Yeah, it's just like taking me back. I think that was probably one of my first exposures to like reform theology.
So anyway, well, I know that you're you've got so much going on and you're literally going to speak at this conference at some point, and you somehow made time to come back in here to the hotel room and and do this podcast. So thank you, man, bro.
Yes, thank you man, thank you for yeah making a slot.
Yeah, so I have a question for you. Yeah, how could I hear God's voice?
Oh? Wow?
All right, we're diving in, We're getting right into it.
Yes, that's the beauty of the Bible, like we we have like I got to wake up this morning and open a book and know that I'm hearing the voice of God. That how amazing. And I don't have to like I look for some mystical sense like yes, I want to be really careful even in saying that, because it's it's a spiritual, spirit led activity opening the Bible in a saw one nineteen kind of way open my eyes that I may see wonderful things happen and wonderful
things in your law. So it's it's definitely it's spiritual, but it is objective truth on a page. Every word I'm reading here is inspired by God himself to draw me closer to him. Like that's so I don't I don't I get to do that every morning and all day long, anytime I want hear the voice of God and in a relationship with God. That's not just a mechanical thing. I'm reading words on a page, but this is That's why in this book I try to like put reading the Bible in the context of love relationship,
like this is intimacy with God through his word. So anyway, that's the privilege any one of us has who has the word of God, that is to say, in our language. So yeah, everybody, every single person watching listen to this right now? Can hear the voice of God by opening up that book and saying, God speak to me.
Why is that such a revolutionary idea? I mean, why why can you answer that quickly? When I say how do you hear the voice of God? I mean that sounds like a huge, crazy question. That's that's unanswerable. And why could how could you sit there and just quickly go oh with the Bible?
Yeah, yeah, well, I mean that's the it's the beauty of the Bible. I mean, it's unlike any other book in the world. And uh, and we could talk about all the reasons why we know this is not just I mean, how do we know. I mean, there's tons of religious rights in the world, right, so how do you know this is God's word? And I mean my short answer to that would be the Bible testifies itself
to its supernatural authenticity. Like forty plus human authors, written over the course of centuries, in different language, from different perspectives, all telling one consistent story, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and nobody nothing in the whole book contradicting that story. I mean, if I were to put forty people together friends of mine, to say, give me a story about how we got here, what's wrong in the world, how it can be made right, those people couldn't all agree
on that. And they're all speaking the same language at the same time. In history, like all the pictures of Prophecy fulfilled the historical verifiability of the Bible, the fact that the more researchers dive into the details, like the facts the history. This isn't just like thoughts put down on paper about the world. It's it's history with facts that you can determine see are they true or not? And the more you dive into you see they're all true.
Like so you put all that together, you realize, Okay, this is a supernatural book. So I got off on a little bit of a tangent there, But I mean, I think it's important. I don't want to just like, yeah, I don't. I don't want to bank my life on just what some person said, Like, I want to know this is actually the word of God. But that that's where I do think now, especially for followers of Jesus. But this is where even I should say, for not
those who are not followers of Jesus. It is the most like published read book in the history of the world. So I think it's that we're at least worth diving into and read one time, just to see what it's all about and why so many people have embraced this book. And for those who do believe the Bible is the word of God to realize. So second tivity three would
be what is driving my thoughts here? All scripture God breathes useful for teaching, correct and rebuking, training and righteousness, so that the person of God, so that we might be fully equipped for every good work God has for us, Like this book is unlike any other book. There's so many good things we could read. I mean, I just
wrote a book on how to read the Bible. So there's all kinds of books we could read, but there's only one that is supernaturally inspired by God to help us know Him, know who he is, know who we are, and how to experience life in this world. And so man, that's infinitely more important than that hours of things that we might scroll through on our phones today. And so why I think that comes back to your question, why do we not just like soaking this thing all the time?
And I think that's that's what I want to say, Yeah, this thing.
Amen, Amen, And I want to I want to get to that, and I want to I want to comment briefly on contradictions in the Bible. You went quickly, you know, how could these forty different authors not contradict each other? But what you're not saying is you're not saying they all wrote the same story because in co authorship, which which once again is something the Bible testifies of itself, human authors under divine inspiration leaves room for the human
authors to give their version of what they're seeing. So that that's why it would not be a contradiction to have four different gospels that some have sometimes have a story with a nuance in it because of the human authorship. So you're not saying, and no one is saying that the Bible is everyone is writing the exact same thing like mechanical robots.
Yes, that's that's so good. I'm so glad you point that out. I just did like an intensive teaching like one night, like six hours through Matthew and that was one of the which is one of the four Gospels accounts of Jesus life and death and resurrection. And yeah, that was It was so good to see because he he arranges things even in a particular order, and he's communicating to a particular audience, and everything that he writes is true, and at the same time, he arranges it
different than than Mark or Luke or John. Like Mark's writing to a predominantly Gentile audience, Matthew is writing to a predominantly Jewish audience. So Matthew does all this background with a lot of Jewish history that Mark doesn't do
as much. And and so that's that's the beauty though, is how and then you you kind of expand that out to all these people in the Old Testament, Like I'm reading Isaiah this morning, and like where I'm at in Isaiah right now, it's talking about promises Isaiah chapter nine of Jesus to come. Now, Isaiah had no idea the full grasp of what Matthew would have realized. But they don't contraed it like they totally align with each other.
But it's prophecy seven centuries before words that God was speaking through Isaiah that came about in Matthew's day that he's now writing about, and he's able to point back to what he said is right here. And it's not like he organized the events of jesus life to make it fit it, just as showing this is what Isaiah was talking about.
Incredible. So what the book you referenced earlier, It's called How to Read the Bible, and this is actually this is a fantastic book for all reading levels. Really, I mean, you could be a seminary scholar, you could be a brand new believer. This book is under one hundred pages.
It is.
Super easy to read, yet yet theologically rich. And I know you did that on purpose, But I have found so many things helpful. This is you kind of mentioned this a little bit earlier. But when thinking about should we read our Bibles every day? Like should I engage with my Bible every day? I don't know. I mean, right off the top of my head. I think I'm just really busy. I don't know if I could actually look at something like that and think about it every day.
I could do it on Sundays. Sure. But you say something interesting, you say, we can hardly fathom this picture amid everything going on in our lives today. We can't imagine from the moment we rise to the moment we go to bed, and in moments throughout the day spending so much time looking at well, wait a minute, we can imagine this, can't we? Is this not what we do with our phones? That's what we do with our cell phones?
Yes, bro, and you we fill our mind with so much. And that's one of the things. I can't remember what all I talked about. You mentioned it being short, because yes, I did that really intentionally. I wanted to make accessible. I remember when I showed it to my wife, I was like, man, it's just not as much I had so much more I wanted to say. She was like, I love books this side, thank you for a book
this side. I want books the size. So but I don't think we should be surprised that many, even professing Christians, don't have like hunger to be in God's word because our stomachs are so full on the stuff, the drivel that we take in all day long. I use an illustration oftentimes, and again I can't remember exactly if it's in the book, but when when my wife and I were first dating. I grew up in a family where we my dad didn't like seafood, so we never eat seafood.
So but my first time I went over to Heather's house for dinner, her family is making seafood and its smell like horrible, Like I just hated seafood because my dad did, and so but I faked it and I and just just like, oh, this is amazing, thank you so much for this meal. The problem is they bought it, and so then they were like, oh, next time I came over, They're like, ah, David's coming over, We're gonna have seafood. He loves seafood. So I started every time
i'd go on vacation with our family. They were like, Hey, let's go to the best seafood restaurants. Like, oh, that's awesome. Well, the end of that story is like, now I love seafood today because I had to love it to get a wife. But the whole picture is my taste budgs changed. That's the point. My taste budgs changed. And if we're just drinking in like literally hours of DRIVELL on our phones all day, then of course our taste buds are
going to be for that. But once we taste something that is and I don't mean this to sound dramatic or overstated, but I don't think I can overstated it, it's infinitely better. It is infinitely better. Then our taste buds will change and we'll realize we make time for what's valuable, what we love, what's important, and we need new taste buds so that we value the importance and we love God's word.
Now, anyone could understand that argument. An atheists could understand what you're saying. And if they're thinking about changing their diet and they think, man, I've even eaten fast food for so long, I've been eating candy for so long, and then you get off of it and you start eating steak and potatoes and you have an apple in the apple now tastes sweeter than any candy bar did because your tasteboats have adapted to what real food is. And what you're saying is we have gotten so used
to appetizers. Devotionals are appetizers, by the way, Yeah, which is great thing.
There are imitation. I mean it's like my kids when especially my younger kids, some of our older kids are trying to figure it out now. But when we're like, Okay, it's your birthday, you can go anywhere you want to eat, and they're like, oh, McDonald's, and it's like really, like I would take you anywhere. Yeah, they want like a processed patty. It's like that it's because they don't know there's something better. And so yes, I think even devotionals or and it's not that they're all bad, but it
is are are we missing out? Like on the wonder like Saw one nineteen verse one sixty two, I rejoice at your word, like one who finds great spoil like treasure. Now you don't get the treasure, but I just kind of dipping into a little bit of the ground like you dig some like you spend some time and there's something there that is so valuable that is worth the time to get there.
And uh.
And so that's that's the question, Like are we willing to take the time again for our good not because we have to, not because we got to check off a box because we're supposed to, but because we want life. This word is designed for our life and uh. And it's a picture of His love for us, and it's
how we grow. And I love relationship with God. I think that one of the challenges greature is I think many Christians whin even when they try to read the Bible, they still are They're like, Okay, I'm not getting it, Like I don't. I'm not experiencing treasure like you're talking about. So that's art of why I wanted to write this book, is just a simple practical way to say, Hey, here's a way that I hope would be helpful for you to experience that treasure on a daily basis.
Yeah. Amen, And there are a lot of people listening right now that that think. Amen, Brothers, I read my Bible every day, and I've talked to these guys and and I say, They say, I read my Bible every day, but but nothing really changes. And I say, can I ask you how you're reading it? And they'll say, uh, it's it's I read it on my phone. Can you show me? Can you show me what? And they'll pull up a Bible app and it's a it's a suggested verse.
I said, brother, that's that's not reading your Bible. And you have now written a book to answer that exact question. This is I know, this is true, that this reading your Bible is the most foundational, fundamental spiritual discipline that without it, no other spiritual discipline works. They all crumble if you're not engaged with reading your Bible.
Yes, yes, one hundred percent. And in fact, I would say, yeah, we cannot experience, we can't experience like faith in God apart from the us, Like this is, faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of Christ Romans ten. Like this is, I mean, I love being in creation. I love seeing the glory of God in creation. This part of what I love about Psalm nineteen is the picture we have of God the heavens revealing the glory of God. I mean, I think just trekking through the mountains and seeing the
glory of God, the grandeur in a sunset or a sunrise. Yes, all of that, but then Psalm nineteen says even more than that is what you see about God on the pages of this book, Like it's more grander and wonder and majesty than even what the Grand Canyon can show you or anything else in creation. Like, that's what we
have here two experience. And that's why part of what I try to emphasize in this book is even more than like commands to read the Bible that we see in scripture, it's meditate, like it's really let it soak in,
like linger with it. So instead of kind of going back to what we were talking about earlier, instead of like a fast food restaurant view Bible reading like fine dining, like this is a meal to be savored and enjoyed, not just to get your quick verse for the day, because that's that's not gonna it's not gonna satisfy your soul the way your soul is designed to be satisfied.
So let's go over you mentioned meditate. Let's go over some of the things that you're that you laid out in this book, because like you said earlier. If we are to believe that the Bible testifies to itself that all scriptures breed that by God improfitable for teaching or proof and correction, for training and righteousness, that the man or woman of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. If that's what we believe, and that's what it says, then why in the world would we not
be in it every single day? Right? That is that is the most practical reasonable statement I could possibly make.
That that is the question, Like well, and it just shows, I mean, this is our our sinful nature. We're prone to do that which is not good for us. And so this is I mean, when you just mentioned second Timothy three sixteen seventy like to be complete? Who doesn't want to be fulfilled? Who doesn't want to be complete?
To experience life to the full? And obviously I want to be really careful not to say that means everything is going perfect in this fallen world, Like that's that's not a reality in it.
That word doesn't mean flawless. It means mature.
Yes, right, who doesn't want that? Like we certainly we want that. This is where it's where I even go back to old one of my favorite CS. Lewis quotes like, we're half hearted creatures, fulling about drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy has offered us, Like ignorant children who go on making mud pies in Islam because they cannot imagine what's meant by the offer of a holiday
at the sea. We're far too easily pleased. So when we just scroll through stuff on our phones and we ignore the Bible, it's not because our desires are too strong.
It's because our desires are too weak. It takes so little to satisfy us like we there's so much more that God is offering us, holding out for us for our good again, completion, knowledge of God, relationship with God, life to the full, the way that God has designed us to experience life like this book is guaranteed, guaranteed to bring us those things if we'll walk through it, if we'll read it correctly, meditate on it, walk through these the kind of things that I talked about in
this week. If we'll do that, it's guaranteed to lead us to that. So, yes, for the joy set before us, Let's do this.
Yes, Yes, I'm gonna, I'm gonna. I want to keep on wanting to get to meditate because you said that, But I want to first lay out that what what you've done here, You've You've created a system maps is is the is the system here? Meditate and memorize, apply, pray, and share. Super easy to remember this, Like I said, this book is is easy to remember. But let's start with meditate. That's the that's the meditate and memorized. We're not We're not talking about sitting with your your needs,
you know, crossed and your watching the sunset. That's not what you mean by meditate. So what do you mean by this?
So what I mean by meditate is like linger over a passage and just let it, like soaking it. The illustration I used is when uh, my wife, she's the first girl I ever dated, uh and uh she which may sound noble, but I was just super socially awkward. He provided someone who's attracting my social awkwardness. But she started writing me letters. This is before like texting or
anything else. So she would write me a lot. And I remember the first letter I would get, first letters I would get from her, I was like, this is amazing, and I would read like dear David, I go dear, that's a good start. And I'd read and she'd write, I'm praying for you, and I'd be like, I wonder what she means by that, Like she prays for me, like is for anybody, or like when she's praying for her future husband, maybe she thinks of me, like she put a smiley face, and be like, why smiley face?
Right there? So that's what I would say is meditation. It's like why this what? Because if every word is breathed out by God, then what are these words? Like how do they fit together? And so that's where I try to talk in the book, just about just questions to ask to really meditate, let it soak in, even even this morning, like I think about and this leads to memorize, like I was in Psalm one twelve this
morning and there's I think it's the first seven. Uh, it's around there, but he said it's talking about just the security we have in God. And it says he is not afraid of bad news. His heart is firm,
trusting in the Lord. His heart is steady, like I just so I'm stopping at that point and I'm like, oh, like I just had a nightmare last night that just related to something in my family, and it was like it just revealed like a deep fear me and and it was so good just this morning read that and God just saying you have no need to be afraid of bad news, like your your heart can be firm through trust in me. You can have a steady heart.
Just trust in Me. And so instead of just reading that and moving on and checking off a box, I'm reading that and like soaking it in. Okay, how what's bad news that I'm I'm afraid of? And how do you a fear of bad news? Fear, worry, anxiety? How do you count that the heart that's firm? Oh? I want that? How is that possible? Trust in the Lord? Okay, God, I want this kind of faith. Got to help me to trust in You and then delay that specific even fear before him, so that that would be an example
of meditation. Now that's getting into some of the other things that we're talking about with apply and pray, but the key is not just reading it but really soaking it in.
Yeah. So let me pause right here because you said earlier that you were in Isaiah this morning, and then you just now minished you mentioned you're in psalms this morning. Yeah, but I know that you read the McShane Plan because you say in this book, and I've heard you say that before. I'm also a huge advocate for McShane plan. I wish I had started it twenty years ago. I'm on my fifth year and love it. My wife's on
it as well, and we have great discussions. I'm I'm always amazed at how some of these chapters will line up so beautifully and speak to each other in a way that I didn't see last year or the year before that. So I know that people listening have heard me say this before, but what a beautiful, what a beautiful way to read through the Bible every morning. That's apart from whatever you're going to speak at at the conference today. It's apart from whatever you're going to preach
your your senior pastor. It's it's apart from that. But this is your own David's own nourishing time.
Yes, and what I love about. And it's one of the things that Yeah talk about in there, whether whatever plan like, have some kind of intentional way through which you're reading through the Bible. And uh, and I'm I definitely want to give off the impression to anybody that every morning is like revival, Like oh that was like there's some texts where you're like, okay, but that that's the beauty again. That's the beauty of God's word is
that it's all inspired by God. So even if I'm reading through Leviticus or this story in the Old Testament that it's like, I don't even know how this applies to me. I'm reading inspired. I'm reading words inspired by God that show me who he is, like they give me opportunities to reflect on It's part of what meditation is, like all right, what is this passage? Yeah, teaching me
about who God is, which is important. Sometimes we just jump into the Bible like okay, what can I get out of this from my life today?
Which is what you cover. You cover that in chapter number two how not to read the Bible, And every time you mentioned a point in chapter number two it ended with me something something for me, it's.
All of us, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and and and it's and that's so important. That's part of why I started with that, because yeah, there are actually ways to read the Bible that are unhelpful for yeah, and uh uh, and so to be careful to avoid those. But even there two uh to even if I read something, I'm like, I don't even know what how this would apply or anything like, there's still value in this, like you're hearing to go back to the very first question you asked,
the voice of God? Which is our greatest need? To be in tune with his voice in every fast in my life? Like I think about my life as a dad, as a parent, as a dad of six kids, as a husband, as a pastor, and just a job, or as a friend, whatever, Like my greatest need in all those facets of my life is to be walking in step with God and his spirit according to his voice. Now, Leviticus may not have given me instructions for a parenting today, but what it did is it made me more in
tune with his voice. So that illustration I often use is like if I were to get a call right now on my phone, and if I didn't look down to see who it is, and I just picked it up and said hello, and the other voice on the line said hey, babe, Like I wouldn't be like, who's this like, and she'd be like Heather, Heather, who And she'd be like, you know your wife five years and other of your kids. Oh yes, of course, of course I wouldn't say that. Why because I know how she speaks.
I recognize your voice. Part of reading and meditating on the Bible is being familiar with the voice of God so that when you're in whatever situation today and you don't necessarily have it. There's so many things we walk through in this world that are not specifically addressed in
God's work. But the more we know his voice and are in tune with His spirit, the better equipped we are for a million situations that are not specifically dressed in God's word because we've been in His word that morning.
Ay Man John Tan Jesus says, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them. They follow me. If you need to get a hold of me for any reason, go to cameo dot com slash Granger Smith. In fact, I just literally got a message from Cameo that says a guy named Ian now has a request for me. So what I do is I open this up and I go check out what Ian wants me to say for him. And for this it is a happy birthday to Melinda. So I will reach out to Melinda. I say happy Birthday.
It's Granger Smith here. I hope you have an amazing day. And I'm gonna tell her what else that I have here on the little list that Ian has given me, and then I send it back to him and then he has a video message from me that then goes out to Melinda. It's really cool. It's super easy. I've been doing this for about six years now. So if you want to find me and get a special video message of any kind, go to cameo dot com slash Granger Smith. Yeah, this is beautiful stuff. What not to
do is the emotional approach. This is one example on the chapter of what not to do, the emotional approach. What feels good to me. So let's let the Bible dictate and tewod Timothy three to sixteen doesn't say so that the Man of God may be almost mature or almost complete in addition to what he gets from the world or what he gets from other things. It's we have everything we need right here. Let's go to memorize. This is the the next m.
The reason I'm meditate and memorize together on that M and this acrostic is because well, one I think memorization is probably the most practical way that we can meditate on scripture, like to make it so internal to us that it's just a part of us. Like to memorize a verse so that it just flows out of you, like it's hidden in a saw A one nineteen kind of way in your mind and in your heart at that point. And so I I mean this is without question.
I mean we've talked about how just reading, meditating on the Bible is like a core discipline that drives everything in the Christian life. I would say memorization of scripture has had more of a formative influence in my life as a spiritual discipline than just about any other because I don't want.
To disconnect that from prayer.
But it's just for God's word to literally fill your mind and your heart in such a way that it is a part of you. It just flows out of you. It transforms your prayer life, it transforms your relationships to be able to encourage others with the Word because it's hidden in you and it just flows out of you. I mean, that's one of the things when when Deuteronomy four and six talk about like when you walk along the road and when you sit by the way and when you lie down, when you wake up, let's be
talking about the word. Well, how can you do that if you don't have the word in you, Like, it's not just when you're carrying the word around you. It transforms your prayer life. You get into the heart of the Holy Spirit and a passage when you memorize it. So I just I definitely want to encourage as we meditate on scripture. One way too meditate on it is to memorize and to have an intentional plan for memorizing scripture. And many people will say, oh, I'm just not very
good at memorization. And that's one of the things I try to walk through in the book, like you can memorize Someone nineteen talks about how God's word is more valuable than thousands of gold and silver pieces. Like if I gave you a thousand for every verse you can memorize over the next twenty four hours, I'm guessing anybody can learn to memorize pretty quick. Because so that's the question, what's more important us, money or God's word?
So you make the argument work. You start this this argument. What you're saying right now, children in Afghanistan and Pakistan today are attending Muslim schools and memorizing the entire Quran by the time they're thirteen years old. Many of these children speak different languages Pashto, Urdu, but they are memorizing the Koran in its original language, Arabic, and they have the full collective support of their parents and their communities, and they learn these words of their so called God.
And then you make the argument, can you imagine a children's ministry in church today teaching children to memorize the entire New Testament in Greek and then they move on to the Old Testament in Hebrew. We might say that's impossible, we can't even do this in English.
Such a.
That's such a good quote.
Yes, and it is possible for like us too. Yeah to Now I'm sitting here, what's going through my mind? Like I was just with a brother last night who's memorized the whole New Testament, like he the whole thing, and and and various books in the Old Testament. And this brother, he's so humble, loves the Lord, just walks
with God. I'm not saying everybody is going to do that, but the beauty is everybody, with the rare exceptions, the rare exceptions can hide God's word in our heart in some way, in a way that I promise will transform your life when you do. So. That's that's why I think memorization is really important.
Yeah, and you start, you send the book just one verse, Start with one verse. You're not saying memorize fifty Start with one verse.
Yeah, I tell I use the illiteration. I think. I always think about this one brother in our church, we were we were walking through we were I was preaching through First John, and so we challenged the church to memorize the first chapter First John. And this brother, I don't think he'd really ever memorize scripture at all, and he was like, I mean a whole chapter. I'm gonna try it. So he started doing it with his son,
and his teenage son. They would work on it on the drive to school in the morning, and so they did it. They memorized the whole first chapter of First John together, and they were and the dad was like, this is amazing. I cannot believe this. I just did this. I did this with my son. And his son was like, we're not stopping here, are we. And so they ended
up memorizing the whole book. They just kept going every morning, and I mean this yeah, and this is just average ordinary dude who just his taste buds started changing, and not just his his teenage son's taste buds started changing. Like, there's no question they do not regret memorizing the Book of First John. They went on a journey together that was transformative in their lives.
Credible man. So how about apply chapter five? Apply?
Yeah, So this is another way if like, what does James one say, everyone who hears these words, oh, well, well that's Matthew seven. Everyone who hears these words of mind it does not put them in practice. Is like a man who built his house on with no foundation. It's going to crash when the storm comes. And then James one says, don't deceive yourselves by just reading the
word and not doing what it says. So you realize, wait a second, just to hear Jesus' words it can actually be deceptive and can lead to your life crashing. So not just reading, we must obey the word, do what it says. Everyone who hears on these words of mine and puts them into practice. So that's where apply is. I just kind of use a framework to think through how does God's word change the way we think, the way we feel, the way we act, the way we relate to the people around us, and then just the
way we view our whole purpose in the world. And it's so good to yeah, whenever we are meditating on scripture then to say, okay, how does this how does this change me? Like not just read it? If that's all we do and we kind of turn off the phone or you know, put the devo aside, then we were actually deceiving ourselves. We've got to do what it says. So how does this change me? From the inside out? And so that's that's the whole purpose of diving into that a apply.
Yeah, that's so good man. That gets us to pray, which is you mentioned earlier you said, I don't want to disconnect prayer, and I could. I but you we could also make the argument that without these these without meditate and memorize and even apply prayer, life is very difficult. We almost have nothing to pray at that.
Point, yes, yeah, and well, and Jesus says this, this is John fifteen. He says, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, then ask whatever you wish will be given to you. So so actually, our prayer life asking is supposed to be based on His words and that are abiding in us. So and this is where I that's what I love about. And I walked to a whole another acrosstic with pray, just praise, repent, and ask ill based on what we've heard in the Word.
But when you think about there's so many things that we pray for that we we don't know how God's going to answer like we ask. Like I just think about somebody I was praying for this morning for healing, Like I don't know for sure if God is gonna heal this person in this particular way at this particular time.
I don't know that. But I have in God's Word that I'm reading every day scores of things that I know if I pray for this, that I'm praying according to the will of God and particularly for my own life. Like I mean, yeah, I go back to some one twelve what we were talking about earlier. As I'm praying, God, I pray that you would free me from fear of bad news. That I pray for a heart that is
firm and trusting in You. I know that's a prayer God desires to answer, will answer as I ask him for because I'm asking according to His word in that way in my life. And then to pray that for others lives. God, I pray for this person or that person, my family or whoever else, they would not be afraid about it. I know I'm praying according to God's will
what God wants for that person. And so yeah, I think this is where to your point, our prayer life devoid of the Word, really misses the whole point of prayer. Prayer is dependent on God's revealed word to us. It leads us to praise Him for who he is, to repent of different things as we're reading through God's Word, to repent of sin as we're convicted by it, and
then to ask him all kinds of things. That's where even started a while back, just a little five minute podcast called Pray the Word, because it's all based on it's really just the overflow of my quiet time. But it's just what I'm doing each day as I'm reading through Isaiah and Salms today, just praying based on what's in the Word, and then to yield and say, God, help me to obey your word today.
And all these ways that I looked at and apply and then, man, that's so helpful. It also really helps if your prayer life is feeling stagnant or you're kind of you feel like you're being too repetitive and you and and you're you're losing the depth of it. You could pray from your morning reading. One of my favorite seminary professors, Don Whitney, you know, wrote the book Praying the Bible and it's he wrote an entire book just
on this idea to pray what you're reading. You could find passages, which is what's what's so helpful to move forward in the Bible every single day and you have a fresh word to take and say, you know what, I've been stuck. What I'm praying for my mom and I'm kind of stuck and what to pray because it's the same situation. She's getting the same result and I'm
praying the same thing. But I just read today and and in the Psalms that there's this and I can I can pray this and over and it transforms your prayer life.
So good man, that's so good, because yeah, I think about it, and that's where I even as we talk about these kind of different steps that I walk through
in the book. It really becomes it's it's not like it's mechanical, Okay, do this and this and this, because like I think about reading Isaiah this morning, and I'm getting the verses that are talking about like this was God's judgment on the nations uh and and their sin and his own people and their sin both and and it was talking at one point just about the pride of men and God bringing the pride full low and God exalting the humble, and so just to read that
and just pause, and God, please remove pride from me. God, I pray for humility. I want humility. I need humility. I need forgiveness for my pride. I want deliverance from my pride. Again, you're praying according to God's Well, this is absolutely what God wants for you. But it's just a couple verses that if you're not careful you just kind of skip over. But let it soaka and just pray according to it. And then, like you said, I'm
praying for your mom or whoever it might be. You come to some one twelve seven, which I keep going back to today. That's I mean, how many people do you know who are worried or afraid or anxious about any number of things. And so just to spend some time praying over people in your life who you know might be worried or if you're afraid or anxious about other things, like it just leads to all kinds of intercession for others based on Gun's work.
So beautiful. You know, I find myself my prayers. It's pretty tough for me to pray. I'll say it this way before I read in the morning, because I just wake up. My heart's cold as ice, and I just you know, I get my cup of coffee and put on my glasses and I start my reading. And then all of a sudden, my heart starts warming and that ice melts, and then and then and I'm ready then to pray. I'm in a position to pray after the Lord has spoken to me first. Sometimes we mix it up,
and it's hard. It's hard to do that.
Yeah, I love that, man, that's so true. I can totally identify with that. And and it makes sense, like, well, I what I love about what you just shared. And I hope that the sense of what people are hearing in this whole conversation is that That's what this is. It is. It is a conversation with God like and basically what you just said is I find it my heart warmed and more easier too, and more engaged in speaking to God when I've listened to Him speak to me. So this is not this is.
And that's where the wonder, the wonder of this grangeer that like we're talking about communion with God, God who spoke in the world, came into being that this morning I I was talking to him and he was listening to me, and not just listening to me.
He was talking to me like speaking to my heart, and he was he was listening to what I was saying. I'm pouring out my arm before him and and He's promising to answer according to his word and his power and his wisdom. Like communion with God. And obviously it's not just being, it's anybody, and it's you, it's anybody who trusts in Jesus to restore us to relationship with God through it's what Jesus died to make possible for
us to live in every day. So again it just goes back to over your time earlier, why would we not like make time for this for communion with God, and why would we rush through it, Like, let's set aside to the extent that we can just some concentrated time to be with Him.
Amen. So that this would not be an appropriate David Platt book if we didn't finish with the es the share Yeah, tell me about share.
Yeah? That this word, I mean everything we're talking about, bro, Like it's too good to keep to ourselves like this, this word. You find treasure somewhere, Like you don't keep that to yourself, you, I mean unless you're like you're super selfish, like you share that with others. You spread it to others because then that's the beauty. Uh there's enough treasure to go around. Uh, so so you spread it others. So to be really intentional. That's why like
this this across it. It's like, okay, really we need to emphasize, like the word is not intended to stop with us, It's intended to spread through us. So I just think about it. I mean, obviously we're having this conversation about how to read the Bible, and so my Bible reading this morning has come up, but I can I think about yesterday there was something else I'd read and saw one eleven greater your work, so God studied
by all those who delight in them. And uh. And then I was just about an hour after my time in the Lord, I'm talking with this brother and sister in Christ and she started talking about something she'd seen in creation that just was just had owed her. And I was like, this is totally so on lefl first too, like it's de lightful to see the work of God creation.
So all that to say, like, look for opportunities all throughout the day to encourage others with the Word and not you're like you got to prepare a sermon or something. This is just for every day. That's the beauty of Deuteronomy six. It's just as you walk as you live, talk about the word yes with other brothers and sisters in Christ, encourage them and your family, your friendships and church relationships whoever might be. And then obviously with unbelievers
to look for opportunities. Again. And this is where I would say should be happening in our lives in a natural way, not like we have to force it, but just to talk about, Yeah, things we are learning about life and relationship with God should just flow from us. So to be really intentional on the s to share, to spread the word with others.
That's so good. So I want to finish with this. You you are, You're always busy. You're you're always a busy guy. You have a lot of stuff going on, but today in particular, let's let's look at today. You're you're at a conference TGC. You're in Indianapolis. My wife is there too, but you are in a hotel room. You just came in from from here in Piper Preach.
Tell me, tell me how your Bible reading was this morning, because this is the kind of morning Practically someone listening would think, well, this is the morning he skipped reading, but you didn't. So tell me what was that like? Walk me through your morning today.
I So I'm about to say again, I don't mean to sound like over dramatic or just it's like I cannot I can't live without bread alone.
That you can't live on bread alone.
I can't live and I and I say that so real quick background, Like I there have been times in my life where I've I've tried to live like that without that, and times as a pastor like so it's not just because I'm a pastor, Like I can point to a long season in my life as a pastor where, yeah, the church I pastor was growing. I'd read in a book that a lot of people were reading. I was getting invited to travel to places like this and preach all the time. And my I didn't have that time
of the Lord in the morning. Like I would study just to like prepare a sermon, but I wouldn't like read the Bible just to know God. And I could turn on a public prayer like that, but I just I never got alone in a room just to be with God. And that's that's frightening to me. Like, how so it's don't I wouldn't want anybody just assume, Okay, yeah you're a pastor of course, Like no, I've actually experienced, like in a really dangerous way, what it's like the
pastor without walking into the sea with God. And yeah, so all that to say, the Lord did some things in my life to wake me up big time years ago from that that season in my life, and uh and ever since then, I can just say, and I'm not saying I never ever missed the morning like occasionally, but I can't. I can't live with that so yeah, this morning, first thing I did woke up. I one of the things I talked about in the book. I'm
big on journaling. I'm just a I can't point to a verse that would say you should journal, but it's helpful for me to not my mind, keep my mind from wandering, to be less distracted. So I just start and I don't have like an elaborate system. I just have like a running word file for twenty twenty five yep. And so this morning it was like April whatever, and so it's and I just start just just thanking God for grace, for new mercy this morning, and I'm writing
out a lot of these prayers. Not everything I'm praying I'm writing out, but a lot of it. And so I'm writing out prayers, and then I start reflecting on the day before, just thanking God for different things from the day before, praying for people that I interacted with the day before, just kind of reflecting on what God taught me from the day before, writing out some of those things. And then much like you talked about, I
just dive into the word. And so that's when I walk through these verses of these chapters in Isaiah and psalms and all on the way, I'm doing what we've been talking about, and I in the journal, I'm oftentimes, not oftentimes and most all the time. I'm so I'm doing a lot of this on my either iPad or computer my laptop. So I'm I'm like cutting and pasting, copying and pasting from the word into my journals. So day eleven one says this about this branch to come
talking about prophecy of Jesus. So I'm pasting that in here and uh and then writing out a prayer based on that or writing out how this applies my life. So I'm doing this. It's just helpful for me to be really intentional to write it down. Not saying everybody
has to do that, but it's helpful for me. So I'm doing that all through and so that's leading to prayer, and that's leading to and I would add I do it oftentimes with just I've got a playlist that's like my quiet time playlist that has just worship songs, and it's I love it when whatever song is going on
just coincides with what I'm reading. Again, it's not over time, but there are times when it's like, oh, this is, and I just I love I love when I press the shuffle button and it just I'm like, Lord, you take it wherever you want. And uh and sometimes the song comes on it's like I need to go past that one. It doesn't. But oftentimes it's just like and that it happened this morning. And so anyway, have you shared that?
By the way, have you shared that? What's that? That playlist? Have you ever shared?
Oh no, I'm not I show. Yeah, that's a good idea. Well, I mean that's I was. Yeah, that's a good idea at.
Least at least text it to me.
It's just like the challenge funny side note one time. I mean, it's really the only playlist I have. And so I was running like ten K and I wanted to listen to some music. But it's the only playoffs. And I'll just say, like my Shane and Shane like quiet time, it's not what you need to be listening
to when you're trying to run it down. Ok, it doesn't the same way, but anyway, uh yeah, so then and then uh so that is my time in the Lord this morning, and and and then I I do have some intentional things I try to pray for on a daily basis, just from my family and church and the world and that sort of thing that's kind of tacked on to the Bible reading part. So but yeah, that was my time of Lord this morning.
And how long do you plan to do that in your life?
You mean, like how long per day? Or like how long like the rest.
Of the rest of your life? How long? Yeah?
I man, I oh like bro. I sat at the bedside of a spiritual father of mine in life and ministry, just a guy who's had a huge impact from my life, Jim Shattocks, And he went to be the Lord a couple of months ago after I actually dedicated this book to him after a year battle with brain cancer. And he's he he more than anybody else in my life, taught me to love God's word and teach it with fear of it. And anyway, I sat by his bed like he's hospice. He's hardly able to speak, like just whisper,
and I'm just reading verses over him. He's like under his breath, he's like finishing the verses. It's just like he his his mind, I mean, totally ravaged by brain cancer. But the word was hidden so deep and it was just flown out of him like he could hardly breathe, and the words what's coming out? And I was like God, maybe, so like I want to live so that when I've gotten hardly even have breath left, your word is is
still just flowing in me through me. So maybe it's like I want I want to live for that day.
So ah, So your answer to that is every single day you have left in this fleeting vapor of a life.
Yes, it's some one, bro, it's it's blessed like happy is the one who whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night like he will be like a tree planted by streams of water. They yield it's fruit in season, and all that leaf will not wither, and all that he does, he prospers. Like who doesn't want that? Who doesn't want like true prosperity, not worldly prosperity. Who doesn't want true happiness, not fleeting happiness? Who doesn't want like
your leaf not to wither like fruit from your life? Forever? We all want that?
Everyone?
So what how do you do it? Meditate on this word day and night, every day, every night like meditate.
It no better way to end this podcast than that, right there, Bro, Thank you.
Bro, it's been delightful and tell you about this all day long and just and so grateful for you and the fruit of your life towards this end, and a lot of other people's lives who I know are yeah, pursuing God, walking with Him through his word as a result of the fruit of His word in your life. So praise God for sharing and that's how that's happening in and through you.
Praise the Lord. Well, thank you brother, And how fun at that conference. Yeah, thanks for joining me on the Grangersmith podcast. I appreciate all of you guys. You could help me out by rating this podcast on iTunes. If you're on YouTube, subscribe to this channel, hit that little like button and notification spell so that you never miss anytime I upload a video.
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