As the American philosopher Ferris Bueller once observed, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” That’s actually pretty good advice! As followers of Jesus, we pause the busyness of life and get a new perspective on things through prayer and Bible reading. 

Prayer is an opportunity to tune our heart to the heart of God. We know that Jesus made prayer a priority in His life (check out Luke 5:16, 6:12, 9:18, 9:28, 11:1 – What do you notice about Jesus’ prayer life?). In fact, Jesus taught us how to pray (Matthew 6:9-13) – so if you’re unsure where to start, start here: Jesus’ own teaching and example.

Jesus loved the scriptures. He was a Bible teacher after all. So we come to the Bible eager to discover the life and wisdom that it can impart. Yes, the Bible is full of timeless wisdom. Even more, though, it’s one of the ways that God has revealed His heart and His plan to us. To become people of the Bible, then, means to have our heart and our agenda  conformed to God’s. Jesus doesn’t want us just to read. We’re called to put it into practice. In fact, Jesus says the wise man is not the one who hears His teaching or even the one who understands it, but “everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice” (Matthew 7:24).

Here at Community, then, we venture to know and practice prayer and Bible reading as ways to be formed by the heart and priorities of God. Our “Daily Bible Reading” is a weekly email with Bible passages to read, prayer prompts, and application questions to help you grow throughout the week. Check it out, share it with a friend, and see how God shows up!