“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
(Psalm 119:11 NIV)


                   Ever  have a conversation with a friend that was so deep you needed to repeat back to
them what they said just so they knew you were listening? That’s not just a
great method for a deep conversation with a human friend; it’s also a great way
to talk with God.


                   I  call it the paraphrase-it method of Bible meditation. It’s pretty simple,
really. You take a verse out of the Bible that you’re reading or studying, think
about it for a bit, and then rephrase it and say it in your own words.


                   Ultimately, you want to be able to explain a verse or paragraph in the Bible in your own
words. It’s not enough to know the Bible. We need to understand the Bible. (And
then we must do what the Bible says!)


                   Once  you’ve read the verse and explained it in your own words, write your paraphrase
down. Then, search your heart and see how that verse applies to you. Remember,
you haven’t studied God’s Word until you’ve written it down and applied it to
your life.


                   Then  pray God’s Word back to him. Commit to applying what he has taught you through
the Bible.


                   The  Bible says in Psalm 119:11: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might
not sin against you” (NIV). When you learn God’s Word — or even take it a step
further and memorize his Word — you protect yourself from temptation.


                   Jesus did this in Matthew 4 when the devil was tempting him. Jesus confronted every
temptation with Old Testament Scripture from the book of Deuteronomy. It
provided an ideal defense against Satan’s temptations.


                   God’s Word will protect us, too. That’s a great incentive to learn his Word.


Talk About It    
                Does the Bible ever seem hard for you to understand? How might paraphrasing what
you’re reading change your attitude toward learning God’s
Word?
                    Why  do you think it’s important to write down what you’ve learned and
paraphrased?
                    What verses are you “hiding” in your heart today?

“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise,
you are only fooling yourselves.” (James 1:22 NLT)


Nothing becomes dynamic until it becomes specific. That’s why when you read God’s Word,
you try to move it from what it was to what you need to do now — your
application.


A great habit to get into after you read your Bible is to write a one-sentence
application to what you’ve just read. It’ll help you become a “doer of the
Word,” not just a hearer.


What makes a good application sentence? It has four characteristics:

It’s personal. You can't write an application for somebody else. It’s not about what the world needs to do or what your husband needs to do or what your kids need to do. It’s about what you need to do!


It’s practical. Your application should be something you can actually do and
something you are able to make a plan to do. Broad generalities won’t help you.
In fact, they’ll produce little action and will make you feel helpless.


It’s possible. If you can’t actually accomplish your application, you’ll
likely get discouraged. If your application is that you need to pray five hours
a day, you won’t do it. Don’t go a day without prayer. That’s practical. Praying
for five hours isn’t practical.


It’s provable. You need to set yourself a deadline to check on yourself.
Until you set a deadline and a goal, you can’t check yourself. Then it’s just a
dream.


You
can do this with any portion of the Bible you’re reading. The Bible says, “But
don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are
only fooling yourselves.”


Talk About
It
                    After
reading this devotional, how will your quiet time
change?
                    What
one-sentence application will you try to put into practice today?


                     

“But more than anything else, put God's work first and do what he wants. Then
the other things will be yours as well.” (Matthew 6:33 CEV)


                   Everyone
struggles with quiet-time consistency from time to time. Know that if you’re
struggling with it, you’re not alone! The good news is that with a common
problem comes some common solutions. Next time you find yourself struggling with
your daily quiet time — or even before you start to struggle — try some of these
solutions:


1) Make a covenant. Commit to God that you’ll spend at least some time — even
if it’s just two minutes — with God every day of your life. Put your commitment
in writing. A covenant is just a promise that you’ll spend time with God every
day, not because everyone else is doing it, but because you want to spend time
with Jesus.


2) Put it in your weekly schedule. Put it on your Day-Timer, your computer,
your phone, or wherever else you keep your schedule. Block out a set of time in
advance to meet with God every day, just as you would a doctor's appointment, a
business lunch, or a meeting with your boss.


3) Be prepared for the attacks of the devil. To be forewarned is to be
forearmed. The devil will do whatever he can to keep you away from your time
with God. Be on your guard and prepared for the attacks.


4) Do it for six weeks straight. Psychologists say it takes about six weeks
for a habit to develop. It takes about three weeks to get familiar with a new
task or new behavior. It takes about another three weeks before it becomes a
solid habit in your life. Most people have never been successful in being
consistent in their daily time with God because they've never made it past the
six-week barrier without missing a day.


                   A
habit is kind of like a ball of twine. Every time you drop it, a lot of strands
are unwound. During this time period, you can’t allow the just-this-once
mentality. When you drop that ball of twine, it doesn't just unwind once, it
unwinds a whole bunch of times. Any act of yielding to a temptation weakens the
will and strengthens your lack of self-control.


5.) Depend on God-power, not willpower. You can only succeed by the power of
God's Spirit. Ask God to strengthen you and give you the mind of Christ, so
you'll depend on him to help you develop this habit. If you just depend on
willpower, you don’t have any hope to stay consistent.


                   Jesus
wants you to spend time with him. He died on the cross to give you fellowship
with him. You don’t have time not to do this. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “But
more than anything else, put God's work first and do what he wants. Then the
other things will be yours as well.” Make time for God, and it’ll change your
life.


Talk About
It
                    What
steps will you take today to become consistent in your quiet
time?
                    Why
do you think a consistent quiet time with God is critical to your Christian
growth? How does your answer to this question line up with the way you have a
quiet time?

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass
  away.”(Matthew 24:35 NIV)
The Bible is the most despised, derided, denied, disputed, dissected, and
  debated book in all of history. This Bible has been under attack for centuries
— for everything you can imagine.


Yet the Bible is still the most read, most published, and most translated
  book in the world. And, most importantly, it’s still changing the lives of
those  who apply what it teaches.


One of the reasons I believe the Bible is God’s Word is that it has survived
  so many attacks throughout history.


Despite all the attacks throughout history, today the Bible is the greatest
  single source of culture. It’s the greatest single source for music, art, and
  architecture. If you take the Bible out of culture, you would destroy most of
  the major music, artwork, and architecture of the past 2,000 years. Even much
of  our English language comes from the King James Bible.


The Bible has flourished in spite of unrelenting attacks during the past
  2,000 years.
Jesus said in Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away,
  but my words will never pass away”(NIV). The only item on the planet that will
  last is the Word of God. Everything else will burn up, because truth is
  eternal.


Voltaire, the famous French philosopher, was a brilliant atheist. He wrote a
  number of tracts deriding the Bible. He once made a very bold statement: “One
  hundred years from today the Bible will be a forgotten book.”


Today, everyone has forgotten that quote — not the Bible! After Voltaire
  died, for nearly 100 years, his homestead was used as the book depository for
  the French Bible Society.  They sold Bibles out of his house! It’s now a
museum.  People have forgotten Voltaire.  Nobody forgets the Bible.


No matter what attacks come the Bible’s way, it always survives — and it
  always will. You can depend on that.


Talk About It

• Does your perspective on life reflect the knowledge that this earth will one
    day pass away? How would your life change if you focused your life on the one
    thing that will never pass away?

• Ask God for the courage to stand up to those who oppose God’s Word with
    grace, gentleness, and wisdom.

“Guard my words as your most precious possession. Write them down and also keep them deep within your heart.” (Proverbs 7:2 TLB)As we discussed yesterday, one of the most powerful ways you can transform your spiritual life is to learn to memorize Scripture. The Bible says in Proverbs 7:2, “Guard my words as your most precious possession. Write them down and also keep them deep within your heart” (TLB).

You may not believe you can memorize Bible verses, but that’s just not true. You can memorize what you want to memorize. If you’re in the U.S., you’ve probably memorized the Pledge of Allegiance. You may have memorized the Lord's Prayer. You memorize what’s important to you: phone numbers, song lyrics, recipes, and baseball stats. How important is the Bible to you?

It's a matter of motivation rather than skill. David wrote in Psalm 119:72, “The law that you gave means more to me than all the money in the world” (GNB). When you understand how important and how valuable God's Word is, you’ll get serious about memorizing significant portions of it.

Why should you memorize God's Word?

• It’s the number one tool for resisting temptation. When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, his only defense against this attack was the Word of God. If Jesus knew a better way to fight temptation, believe me, he would have used it.
• It helps you make wise decisions. I can’t count how many times I've asked God for guidance about something very specific, and he has brought a Scripture I’ve memorized back to mind, showing me what to do. The Bible says, “Your word is a lamp to guide me and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105 GNB). The more you know what God says, the more you are going to know how God thinks, because the will of God is found in the Word of God. The more you fill your mind with the Word of God, the more you will know the will of God.
• It strengthens you when you’re under stress. We all get stressed from time to time. And the Bible says this, “Remember your promise to me; it is my only hope. Your promise revives me; it comforts me in all my troubles” (Psalm 119:49-50 NLT). If you will memorize Scripture, your stress level will decrease dramatically and your confidence level will increase dramatically.
• It comforts you when you’re sad. The Bible is full of comfort. Jeremiah said, “Your words are my joy and my heart’s delight” (Jeremiah 15:16b GWT). I can't tell you how many times I have been down and read Scripture, and it gave me great comfort.
• It helps you witness to unbelievers. 1 Peter 3:15 says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (NIV). If someone asks you what the Bible says about an issue or what they should do in a situation, what do you tell them? If you have Scripture memorized, it’ll help you be far more effective in sharing because you can share the truth of God’s Word.

Talk About It

• What advice have you shared recently with a friend or family member? Was it based on your own wisdom or the wisdom of God’s Word?

• Are you regularly praying for God’s guidance for big and small decisions alike?

“Whoever looks intently into the perfect law … and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” (James 1:25 NIV)If you’re serious about being spiritually strong and mature, the greatest habit you can develop is memorizing Scripture. In fact, the Bible says in James 1:25 that it’s one of four habits that leads to a blessed life.

• Read your Bible. “Whoever looks intently …”
• Review the Bible. “… continues in it …”
• Remember the Bible. “… not forgetting what they have heard …”
• Respond to the Bible. “ … but doing it …”

You don’t want to be a spiritual baby anymore. It’s time to grow up and live the blessed life you’re meant to live. Hiding God’s Word in your heart is an important way to start.

You may not think you have a good memory, but you remember what’s important to you.  You remember the phone numbers and dates that you care about. I’ve heard people say they can’t memorize anything, but they can quote songs from the 1960s and rattle off the statistics of their favorite baseball players.

Memory is a skill you can learn. It’s a muscle you can strengthen. In fact, memorizing Scripture will cause your brain to have a stronger memory in other areas. I guarantee it. Study after study has shown this.

Why is it important to memorize Scripture? 

• You’ll always have God’s Word with you. When you need the Bible, it’s never around. When you’re tempted, you don’t have a Bible open or by your side. When you’re witnessing to someone who doesn’t know Jesus, is under stress, needs comfort, or is in a crisis, there’s usually not a Bible around. You need God’s Word in your mind so you can remember it and review it right when you need it.
• You can meditate on Scripture wherever you go. You can’t review God’s Word unless you remember it. If you’ve memorized Scripture, you can think about it when you get into bed at night or as you drive to an appointment. You can think about the Bible because you’ve memorized it. That’s called meditation. The only promise of prosperity and success that God gives us in the Bible (Joshua 1:8) says that meditating on his Word is the key.

Start memorizing Scripture today. Pick a verse a week. In a year, you’ll have memorized 52 verses. In two years, you’ll have memorized more than 100 verses.

Talk About It

• You already know the ways you learn and memorize best. What tools, tactics, or people can help you memorize Scripture?

• How do you respond when God brings Scripture to mind in certain situations?

“You search the Scriptures because you believe they give you eternal life. And the Scriptures point to me!” (John 5:39 NLT)We’re not really studying the Bible until we do two things. First, write down what we’ve learned, and, second, talk it over with others. God will change your life when you do these two things.

Writing down what you’re learning from the Bible helps you remember it. Whenever you sit down and read God’s Word, keep a pencil and paper nearby (or a computer if you wish). Simply write down what you hear God saying to you. Keep a journal. You’ll be able to go back and review what God taught you for years to come.

Then, talk with others about what you’re learning in God’s Word. That’s why we all need to be in some kind of small group ministry. That’s where you study God’s Word and talk about it with other people. It’s an incredibly important spiritual discipline.

In the Bible we learn about a small group who did this. Acts 17:11 says, “The people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul's message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to check up on Paul and Silas, to see if they were really teaching the truth”(NLT).

These believers were searching the Scriptures. They were having a small group discussion. Are you doing the same? Are you in a small group? If not, what causes the delay in joining one?

Talk About It

• When you were a student at school, what tactics did you use to help you remember what you were learning?

• Sometimes the hardest part is knowing where to start. What are you going to do today to take the first step in joining a small group?

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” (James 1:22-25 NIV)James calls God’s Word a mirror. The mirror helps us evaluate ourselves. Once you look at a mirror, you can decide if you need to make any changes before you leave for the day. The Bible helps us do that, too.

You can look at the Bible in one of two ways. You can glance at the mirror or gaze into it. On the old TV show “Happy Days,” the Fonz would glance at the mirror. He’d walk past the mirror, stop, look into it, and say, “Hey!” He didn’t have to do anything else. He was pure perfection. He just needed a glance.

That’s not the way you look into God’s Word. You don’t just glance at the Word of God in a rushed, hurried manner and then leave. Glancing at God’s Word won’t change your life. 

Do you want a life that God blesses? It all starts with gazing into God’s Word. James 1:22-25 gives you the blueprint for how to study God’s Word in a way that he blesses.

• Read your Bible. “... whoever looks intently ...”
• Review the Bible. “... and continues in it ...”
• Remember the Bible. “... not forgetting what they have heard ...”
• Respond to the Bible. “... but doing it ...”

Talk About It

• What difference do you notice in your day when you gaze into God’s Word instead of just glancing at it?

• Does the current amount of time you set apart for your quiet time leave you enough time to read, review, remember, and respond to God’s Word?

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV)I’ve been a Christian for more than 40 years. I can tell you for certain that no habit is more difficult to maintain than a quiet time. I’ve shared with you some of the most common quiet time stumbling blocks in recent days: the problem of discipline, the problem of dryness, and the problem of distraction.

The problem of discouragement is, by far, the most powerful struggle. It’s the struggle to stick with your regular time with God. Nothing else is harder to maintain than your regular time with the Lord. The world fights you, your flesh fights you, and the devil fights you. They all work together to make sure you’re so busy that you don’t have time for a quiet time.

That’s why I call this the “battle of busyness.” It’s what happens when pressure mounts and you find you have too many things to do. Something has to give. Unfortunately, you drop the most important part of your life: your time with God.

Every time you skip your time with God, you get discouraged, and it’s even harder to get started again. You get discouraged and defeated. The most vicious attacks on your quiet time will come in the area of being consistent and diligent. Satan knows that if he can keep you out of the Word, he’s taken you out of the battle. He has basically removed your sword (Ephesians 6:17).

There are many believers who have told me that dropping their quiet time was the first step in the wrong direction — that led to all sorts of problems.

Talk About It

• We are not meant to struggle through our faith alone. To whom in your life do you turn for encouragement and accountability?

• Is there any task in your day that is more important than your quiet time with God? How will you change your schedule today to show what your priorities are or should be?

“Making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” (Proverbs 2:2-5 ESV)So far I’ve shared about the problem of discipline and the problem of dryness. If the first two problems aren’t impacting your quiet time, it’s very likely that the devil will use thepower of distraction to get to you.

It’s what I call the “battle of the brain.” You try to focus on praying and studying God’s Word, but your mind wanders all over the place. It's like spiritual ADD (attention deficit disorder). When that happens, it's very easy to put your head down, close your eyes, and fall back asleep.

Or, you could put up a fight in the battle of the brain by:

• Taking a walk. Ever notice that often when Jesus was teaching people, they were eating or walking. It’s hard to fall asleep as you walk or eat!
• Keeping a notepad nearby. Just write down whatever distractions are coming to your mind. Then you can just forget it, because it’s on a list you can deal with later.

There’s nothing wrong with getting distracted during a quiet time. It’s natural. But you need a plan for when you do.

Talk About It

• Don’t wait until tomorrow morning or your next quiet time to fight the battle of the brain. What can you do right now to help minimize the distractions you might face?

• Consider that the battle of the brain is also fought against Satan, who is trying desperately to take your focus off of God. Make this fight personal, and determine that you will not let Satan have control over your thoughts and where your mind takes you.