By Glen R. Jackman
“And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.” (Luke 2:47 ESV)
Let the Word of God fill your heart While Jesus walked on earth, He both knew the scriptures well, and He treasured the Word of God in His heart. In the temptation in the wilderness and on every opportunity that presented itself until His death on the cross, He met every situation that arose against Him with the Word of God that filled His heart.
“I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11 ESV)
Pray over the promises of God’s Word In Jesus’s prayer life, He taught us two things: first, God’s Word supplies us with material for prayer right in the Bible, encouraging us to expect every solution to come from God’s direction and intervention. Second, it is only by prayer that we can live such a life so that every Word of God can be utilized for overcoming obstacles, temptation, antagonistic situations, and know God’s purpose for our lives day by day and fulfill the Spirit’s influence over our life to glorify God, while serving Jesus Christ.
“For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” (2 Peter 1:4 NASB)
How can we come to the place where the Word and prayer may each have its undivided right of guidance over us? There is only one answer: our lives must be entirely transformed to live by the same methods that Jesus did — dependency on the Word of God as we pray over the scriptures.
“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5 ESV)
Our schedule must include time for Bible study We must assess our priorities, and assign actual time to learn how to read, study and bring the power of the Word of God into our life. By faith, we read a verse and pray over its application to our life, and our close family’s lives.
We must, by faith in what God will do in us, appropriate the heavenly life of Christ just as He related directly to the Father to find out God’s will for everything He did as He lived here on earth. We can and must have the certain expectation that the Spirit, who filled Jesus with the Word and prayer, and guided Him daily, will also accomplish that work in us.
“You search the Scriptures…it is they that bear witness about me” (John 5:39 ESV)
Let us understand that God the Holy Spirit is essentially the Spirit of the Word and the Spirit of prayer; He is also the Spirit of the Lord Jesus who is in us to make us truly partakers of His life. If we firmly believe this and set our hearts upon it, then there will come a change in our use of God’s Word and believing prayer such as we could not have thought possible.
Why not begin by asking the Father in prayer “Lord Jesus, by your Holy Spirit, live Your life through me. Fill me with your Word and with prayer. Make me a partaker of Your life — transformed into your likeness as the scripture reads: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5 ESV)