corporate, to God for Who He is, and what He has done, expressed in and by the things we say and the way we live.” Louie Giglio 

“Devotion to Christ is where the human heart is most satisfied.” Michael Fletcher (Manna Church LeaderStep, Week 2) 

Scripture References

Psalm 150:6 (ESV)

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! 

Psalm 37:4 (ESV) 

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 

Romans 12:1 (ESV) 

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 

Malachi 3:8 (NIV)

Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, “How have we robbed you?” In your tithes and offerings. 

Crucial to our growth in the above disciplines is our relationship with the Holy Spirit! We are all encouraged to “be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18 NIV). For believers, this simply means that we are to be continually and increasingly surrendered to and dependent on the Person and ministries of the Holy Spirit. 

We can ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit any time. We can surrender to Him and His ministries any time, especially as we read our Bibles, develop our prayer lives, and cultivate a lifestyle of worship. Consider asking the Holy Spirit to fill you when you wake up each morning or in important circumstances. See what He will do!

Scripture References

John 14:26 (NIV) 

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 

John 16:13–14 (NIV) 

...When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.  

Luke 11:13 (NIV) 

If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! 

For more on the Holy Spirit’s ministries:

• Ephesians 6:18

• Romans 8:26

• Acts 1:8

• Acts 2:1–4

• Acts 2:38–39

• Acts 4:31

• Acts 8:14–17

• Acts 19:1–7

• 1 Corinthians 12

• 1 Corinthians 14