 Dear Friend, How are you? I’m very well. In a James Durham’s book, Keys to Open Heaven, he describes prayer as one of the keys and wrote: The Lord told me to write a book for intercessors (Restoring Foundations). As the Lord began to reveal what He wanted me to put into that book, one of the things He revealed to me was: real intercessors must pray in accordance with His Word and His Will. Then I began to notice that there are some very powerful prayers in the Word of God. I understood that if I pray these same prayers, they will always be in accordance with His Word and His Will. I began to get really excited about praying the prayers in the Bible. …I recommend this as a prayer discipline for you in this season. A few weeks after I finished reading it, I happened to see a book, The Art of Praying the Scriptures: A Fresh Look at Lectio Divina, written by the late John Paul Jackson with John E. Thomas in online bookstore. Reminded of James Durham’s recommendation on praying the Scriptures, I became so interested in the book title that I bought it. Before the chapters begin, the late John Paul Jackson wrote: Lectio divina is a way to practice giving God your full, undivided attention. The more you practice this method of reading the Scriptures, the easier it becomes to focus on God without the distractions of the day trying to take over your consciousness. Still, it does often require us to turn off the sound on our cell phones, notepads, laptops, and computers to ensure that what we want to focus on remains our focus. Lectio divina is slowly and deliberately praying the Scriptures, thereby allowing God to speak to you through them. In so doing, His Spirit connects to your spirit, and in that interior connection transformation accelerates. In some parallel spiritual way, God once again breathes the light of His Word into our spirits. That which was dormant comes alive. That which was languishing becomes vibrant once again. Jackson, John Paul,Thomas, John E.. The Art of Praying the Scriptures: A Fresh Look at Lectio Divina (p. 2). Streams Ministries. Kindle Edition. I felt these two books strike a chord with me. Praying with the Scriptures is all about Jesus, the Word of God. Reminded of the dream on Jesus at center I shared in my previous blog, The Word of God, I felt the Lord emphasize I must immerse myself in His Word. I used to do contemplative prayers since I listened to David Pawson’s teaching. But it was not regular nor with the Scriptures always. So, I started to pray the Scriptures, just one verse or two at a time. I started my first practice with the Scripture from Isaiah 30:15, personalizing it, “In returning and rest I shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be my strength.” I meditated on it, murmuring it and memorizing it. And I loved it, as the Word gave me such a comfort. When I took a walk, I began to murmur and memorize the Scriptures I meditated on. And I felt praying the Scriptures would be as powerful as praying in Tongue, as the Word is Jesus and I indeed pray in His will. Then, one night, I chose a few verses in the Beatitude from Matthew chapter five. I read the verse three, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” I know it’s one of the most frequently read verses in churches. Yet, I was not still able to understand what “the poor in spirit” means. I couldn’t make sense of it both in Korean and in English. But, it’s the key to have the kingdom of heaven that I long for. So, I said to the Lord, “Father, I really do not understand what the poor in spirit means. Would You please let me know?” I waited, closing my eyes. And He showed me my closet which was full of rice bags. I hoarded rice since the summer 2020, after listening to prophecy, i.e. warning on famine and hyperinflation to come. I hoarded many bags of rice, thinking I would share them with others and the Lord would multiply them with His miracles, when shared. So, I stacked the shelves in the closet with rice bags until there was no room in it. Then, only recently, I took out one bag to cook so that I could find a little space in the closet. The Lord showed me the very snapshot of the inside of the closet where I could find a small room to put a new stock in, if I would buy one. I felt as if He were saying, “If your spirit is full, there is no room for My Spirit to come in, just like your closet had no space until recently.” I got to understand if I want to be poor in spirit, I should take away ‘self’ in me. There are so many “Me, Me, Me” that Jesus cannot find any room to dwell in. It dawned on me that Derek Prince taught a living sacrifice in Romans 12:1: Once we lay ourselves on the altar, we don’t decide what we eat, what we wear and so on, but the Lord. Yet, we still try to make a decision on many things in our lives, sitting on the throne in us, which Jesus, King of kings is supposed to take. I think the Scripture means when we take away ourselves in us and die on the cross, the King will take His place in us which is due to Him, and His kingdom will dwell in us. Friend, I wanted to share my development in prayer and the art of praying the Scriptures, the slow, quiet yet wonderful communion with our Father, to encourage you to start praying the Scriptures, if it’s new to you or you stopped it somehow. I believe when you meditate on them and ask our Father and wait upon Him, He would reveal Himself in a way familiar to you. He knows your everything. He is the giver of Torah and He is kind. I pray you and I love communion with our Father day by day and give Him His throne in us, in Jesus’ name. Have a bliss! Yunee How sweet are Your words to my taste, Comments are closed.
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