1 Corinthians 12:9
Lord, I want my thoughts, values and priorities to be Yours. I want to think like You think. I desire to be so in tune to You that I can sense Your will for me in the everyday issues of life.
I desire to be Yours and have You live in me. I want to be yielded to Your will for my life. I ask "How can a young man keep his way pure?" And You answer: “By guarding it according to the Word” (Psalm 119:9 RSV). I find it much easier for me to read books about Your Word than read Your Word. I have difficulty knowing where to begin. I am bored sometimes. Maybe I expect fireworks as I read each morning and I only get snap, crackle, pop. Yes, Lord, I hear. Growth in Your Word is like exercise. I may not see the effects immediately.
Help me to hide Your Word in my heart so that I might not sin against You.(Psa1m 119:11) I want to see how you have worked in the lives of others. I accept that these truths are written as examples, for our instruction, and I desire the benefit of Your leading throughout the ages. (1 Corinthians 10: 11) I want to face the temptations of Satan with an "It is written” just as Jesus did. (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10) I want these words to be in my heart. I want to share them when I talk with friends and family. Lord, help these truths to be with me, the first thing in the morning, and the meditation of my heart the last thing in the night (Deuteronomy 6: 6-7, Psalm 4:4).
SCRIPTURE MEMORY
Method:
1. Select a verse. It may be from your current Scripture study, or a related topic.
In choosing 2 Corinthians 12:9, my second verse for the week will be 2 Corinthians 12:10 because I like to have larger portions of Scriptures in my memory.
2. Read it through. Several times.
What is it saying to me? To what situations might it speak? About what weakness are we talking?
3. Write it out on a card.
Some use 3X5 cards. I am currently using business-size cards that I picked up at an office supply. I can place them in a card holder and easily carry them in my pocket to review.
My card looks like this:
Suffering
2 Cor 12:9
And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I would rather boast about my weakness, that the power of God may dwell in me.
Suffering
2 Cor 12:9
2 Cor 12:9
A H s t m , “M g i s f y , F m p i p i w .” M
g , t , I w r b a m w , t t p o G m d i m .
5. Read the topic. Read the reference, Then read the text, and finally read the reference again. I sometimes use the method on the back of the card to review, Having the letters and
punctuation help me to get the words exactly. It's like using training wheels.
6. Having a study partner is a help. Call out references for each text, and have your partner recite. Review on your own in spare moments while driving, showering, doing dishes and prior to going to sleep. Reviewing a verse for two months should lock it in for a lifetime.
Prayer
Lord, thank you for the gift of Your word. Forgive me for how I have taken it for granted and let it sit like a nick knack on the shelf. Let me treasure it as a love letter from the beloved. Let it hold the place of a Father’s instruction to His child. Let me not trivialize the importance of this council by not following it or simply not reading it. Teach me how to go beyond the surface meaning and dwell in the depths of its richness. May I not overrule its authority by relying on my feeling or accepting another authority. May it not hold the position of some magic formula, some incantational charm that I recite but instead help it to counsel me in how to draw me closer to You. May I find You and Your plan in Your Word and let it become part of me.
Amen.
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