How Can I Read the Same Passage for 30 Days?

For those who have accepted the challenge to read 1 Cor 14 for 30 days, Monday and Tuesday morning may be a bit more difficult than they seemed they might be last Sunday morning. So, now comes the question, "How do I do this?" None of us wants this to be an empty exercise in reading to get through a passage. How do we keep engaged?

Here's my suggestion.

First, bear in mind what God says about all Scripture, (2 Tim 3:16, Heb 4:12-13)

Then, get your passage out, in whatever form you carry it. Then, before you begin, utter a short prayer, "Lord speak to me through Your Word." Don't start reading until you pray for God to reveal Himself and what He wants to show you! The read through the passage carefully. God will show you something, if you are paying attention.

As soon as something pops up at you, impresses you, gets your attention or even stops you in your tracks, stop and meditate on that for a few moments. Let it sink in. Pray, "God show me Your truth in what I just read." You may not have to go any further that day. If you have time, you can read related verses, most Bibles have them in the margins or between the columns. Whatever you do, allow that thought to sink in and rest in your spirit. Carry it around with you throughout the day, asking God to continue speaking to you through it.

If you get to the end of the passage and nothing has jumped out at you, ask God to help you meditate (Psalm 119:15, Psalm 77:12) on what you just read. Let it become part of your thought life for the day. Whenever you are distracted, tempted, led to sin or embattled by inappropriate thoughts, go back to your passage and meditate on it.

I have been studying this passage for about 6 weeks, getting prepared to preach through it. I am doing the same thing I asked you to do, reading through it daily. Using the approach I outlined above, this is what the Holy spirit showed me today, it was 1 Cor 14:15. That one jumped off the page today in a fashion that hasn't impacted me in over 6 weeks. As I stopped and began to consider this verse, asking God what He wanted me to see in it, I realized that it's not good enough to just pray and wait for the Holy Spirit to move on me or to think that things will happen in my spirit that I'm unaware of. I have to be fully engaged! I have to be committed to what I'm praying about. My posture spiritually, mentally and physically before the Lord should be a reflection of His supremacy in my life. I have to engage my spirit and my mind, my thoughts, my meditations, my desires, my hopes and my dreams. If my spirit and my mind are fully engaged, then my body should be as well.

I'm not through with this meditation. My prayer and my goal is to carry it with me through day, allowing God to continue to teach me its' application as I walk today.

Commit yourself to this and watch what God does in your spirit and your mind.