Sometimes in life, you may find that the same answer works for two different questions. For example, suppose a man feels burnt out in his work; he’s losing his passion for the job he loves. He asks himself how he can re-energize his heart and mind and regain his former passion. That same man may have a different feeling of being disconnected from his family. They lead a busy life and seem to run in different directions. So he asks himself how he can reconnect with his family and spend quality time with them. The answer to both of these questions could be the same. He could plan a vacation with the family that involved a lot of quality time together, in which he reconnected with his family and re-energized his heart and mind. The same activity meets both needs.
Believers in Jesus Christ often ask themselves how they can engage with the Bible, being more consistent in their devotion, while hearing from God at the same time. Those same believers will also ask themselves how they can deepen their prayer lives, praying more and better. The answer to both of those questions is the same: prayerful reading. What is prayerful reading? What does it look like? Prayerful reading combines Bible reading and prayer into one activity. One engages in Bible reading and prayer together with the same purpose. How does that work?
Prayerful reading revolves around reading the Bible while wrapping it in prayer. It takes a bit of getting used to and a bit of work to do it consistently. But it is well worth the effort. The way it works is that you begin with prayer, praying Scripture. The point of beginning with prayer is two-fold. First, by beginning with prayer, you get your heart and mind in a spiritual mode, connecting with God. The focus is on a two-way conversation with the Lord. Second, as you begin with prayer, you’re asking God to help you as you read and speak to you from his word. The best way I’ve found to do that is to pray Scripture. You could use Psalm 119:33-36 as a prayer. There are also many other passages you could use. You could even have a number of beginning prayer passages written down so that you can cycle through them, keeping this beginning prayer fresh.
After the initial prayer for God’s help in reading, you begin to read your passage for the day. You may read once a day or multiple times a day. This works well either way. As you work your way through the text, you are doing so mindful of the presence of God with you, so that you read a little slower than you normally do. When you encounter verses that you’re struggling to understand, you ask God for insight into his word. You ask him to give you understanding. You are a moment’s thought away from connecting to God in prayer. When you come across verses that speak to you in a special way, you can pause to meditate more deeply and offer a prayer related to what God is showing you from that passage. As you finish your reading, you can ask God to help you find specific ways to apply what you’ve read to your life. The point is to be praying throughout the entire reading process. In this way, you’re carrying on a two-way conversation with God. What you’ll find in prayerful reading is a more relational way to connect with God.
Prayer comes into focus again after you have finished your Bible reading. At this point, you pause to call out to the Lord based on what you’ve just read. You may even use some of the same words and phrases you encountered in the passage before you. This final time of prayer can either be a brief prayer or an extended time of prayer based on the biblical passage. Having an extended time of prayer allows you to engage in all the kinds of prayer the Bible encourages us to use, like praise, thanksgiving, confession, intercession for the needs of others, and petitions for yourself. And when you use all these kinds of prayer, you can have confidence that you’re praying according to the will of God because your prayer is based on Scripture.
Practicing prayerful reading consistently will enhance your Bible reading experience and the quality of your prayer life. All believers long to connect with God in a deeper way. We desire to grow in our relationship with our Lord and Savior. We find many of the psalmists expressing this longing. Prayerful reading gives you a way to satisfy your longing for God. It does take effort to work it into your life in a meaningful way. Just be careful to give yourself space to stumble and grow. God will help you. If you find you need to adjust this plan a bit or a lot, feel free to do so. You want your time with God to be something you expectantly look forward to every day. God loves you! God is with you! God is for you!