WORD BY HEART

You can of course learn scripture in your own way, in your own home. But if you would like to give some time to learning easy to grasp techniques, YWAM run a wonderful course called “Word by Heart” in various locations around the world. I have loved teaching on some of these schools and have always been inspired to go deeper in my own work after visiting one. They provide an invaluable opportunity to dive into an intensive time of learning and loving scripture with dynamic, like-minded people.

Do check out their website: https://www.wordbyheart.org/about/

WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?

You may not at this point feel confident, or have the time to learn great chunks of scripture for yourself (I understand that not everyone does), but I do urge you to commit even small sentences to memory.  It’s amazing to me, how when a scripture is hidden in my heart, it begins to come to life and take on greater depth of meaning and understanding. God often then takes the opportunity to speak into my life, and the lives of others around me through what I have learned. When these ancient words are lodged in our hearts meditating on God’s word night and day (Josh 1:8 & Psalms 1:2), can begin to become a reality. Whether learning, or simply reading scripture on your own or with others, here are few things that I find really help to bring it alive:

• LISTEN FOR THE LOVE: so often I realise that the voice in my head that I “hear” as I am reading the Bible, particularly when it is God or Jesus or someone like Paul is speaking, is an angry harsh voice. This becomes particularly apparent when I try speaking it out as a communication and I am shocked to find that my tone of voice is often frustrated or exasperated or angry….and so often counter to who my heart has discovered Christ and His Father to be. So I encourage you, as you read, listen for the love. At first many of us find it hard to discover, particularly in those hard to understand passages that on cursory reading might seem judgmental or offensive. But look for it, it is always there.

• LOOK FOR THE THOUGHT PROCESS: A sentence is one full thought. A paragraph is a group of thoughts that build on one another.  A new paragraph denotes a slight shift in thought process as the author builds his story or argument…and so on. The translator, or author, uses punctuation to lead us through their thought process. So often we can read the Bible in isolated verses or passages, and we miss the beautiful process of thought that runs through it. For example, I always used to think that Jesus’ Sermon one the Mount was a random collection of Jesus’ teaching, that the Gospel writer just threw together in one place because they didn’t fit anywhere else. But as I learnt it, I realised that a flow of thought runs through it, that I had missed before (for me this is particularly apparent in Matthew 6 & 7). Look for the thought process.

• RECAPTURE THE SPOKEN COMMUNICATION: remember all scripture is a communication from one person (a historian, a prophet, a poet, a gospel writer, an apostle etc) to another person or group of people to communicate God’s heart and story. I find it so helpful to read it out loud with the intent of communicating it to someone – most often this involves imagining that I am speaking it to someone (the dog or my children’s teddies are often the recipient of these renditions).  When I hear my voice and don’t believe myself – when I sound hollow and lack authenticity – those are the bits I know I don’t really “get” (although I might like to pretend that I understand them). And that is when I know I need to seek the Lord for greater understanding.

• PRAY: Invite the Holy Spirit into your Bible reading. When you don’t understand something, ask Him to teach you. Don’t pull away from the hard parts – go towards them; and don’t take the familiar bits for granted, there is always more to be revealed. Ask Him to be your teacher. He will do this in a myriad of ways – maybe through speaking into the quiet of your heart, speaking through other people, through study, maybe even through dreams or unexpectedly in your day. There is no set pattern, but God’s Spirit is the Great Educator, and I can promise you that He has never failed yet to bring more understanding to my heart when I have asked Him to.

© JESSICA GREEN I 2021