Short summary of one way to have a “conversation with the Lord” as you spend a daily time in the Scriptures. (Randy Gariss)

-Step 1.  Go to the chapter you are going to work through.  Plan on working through a book chapter by chapter.  Intend to cover a half to a whole chapter each time, depending upon the amount of time that you have that day.

-Step 2.  Have a journaling notebook and pen with you; writing as you do your Bible study slows you down enough so that you can actually hear from the Lord.  It helps keep you “present” and less likely to be distracted.  We all listen better when we slow down.

Mindset #1:  You are sitting down “with the Lord, who authors this book”.  This is true due to the fact that the Word itself “is active and alive” (Heb. 4), and in addition, the Holy Spirit is present and active in you. (John 14).  This is a time and place to actually have a conversation with the Lord, not to just go through the motion of reading a book.   

The goal of Scripture reading is not primarily INFORMATION, but TRANSFORMATION!

-Step 3.  Since you are in the presence of the Lord, start by writing out a portion of the prayer that begins your study.  (Be real in this prayer.  Don’t be “religious”!

“Lord, I know you are here and present.  Would you be my teacher today?  Would you take the Scriptures and the Spirit and plow something deep in my life…….. Lord, I want to hear what you want me to hear, and I want to be discipled by you today.

-Step 4.  Read unhurriedly, perhaps even out loud, the portion of the text you are going to do that day.  Read it as thoughtfully as you can.  Then breathe a prayer again, ask God to help you see and hear what matters to Him in this.

(A resource like www.biblegateway.com can help you with an introduction to a book or define any term, that you might not know or understand.  But don’t use a commentary until after you have lived in the chapter for a bit.  It can never be a substitute for your own work.)

Mindset #2:  The FIRST time you read through the text, you are simply reading it to see what is there.  It is as if you “were in the crowd” when Jesus was speaking these things, or you were “sitting in the church” when Paul’s letter was being read.  It is not about you yet.  This first reading is listening to the text to hear the revelation of God and the heart of God.  You are looking for things like:

*What did he say? *What does God care about? *What does this tell us about Jesus or the Father? *What is playing out in front of us? *What is he telling his people in this portion of Scripture? *What do we know about the Kingdom from this?

-Step 5.  Look through the passage you just read, and make some notes on what you see.  Make your hand and pen pull your mind in closer.  You are looking at the big picture playing out in this text.  God is not “wasting time” in this passage.  He is communicating something about himself or the Kingdom.  What is he communicating?  Take enough time to look and think.  (Notice what is in each paragraph.  God is not a bad communicator!)  Make your observations.

Mindset #3.  It is now time to reread through the text again. But the SECOND time you read through the text, you are looking for something more specific.  This time, the question that hangs over the text gets much more personal.  (It is as if the Lord dismisses the crowd, then addresses you individually, and asks you to “go for a walk with him”.)  This time, the question is “Randy, do you know why I want YOU to see and hear this?”  This time, your reading, praying, and reflecting, become much more personal in the belief that the Holy Spirit has things to point out to you as an individual.

-Step 6.  Read through the text a second time, this time stopping and picking up your pen at the end of each paragraph. You are looking and listening for God to help you see why he wants YOU to wrestle with this text.  THIS TIME, WHAT YOU WRITE DOWN IS NOT SO MUCH “PRINCIPLES FOR THE WHOLE CHURCH”, BUT TRUTH SPECIFICALLY FOR YOU.  This time, what you write down is far more a DIRECT AND PERSONAL DIALOGUE WITH THE LORD. You are addressing him, and he is addressing you.  For example:

“Lord, it is pretty obvious you are telling me……..”, or “Lord, are you speaking this blessing over my life?  I think you are, and it blows me away…” Or perhaps something like “Randy, don’t you think it is about time that you stopped lying to yourself and to me…”
 

In my experience, I believe that most texts will point out 3-5 things that God wants to say to you, or 3-5 things your heart needs to say to him.  Whatever you write is to be personal.  There is an intimacy here.  And it probably goes without saying, it is to be honest, straightforward, with no pretensions of any kind.

Mindset #4.  When you finish, I recommend that you have a very specific prayer time.  Go back and pray over the personal things you just discovered and wrote about in this journal.  And then go back to the personal things you wrote in yesterday’s notes and the few days before.  Continue to pray over these blessings and convictions that God has been giving you. 

I think some of the easier books to use until you become more accustomed to this approach are:

Luke (Beginning chap. 4, where Jesus begins to act and teach), I Peter, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Letters to Timothy, James, etc.  Once you learn to do this, it can be done anywhere.