It’s a great question, one that I’ve seen come up quite a bit in my ministry. I’ve had people tell me they were being spiritually fed by my ministry, which was nice. I’ve had people get up and leave because they were not being spiritually fed by ministry. I preferred the former. Over the years, through the good and the bad, one thing has become apparent:
If you are relying on worship to spiritually feed you, you’re going to be hungry a lot of the time.
Think about it. Church is one hour a week. That’s it. Imagine if you only ate one meal per week. It doesn’t matter how good that meal is, it simply would not be enough to sustain you. There’s not a person alive who could survive on a diet like that. But that’s how many of us partake of spiritual nourishment. We come once a week expecting to get fueled up and recharged for the week, but the sad reality is that no sermon or worship can pack enough nutrients for the other 111 hours of the week.
That’s how much waking time you have in a week, by the way. There are 112 waking hours each week, assuming eight hours of sleep. We cram so much into those 112 hours. We work, we relax, and somehow we make time for twenty one meals. Twenty one! We eat physical food three times a day, and spiritual food once a week.
No wonder we’re spiritually starved.
In John 6:35, Jesus said “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Notice where he tells us to go for spiritual food. He doesn’t tell them to go to church, to attend a program or meeting.
Instead, Jesus says that those who come to him will never go hungry, and those who believe in him will never be thirsty. If you’re spiritually hungry and thirsty, the answer is not necessarily to go to church more. That can be an answer, but it is not the answer. Rather, the answer is Jesus. Go to Jesus. Believe in Jesus.
But how do we do that? The ingredients are simple:
Prayer and bible reading.
I’m not talking about prayer at church, and I’m not talking about attending a bible study, though those can be part of it. I’m talking about you, me, all of us, at home, praying and reading our bibles, and not just in the morning or at night, but both. If we eat physical food three times a day, why not eat spiritual food three times per day as well? Benedictine monks pray or read the bible eight times per day. I don’t expect any of us to be monks, but surely we can do better than once per week, and better than once per day, right? Right?
Now that you have the ingredients, here’s the recipe. Just as there are many ways to make many foods, there are many recipes for spiritual meals. There are many ways to pray, and many ways to read your bible. I don’t know what’s right for you, but I do know that you won’t either until you try them. So here we go. First, prayer:
Set a regular time and place.
- Keep a list of people to pray for.
- Pray using the Lord’s Prayer as a model. Don’t pray the Lord’s Prayer; that’s not what it’s there for. Jesus didn’t tell us to repeat the Lord’s Prayer, he said “When you pray, pray like this.” The parts of the Lord’s Prayer are:
- The Father’s Character: praise God for who God is.
- The Father’s Kingdom: pray for it to come, and to be part of it coming.
- The Father’s Forgiveness: ask for it, and forgive others
- The Father’s Provision: thank God for providing, offer petitions for you or others
- The Father’s Guidance: pray for God to guide you or others
- The Father’s Protection: pray for God to protect you or others
- Don’t just speak, but listen. Make prayer a conversation with God rather than a list of demands.
Before I get to the final ingredient, I would like to ask you to do me a favor. If you have read this sentence, the next time you see me please walk up to me and say “Purple.” Thanks. When you do, I will explain why.
Finally, we come to the recipe for reading your bible. If you need a bible, I have one you can have for free. Really. Just come ask and it’s yours. Or don’t ask, just take one.
Whatever. Just as long as you have one, I’m happy.
I do not recommend just opening it and plowing in. You can if you want, but it can get really confusing, really fast. Also, I recommend the New Living Translation, as it is very accessible yet still accurate. If you want the most literal translation, I recommend the New Revised Standard. The language in it can be clunky, but it is closest to the original texts. Here are some easy tools to help you get started on daily bible reading:
Go to this website each day for a different reading: http://elca.org/Faith/DailyBible/
- Sign up for email devotions from Our Daily Bread.
- Use the “Bible” app on your smartphone and read their daily verse
- Here’s a plan to read the entire bible in one year: http://www.biblica.com/en-us/bible/reading-plans/
- If you would like an actual printed book with daily devotions, I can find one for you, just let me know. I have several and am happy to help.
Hopefully these tools will help you get the spiritual food we all need. If these aren’t helpful, let me know and I will find you something that is. I am committed to helping you be spiritually fed.
God loves you, and so do I.
-Pastor Scott