My Bright Lights Journey: January 2011

Hello all! It has been a long time since I have posted any updates, but as I was preparing for a Bright Lights meeting, I wanted to be able to share some practical tips for becoming disciplined in your walk with God, yet didn't have the time to cover them. So I set my mind to sharing them here!

I hope what you read below will inspire each of you to develop habits of Bible reading, memorization, prayer, meditation, worship, and personal communication with God in your life!

Bible Reading and Study:

Martin Luther said: “I study my Bible like I gather apples. First, I shake the whole tree that the ripest may fall. Then I shake every limb, and when I have shaken each limb, I shake each branch and every twig. Then I look under every leaf. I search the Bible as a whole like shaking the whole tree. Then I shake every limb – study book after book. Then I shake every branch, giving attention to the chapters. Then I shake every twig, or a careful study of the paragraphs and sentences and words and their meanings.”

Using a concordance or topical Bible, look up verses about a particular topic you want to study.

Underline key words in a passage to emphasize their meaning.

If you notice a word or phrase is repeated a lot, count the number of times, and see if there is any other unique word, phrase, or context in which they take place.

Keep a record of verses God has used in your life. Write them down as god reveals certain insights to you, and how you need to apply it.

Ask the basic questions about a verse, "who? why? what? where? when? how?" It's like interviewing a verse! For instance, "Who is the author?" "Who is he specifically writing to?" "When will this happen?" "What does this word mean?" "How can I apply this in my life today?”

Use a Bible reading plan to keep you on track, such as this one year plan. It is especially helpful to be able to check the boxes off as you finish reading, and see where you need to read next. As weeks go by, it's exciting to see all the boxes get filled in, x-ed out, or checked off!

Pray the Scripture you are studying back to the Lord, personalizing it if possible. Sometimes you can change words like "he" or "them" to "I" or "me" so that you can more easily apply it to your own life.

Look up words in a dictionary to make sure you really understand what they mean.

Reading 5 Psalms a day means that each month you will go through the book of Psalms.

Read 1 chapter of Proverbs a day to finish the entire book each month. Many people like reading the Proverb that corresponds to the day of the month (i.e. January 1st, you read Proverbs 1; January 2nd, you read Proverbs 2...)

You only need to read 3 chapters each day to read the entire Bible in one year! Think about all the other books you read in a year, then make a commitment to read through THE most important Book, God's Word, this year.

Memorization

Use motions and expressions. I know that I often feel silly doing this, but many times it is that very silliness that will enable you to remember that verse so clearly! I have also found that having to put motions to the concepts can be helpful because it makes me think about what God is actually saying in a verse.

Make goals for Scripture memory, write them down. I would also really encourage you to share them with someone, like your parents, or siblings, or friends (you might even be an encouragement to them!), or you can leave me a comment here! I can personally give testament to the fact that it really does help to keep you focused.

Write your verse on a card and keep it with you (pocket, purse, etc) to review at any time during the day. You might want to set certain times, like at meals, so you always remember. Someone once said that if you repeat something to yourself at three different times during the day, it will eventually stay in your memory.

Jenny Florio finds it helpful to write out on paper the first letter of each word in her verse out on paper. Brilliant! That way you can get a hint without seeing the whole verse.

My older sister, Amanda, and I have found that songs can often be recalled better than just words, so we've found recordings of Psalm 119 and other passages put to music and we listen to them, and will automatically start memorizing them.

During the National Bible Bee this past year, my younger sister, Lady L, and I liked to record ourselves reading the verses we needed to memorize, and then play them aloud as often as we could, usually while we did other simple tasks, like washing dishes, riding in the car, or cleaning our room. We recorded them using the webcam mic on the computer, and then you can burn them to disc or add them to your mp3 player. You can also use a cassette recorder if you have one around.

Here is a system that might help you memorize and remember scripture. You choose the verses/passages.

Meditation

Keep reciting Scripture. I've often found it best to start out whispering it to yourself, and then stop, but keep thinking it. If you haven't memorized anything, or can't remember, go to Psalms and find a sentence that speaks to your heart and then repeat just that sentence.

Leave any distractions out of sight – these include computers, mp3 players, to do lists, books, craft projects, schoolwork, games, etc. Even though you might have your eyes closed, if they flutter open for a moment that's all it takes to get distracted

Prayer

Journal it – I've found that I say a lot more to God when my pencil is already moving. Even when I don't feel like praying, if I just writing out a prayer, God usually opens up my hear to Him.

Choose to pray more than once each day – pick a few times each day, set a timer, spill out the aggravations and troubles you've encountered already, lay your wrong feelings at Jesus' feet, and ask for a right spirit to continue the day with, as well as strength to resist temptations. It's amazing how wonderful a bad day can become!
Pray when you're upset and angry – if you can, be alone and say the words out loud, it often brings you back to reality and rational thought, as well as making your heart tender towards the person who might be irritating you. If you can't be alone, then just think the prayer in your head, and ask the Lord for peace.

Worship