First Christian Voices: Practices of the Apostolic Fathers

Resources for Application

213

Someone who just read 1 Chronicles 21—the story of David’s lack of trust in God, when he wrongfully ordered a census of all the people of Israel—might pray something like, “God, like David I have not trusted you with this situation in my life. Help me trust in you so that I do not wrongly take matters into my own hands.” Connecting Scripture to our own lives through prayer involves meditating on it. Journaling Scripture Journaling Scripture is writing out our reflections on a passage. Writing about words or images that stick out to us, making connections between the passage and our lives, or asking questions of the passage all constitute meditation on Scripture. Memorizing Scripture Meditation and memorization go hand-in-hand, since hiding God’s Word in our heart requires mulling a passage over and over in our minds. Remember, Christian meditation is about filling our heart with the Word of God, not emptying our mind. Scripture memorization does just that, allowing “the word of Christ” to “dwell in you richly” (Col 3:16). Jesus himself memorized Scripture and used it to reject Satan’s temptations (Matt 4:1–11). We too, by memorizing Scripture, can defend our faith and guard our heart against temptation.