Does Your Heart Long for More of the Lord?  

By John E. Thomas

Start Praying the Scriptures 

Do you wish you knew a way to connect with Scripture and make it feel alive to your heart? Or do you want to pray according to God’s desires—but you’re not sure of the words? 

Lectio divina, or praying the Word of God, is about reading His Word, meditating on what you’re reading, taking things slow, and praying back to the Lord what you just read.  

Prayer is communicating with God, and lectio divina is a simple, beautiful way of entering into that communication. When we slow down and pray through the Scriptures, we come face to face with revelation of who He is—we get to see Him in new ways. Those ways were always there in Scripture, but we didn’t understand them until we started praying His Word back to Him. Lectio divina has a way of helping us connect with His reality. 

Beholding the Lord 

In the Old Testament, Moses used the entire book of Deuteronomy to build the people up in the Lord by repeating and reiterating the things they already knew. 

The New Testament declares that Jesus is the Word, and the Word—the Bible—is written through and from Him, inspired by the Holy Spirit. Lectio divina, then, is speaking and breathing the light of His Word as we contemplate His glory.  

When we gaze in this way at the risen Christ, it produces a spiritual transformation within us. We are changed into the likeness of the One we behold. 

John Paul Jackson used to tell people, “What you focus on is what you make room for.” Behold the Lord—focus on Him, and you will make room for Him. The apostle Paul explains this principle in 2 Corinthians 3:18:  

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed. (NKJV) 

That’s what we need. To behold the glory of God. As this occurs, we are transformed into the same image—His image—and move from glory to glory, becoming more and more like Him in our everyday lives. 

Calm and Quiet Souls 

To enter this posture of beholding the Lord, we need to calm and quiet our souls, as Psalm 131:2 talks about: 

Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, 

Like a weaned child with his mother; 

Like a weaned child is my soul within me. 

So much of our relationship with the Lord involves a childlike heart. Jesus loved children and welcomed them into His daily ministry, even when it was an inconvenience. He clearly said that unless we become like little children, we can’t enter the kingdom of heaven. “Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” That’s how important it is to embrace a childlike heart as we approach the Lord.  

So, as you pick up your Bible and seek to posture yourself to meet with God, calm and quiet your soul “like a weaned child.” Take it slow while you prayerfully, deliberately begin to read through the Scriptures.  

There’s no need to rush. Don’t worry if you feel led to spend a month or two in a single chapter of God’s Word. If that’s where you are beholding the Lord—if that’s where He is speaking to you, and those verses feel like fire to your heart—stay there until He moves you to a different chapter.  

Asking God Questions 

When the inspired, God-breathed verses of the Bible become our prayer, something powerful occurs. We are praying the anointed words of God. These prayers will release the move of His Spirit in our lives in a more precise and effective way than random, wishful prayers. There’s so much power and effectiveness in praying God’s Word!  

As you pray the Scriptures this way, I encourage you to pause in your reading and ask God questions.  

“Lord, what does that mean? I sense it’s significant, but I don’t understand it. Why is this significant? This is Your Word to me. Please show me what it means.”  

Then pray the revelation He gives you back to Him. “Oh, God—this is what You’re like! This verse is about You at a level I didn’t understand before.” 

Pray your questions about the Word while praying the Word. He will answer your questions, and the answer He gives will delight your heart. The more you pray this way, the more delighted you’ll be.  

When you read and pray His Word back to Him, you are seeking out revelation of Him, and He always reveals Himself to those who seek Him.  

This article is based on The Art of Praying the Scriptures by John Paul Jackson and John E. Thomas. Click here to learn more