Hearing from God in His Word

Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes, and I shall observe it to the end.
—Psalm 119:33

If God wants to reveal His will to us through Scripture, then how do we allow the Bible to become a part of our lives? How can we make sure we are listening to God’s voice? I could give a lot of suggestions, but today we will see three practical ways to make God’s Word a part of your life.

First, if you want to make God’s Word part of your life, then don’t neglect your spiritual preparation. You see, God doesn’t speak to everybody through His Word. You have to have a supernatural power to hear God’s voice. Someone once said that trying to read the Bible without the Holy Spirit is like trying to read a sundial by moonlight. You just can’t do it. When you become a Christian, God sends His Holy Spirit into your life to illuminate and enable you to understand the truth of His Word.

Second, if you are going to understand God’s Word, then you need to come to Scripture with a submissive mind. The late Howard Hendricks said that God did not give us His Word to make us smarter sinners. It is not enough to know the Bible. God did not give us Scripture to increase our level of knowledge but to increase our level of obedience. The question is not, do I take the Bible literally? The real question is, do I take it seriously? God gave us His Word so we would apply it. The psalmist talked about the relationship between understanding and obedience. He said, “Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes, and I shall observe it to the end” (Psalm 119:33). He said, in other words, “Lord, if You will teach me what I need to know, then I pledge to You that I will obey what You reveal to me.” If we are going to come to the Bible to hear from God, we have to do so with a submissive mind. It reminds me of that old saying: “Light obeyed brings more light. Light rejected brings the night.”

Third, if you are going to hear from God through His Word, then you need to develop a plan. Imagine a friend comes up to you and says, “One day I would like to build my dream house.” What is the likelihood of that actually happening if all your friend has is a dream? He needs more than a dream—he needs a plan. If your friend is going to build that dream house, he has to hire an architect, he has to develop blueprints, he has to engage a contractor, he has to get the financing, he has to pour a foundation, and he has to set a deadline. He has to do all those things to make that dream a reality. And it is the same way when you and I want to discover God’s will through His Word. If you simply say, “God, I would like to know more about Your Word,” that’s not enough. You need to have a plan.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “The Bible Tells Me So?” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2008.
Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.