Does the Lord speak to us through His Word?

What we have been doing the last couple months on this blog is looking at the book of Philippians and seeing how it relates to marriage. Though the book of Philippians was not written as a manual on marriage it certainly has much to say that we can relate to the marriage relationship.

What I want to encourage you with today is to really use your Bibles.

We believe that the Bible is God's Word and we know that it is intended to be applied to our lives. What we may not be taking advantage of is the very practical and daily benefits it has for us as we mix it with prayer and a listening ear as we allow the Holy Spirit to lift the words off the page and settle them into our hearts.

I have found the Word to be most useful as the Lord has uses it to speak into my life to answer the most specific questions imaginable.

Let me tell you how it works for me.

I come to the Word with a specific question in mind, perhaps an area of my life that is a current concern, perhaps it is a desire to know the Lords will on a specific decision. I sit down with my Bible in hand and a prayer in my heart asking that the Lord will speak to me regarding whatever issue I have brought to Him.

Let me give you an example. Say I have a ministry opportunity with a person and I am not certain how to handle it; what to say, when to bring it up, do I even bring it up... I come with those questions and begin reading. It doesnt seem to really matter where I read, but if the Lord directs me to a certain passage, of course, I go there. And I read. And I listen. And I read some more. And I pray. It may not come that first time, but invariably it does come over time. The Lord will speak to me through His word.

Very directly, very practically, very powerfully!

Do you have an issue with your children? Have you read ... oh, lets say, Galatians with parenting in mind? How about a question about your business? Proverbs would be a natural place to look but how about reading Hosea and see what it will tell you about that decision in the workplace.

This is what we have been doing with Philippians. We are reading this letter to see what it tells us about marriage. I came to the book with marriages in mind and I am taking what Paul says and applying it to the marriage relationship.

This is not the only way to read or study your Bible, but it is an effective way to put yourself in a position to allow the Lord to speak to you through His Word.

As you can see we are about 10 verses in and there has been something to note in almost every verse.

The Bible is such an untapped, or at the very least, yet to be fully explored, resource for the life of the believer.

We will continue to track through Philippians together here, I am anxious to see just how much I can learn about being a Godly husband through this short letter. And there are 65 other books just waiting to be explored!