Today many people will make resolutions for the coming year. Even believers will make resolutions concerning their spiritual lives.
Setting spiritual goals is a worthy enterprise. But the task of spiritual growth is often overwhelming: where shall we start and what shall we do? We know we need more biblical reading and study and memorization and prayer and evangelism and church attendance and service and we’ve been told that fasting and journaling are beneficial and we just heard about a mission trip and… Just where does it stop? It seems to be overwhelming at times.
I have long practiced and said that there are two spiritual disciplines that supersede all others and when they are practiced well, the others fall into place. Those two disciplines are biblical intake and prayer. Notice I didn’t say “Bible reading” or “Bible study” or “Bible memorization.” All of those fit into the broader category of Bible intake. We need to fill our minds with the truth of the Word of God, and all those are worthy and good means of accomplishing that goal. To grow spiritually, we need a balance of daily reading, disciplined studying, and reflective memorization. And all that needs to be undergirded by a life of prayer.
So how to accomplish those goals? There are a number of websites that provide helpful resources on how to grow in Bible intake and prayer. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but these are a few good places to start:
- Justin Taylor has provided several resources for various Bible reading plans and programs — a one-year plan, a two-year plan, a chronological plan, and a 10-chapter-a-day plan among them. Our church will continue to use the one-year plan that we’ve used for the past couple of years.
- As you spend time in the Bible, remember the goal and intention of your time with the Lord.
- Maybe your prayer life is particularly weak — then you might consider, “Having Trouble Praying?” I have also found John Piper’s sermons on prayer to be helpful, and have gleaned much benefit from “Be Devoted to Prayer.”
- If you need help in Bible memory, Bethlehem Baptist Church has a number of resources on Bible memorization, as well as a website that is being built to encourage Bible memory. John MacArthur has a Bible memory system that is helpful.
Words of Grace 