May 29, 2010

  • May we increasingly desire to understand & study Your Word (Neh. 8:13)


    We've been focusing on Nehemiah 8 and praying the Word of God might be restored to its proper place in our lives and in the life of the Church as a whole:

    Continuing on again in Nehemiah 8...

    Nehemiah 8:13 And on the second day were gathered together the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, unto Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the law. (KJV)

    On the second day the heads of fathers' houses of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, came together to Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the Law. (ESV)

    The word translated understand (KJV) and study (ESV) is the Hebrew word sakal  (saw-kal'). Here's what Strong's Concordance says about the word:

    a primitive root; to be (causatively, make or act) circumspect and hence, intelligent:--consider, expert, instruct, prosper, (deal) prudent(-ly), (give) skill(-ful), have good success, teach, (have, make to) understand(-ing), wisdom, (be, behave self, consider, make) wise(- ly), guide wittingly.

    We read in II Timothy 2 (KJV) that we are to

    Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

    Lord God,

    Your Word is breathed out from Your very mouth, it is Your gift to us from Your Spirit, written by men who were carried along by Your Spirit and preserved and protected by Your good Providence.

    We see how your leaders gathered together to understand and study Your Word, and it is true that those who are leaders among us will be held to greater account. We thank You for those You have called and appointed to teach and lead us and we pray You would continue to guard and protect them so they might take heed to themselves and the doctrine.

    However, in addition to Your divinely appointing and gifting such members of Your Body to lead, feed, instruct and teach us, we are a holy priesthood. We need no human mediator to teach us. Because Your Holy Spirit dwells in all of Your people, any one of us can all open Your Word to study and to understand so we might know You more. You are not a respecter of persons in that. Lord Jesus, You told the little children to come to You. In the Kingdom of God, the wisdom of men has no true bearing in terms of understanding what is spiritual. Many of those whom the world considers are unwise and foolish are enlightened through Your Spirit while the wise and strong and powerful remain in darkness and reject You and Your Word. The most incapable in the world's eyes are made capable to understand the things of the Spirit, for they are spiritually discerned and can only be understood through the Spirit. The Spirit alone can open our hearts and minds to teach us of You. And though the Spirit does graciously reveal these things to us as You will, yet You still use the means to do so.

    May we increasingly desire to understand & study Your Word.
    May You and Your Word be a delight to us.

    We confess how often we neglect to really study Your Word and seek to understand. We confess our laziness and lethargy and lukewarmness. O, to consider we can meet with You, the living God, in Your Word. We can meet with You, the holy God who sent His Son to die for us and redeem us as a people to Yourself! The God who set His love on us when we were still sinners and Your enemies.

    O, great God, we confess those times when we sit and read or listen to Your Word, but we are not thrilled by it, by You. We confess those time that we listen and do not take the time or energy to really focus to understand or study Your Word. We confess those times when we have one eye on the clock or on our to-do list, with the other eye on the Scripture. We confess how often we bow to expediency and the urgent, rather than the things of first import, the one thing most necessary. We confess how we are tempted to be like Mary rather than be Martha. How we busy ourselves with countless other things, not saying they are all bad, but yet we do not take the time to sit and ponder and soak and abide in Your Word at Your feet. We cannot serve two masters. Ever! Yet so we confess we so often merely read our assigned verses or chapter(s) for the day and then walk away like those You've described in James 1:

    21  Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

    22  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24  For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25  But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

    May we increasingly desire to understand & study Your Word.
    May You and Your Word delight our souls!

    Forgive us for not being single-eyed toward You. We confess those times we do hear or read Your Word but yet we do not receive with meekness that implanted Word. We confess that we not take the time to soak wholeheartedly in Your Word like the Psalmist described:

    Psalms 1:
    1  Blessed is the man
    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
    nor stands in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
    2  but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
    and on his law he meditates day and night.
    3  He is like a tree
    planted by streams of water
    that yields its fruit in its season,
    and its leaf does not wither.
    In all that he does, he prospers.

    Certainly we can trust that as we devote time to press on to seek You and to know You more in Your Word, You will provide the time we need for all You have called us to each day – to fulfill all the family, personal, ministry and work obligations You have called us to, as well as allowing us for time to rest.

    How can we expect to know You if we do not avail ourselves of this precious means of grace You have provided for us to do so?

    May we increasingly desire to understand & study Your Word.
    May You and Your Word delight our souls!

    Holy God,

    Forgive us for not delighting in Your Word as we ought.
    May You and Your Word delight our souls once again.

    Forgive us for so often letting the study of Your Word to our leaders only and learning of You secondhand.
    Forgive us for being hearers only and not doers and so quickly forgetting what we've heard.
    Forgive us for not taking the time to study to show ourselves approved.
    Forgive us for not meditating on Your Word day and night.
    Forgive us for our laziness.

    Cleanse us from our sins, Lord God, for Jesus' sake.

    Increase our hunger and zeal for You and Your Word and our desire to know You more.

    May we increasingly desire to understand & study Your Word.
    May You and Your Word delight our souls!

    May we value and treasure any opportunity we have to study and understand Your Word.
    May we give You the firstfruits of our time in this, rather than letting it go until the end of the day (if at all).
    May we show we value and treasure Your Word by making time to plant ourselves there and soaking there.
    May we be excited as we anticipate meeting with You in Your Word.
    May we protect and guard the time we set aside for Your Word as we would an important appointment.

    Make us once again the people of one Book.
    Have mercy on us, O God.

    May we increasingly desire to understand & study Your Word.
    May You and Your Word delight our souls!

    Please prayerfully reflect on your attitude toward the Word of God and then add your PRAYERS below as the Spirit leads.

Comments (1)

  • Father, I simply ask that Your Spirit move more of your family just to read Your Word on a daily basis. Make it a joyful experience for them.  amen

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"he called it the tent of meeting..."

I am burdened to pray to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for the reformation and reviving of Christ's church.

The phrase tent of meeting comes from Exodus 33:7: Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.

This site is devoted to God first and foremost. In all that is done here, my prayer is that God is glorified and His Name magnified and Christ and Him crucified is lifted up so He might be preeminent and God might receive all the praise, honor and glory due His Holy Name. All who have come to a saving knowledge of our Father by grace through faith in the all-sufficient sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ are welcome to enter this tent of meeting to seek the Lord.

This blog is a place for all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ to come and seek God's face for revival. My intention is for this tent of meeting to be a holy place where we can enter into PRAYER together to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit leads you, please enter into prayer either here (think of "comments" as prayers) or on your own.

Habakkuk 3:2 O LORD, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O LORD, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.

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