Holy Bible Contemplations
Holy Bible Contemplations
(Listening to God's voice)
After you have entered in God’s presence through preparation of the heart to stand before Him, the second part of your spiritual retreat begins by listening to God’s voice as He speaks to you through the Holy Bible.
Ask the Lord “what you want me to do?” (Acts 9:6)
And so you may hear God’s voice clearly, you may put these points in front of you to help you:
1- Raise your heart with a small prayer and ask of the Lord: “Lead me to hear Your voice through Your Holy Book, and speak to me with what you need me to live by today” Recite Psalm 119:18.
2- Start By reading the Chapter you have assigned to yourself previously for contemplations. It is good for you to set a goal in order to build and nourish your spirit. Ensure that your contemplations in the Holy Bible are done on a regular basis throughout your retreat.
This of course does not prevent you from the daily studying of God’s words to acquire more knowledge and to gain the historical background, as well as learning about the Bible’s personalities.
As for the contemplation in the Bible during the daily quiet time, this can be better determined by you.
A- Read in order from the daily scheduled readings that were referred to you.
B- Make note of verses from the Holy Bible using index cards or a small diary in order to collect your thoughts. You may contemplate on such topics as purity, and take a verse each day to contemplate on.
C-Read the verse that you feel God is talking to you through. Read this verse three times and comprehend the main idea behind it.
D- Apply this verse to your own life and see the effect that it left in your heart. Try and understand how you will use this verse in your day to day life. You may also use the following questions as a guide to help you:
- Is God speaking to you through this verse regarding a certain sin and He wants you to confess and leave.
- DO you find that this verse highlights a Godly commandment for you to apply and walk by.
- Does the verse remind you of something that you need to thank God for?
- Does the verse offer a commandment for you to follow so you may take a certain blessing.
- Does the verse reveal a certain characteristic of our Lord to you, that you may praise Him and glorify Him?
- Does the verse introduce you to a Bible personality so you may follow this character’s faith and to live as they did?
These are some contemplations, so you may explore the effect of the verse on yourself, you may find one or more of these points mentioned. However, most importantly you need to hear the Lord as He speaks to you through the verse.
Do not forget that you are in the presence of the Lord of Hosts and “Whatever He says to you, do it.” (John2:5)
A spiritual retreat could almost be useless if you do not hear God’s voice in it, and if you do not prepare yourself to do His will in your life.