Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.
(Deut. 11:18 – 21)
I decided early in my Christian life that I didn’t want to miss out on anything God has for me. That’s why I made up my mind years ago to read my Bible daily. It’s the reason that, with few exceptions, I’ve put God’s Word first place in my schedule most every day of my life.
You may have done the same thing. You may have been faithful to read and study your Bible for many years. That doesn’t mean, however, that you have nothing more to learn about it.
No matter how faithful we’ve been in the past, we can all do something to become better stewards of our hearts where God’s Word is concerned. We can all learn to better manage our spiritual nutrition so that our inner man can grow and increase day by day.
What kinds of things can we do?
We can shake things up! We can step up the pace by adding new dimensions to our normal Bible reading routine. I’ve done that many times over the years and found it’s very helpful. Some years ago, for example, I began making it a habit to read something in the Word about faith and healing during my devotional time every day. (My husband and I heard our spiritual father, brother Kenneth E. Hagin, say he did that, so we decided to do it too.) That proved to be a great blessing.
After a while, however, I realized I still needed something more. It dawned on me that although I was reading generous portions of scripture each day, I hadn’t gotten to know the Bible in a comprehensive way. So I set myself to read it all the way through from Genesis to Revelation.
Every believer would benefit from doing that at least once and preferably on a regular basis. Yet, I’ve found that few have actually done it. Perhaps that’s because the Bible is such a big book. The idea of reading the whole thing intimidates some people. In reality, though, it’s not hard to do. Just go to the bookstore and get a Bible that’s especially designed to help you read it through in a year. If you’ve never read your Bible cover to cover (or you haven’t done it recently), I encourage you to do so. You will be amazed how much spiritual increase you’ll experience as a result. Reading the Bible all the way through will really change you.
It will help you step up the pace and keep you growing so you don’t miss out on anything God has for you.
Scripture Reading: Psalm 119:33 – 80
Excerpt permission granted by Lynne Hammond Ministries
On the chilly March night in 1972 when Lynne Hammond took her first step into a life of Spirit-led prayer, she had no idea what was about to happen. All she knew was the hunger in her heart for God wouldn’t let her sleep. In the few short months she’d been born again, her desire to fellowship with Him had grown so strong she could hardly contain it. “Help me, God!” she cried. “I want to know you. I want to be able to talk to you. Please, teach me to pray!”
Suddenly, a heavenly presence flooded the room. Lynne sensed waves of spiritual fire sweeping over her and a beautiful language began to flow like a river from within her. Although she’d never heard of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, she knew instantly, without a doubt—this was God!
What began that night soon blossomed into a life of prayer that ultimately became a ministry of prayer when, in 1980, Lynne and her husband, Mac, founded Living Word Christian Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Under Lynne’s leadership, the prayer ministry at Living Word has become an internationally recognized model for developing effective pray-ers in the local church.
A teacher and an author, Lynne publishes a newsletter called Prayer Notes, has written numerous books, and currently serves as the national prayer director for Daughters for Zion. Her passion for inspiring and leading others into the life of Spirit-led prayer continues to take her around the world to minister to believers whose heart cry, like hers, is “Lord, teach me to pray!”