How To Ponder A Passage

I’m excited about growing together in the Word with those of you who accepted my challenge from last week.

A few years ago I put some thoughts together from Proverbs 2:1-11  about how to ponder a passage. Here are those thoughts then a few others that will pertain specifically to our challenge. The Scripture says:

¹ My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,
² turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding,
³ and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,
⁴ and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

“Accept” Read the passage slowly 2-3 times. Write down any thoughts that stand out to you. Accept the words from God as a personal message to you.

“Store up” Choose a verse or phrase in the passage to memorize. The key to effective Scripture memory is repetition. Repeat the verse a dozen or more times throughout the day.

“Turn your ear” Listen to what God has to say to you through the passage. Ask God to speak to your heart and to give you ears to hear what He has to say to you. Write down what He tells you.

“Apply your heart” How can you apply the passage to your life? How can you put it into practice? What will you DO as a result of reading God’s Word.

“Call out” Ponder the passage out loud with someone else. Talk about it with a friend or spouse. Ask what their thoughts are on the passage – what God is teaching them through this passage?

“Cry aloud” Pray the Scripture out loud. Turn the passage into a prayer to God.

“Look for it” Meditate on the passage. Think about it in different ways. Chew on the Word as a cow chews it’s cud.

“Search for it” If there are aspects of the passage that you don’t understand, use reference tools to help you… Such as a Bible dictionary, concordance, or commentary.

Now, how to apply this to the challenge I’ve given. A few ideas that may be helpful. This plan assumes that you have 10 or so minutes that you can give each day to be in the Word.

1) On day 1 read the passage through 2-3 times to just familiarize yourself with it. Repeat the memory verse 4-5 times. Write it out and look at it several times during the day.

2) On day 2 read the passage again – write down any things that stand out to you or catch your attention. Write down any questions that pop out at you. Ask God to teach you as you think about His Word. Continue reviewing the memory verse.

3) On day 3 read the passage again – look for things you might have missed. Meditate (think deeply) about what God is saying and how it applies to you. Write out your thoughts. Continue reviewing the memory verse.

4) On day 4 read the passage again. As you read it, turn it into a prayer for God. (Example from Proverbs 2:1 – “Lord, give me the courage to accept your Word as truth and not just read it and do nothing about it.”) Write out your prayer. Continue reviewing the memory verse.

5) Talk to others about what you are learning – ask them what they are learning. Write out what God has shown you. Continue reviewing the memory verse.

6) Post your thoughts on the blog as a comment to my thoughts (which will be posted on Thursday) so that we can learn from each other. Continue reviewing the memory verse.

*** Obviously, if you miss some days then you can combine some of these. Don’t worry about not doing it this way – this is just a few ideas. I promise that most weeks I won’t do it this way. The key is to stay in the Word and keep seeking God. Do that and you WILL grow.

The first passage that we will ponder together is…. Ephesians 1:3-14.

The first memory verse to work on is… Ephesians 1:3

(I will be using the NIV translation in my posts but you use whatever you are comfortable with)

(Look for my thoughts on this passage next Thursday – then add your own)

Ready. Set . Go. Get ready to grow.