10 Invigorating Steps to Feasting on God’s Word

I annoyed my little Awana girls.

They gathered around me to say their Bible memory verses last night. I always make them explain what the verse means and talk about how we should obey it or believe it. This makes them nuts, because really they just want to say it as fast as they can and get me to sign my name in their books so they can move on.

When I got an eye roll last night, it reminded me of how we act toward God sometimes. Just kind of going to church and maybe reading the Bible but saying, “Please don’t make me slow down and learn this stuff and think about how I’m actually going to do it.”

It was ironic. One little girl was learning a verse about how we have a new life in Christ. She was impatient that I was making her talk about what that meant. She didn’t know that slowing down and taking time to think about the verse and talking about what it means and how it works in our lives are what open our hearts to the very Source of new life.

I think I need to teach my Awana kids how to meditate on Bible verses, and maybe you’d like to learn how too.

It sounds all mystical, but it’s not.

10 Steps to Meditating on the Bible

1. Read the verse in its context. Maybe read the whole chapter it’s in.
2. Ask questions of the verse. Who is talking to whom? What? When? Where? Why? How? Question the text to death.
3. What significant words are repeated? They’re probably important.
4. Look up the meaning of any words you don’t know.
5. What does this verse mean? (Does it mean what you always thought it meant?)
6. Is there anything in the verse you need to believe? If so, decide immediately if you will. If believing this verse seems impossible, talk to God about it.
7. Is there anything in the verse you need to obey? If so, decide immediately what action you’re going to take.
8. Write the verse on a note card. Work on memorizing it throughout the day. (You’ve spent this much time on it. You might as well make it permanent in your thinking.)
9. Talk about the verse with a spouse or a kid or a friend.
10. Pray through the verse before you go to bed.

That’s a long list. Do you feel like my Awana girls? Are you thinking, “Wow, can’t I just read the Bible and move on?” The answer is no, not if you want your life to change.

Which of the steps above is a new idea for you?