Saturated in the Word as we Pray the Word

This morning, I found myself in the midst of James 1 where he speaks about temptation…basically he says, it doesn’t come from God; rather, it comes from the desires that are inside of us.  As I wrote out my prayer regarding this, I found myself back on the page that I shared earlier this week from Ephesians 4.  

Verses 17-19 speak of our old way of life, but in verse 20-24 we see how we are to live in Christ.  This kind of passage always opens the door to great prayer times for me.  I love what Paul says in verse 20, “But that is not the way you learned Christ!”  Do you see the personal relationship assumed here?  Not that you learned about Christ, but you actually learned Christ.  You get to know Him if you will talk to Him and listen to Him in the pages of His Word.

When we come to verse 21, I am always amazed at how the translators try to make sense of these words, “assuming that you heard about him and were taught in him.”  Here is the problem…the word “about” isn’t there in the Greek.  Paul says, “Assuming you heard Him!”  I heard Him this morning as I read His word, and I heard Him as I camped on the passage in James because He led me back to these words and I heard His clear teaching about some things I need to do personally, and I prayed over those things.

When God’s Word is read, taught, preached, heard, memorized, meditated upon…when we do those things God speaks to us.  I’ve often said, if you want to hear God’s voice just read His Word out loud!  

He said, “And were taught in Him.”  Ephesians 1 says a lot about being “in Christ,” but here we find an amazing thing…Jesus is the atmosphere in which we are taught!  The more we learn, hear, and are taught in Christ the deeper our union with Him.  

So, three verbs here…(1) learned, (2) heard, and (3) taught and they all center in Jesus…the end of verse 21 says, “as the truth is in Jesus.”  He is the embodiment of truth…ask Him to help you know Him more intimately.  Read His Word, pray His Word, and ask him to help you learn, hear, and be taught.

And then Paul moves from three verbs to three infinitives…the ESV makes them look like commands, but what Paul is doing is showing us what the early church taught…what Jesus taught them.  We come back to the three things we looked at three days ago,

1) To put off your old self
2) To be renewed
3) To put on the new self.

Here is something I was reminded of this morning.  To be renewed in the spirit of my mind involves God renewing my mind as I obey.  As I read, as I meditate, as I pray, He renews my mind.  So, if we saturate our minds with the Word of God, God will then perform a work of renewal.  This will then help me live out the putting off of the old and the putting on of the new which are actions God took the moment we were born again.  

The old was crucified with Christ, the new is resurrected with Christ…that was done at your salvation, so Paul seems to be saying…live like it!  Take off the old grave clothes and put on the armor of God and the righteousness of Christ and then get to work in the continual process of being renewed.

That requires many things, but none more important that reading, memorizing, meditating, and praying His Word!