“Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things from Your law” (Ps. 119:18).
Recently, I prayed, “Lord, let me read the Bible like it’s the very first time. Open my eyes to behold wondrous things from Your law.” It works. I am seeing things I never saw, and it is going into my spirit. It’s like I am being born again all over again. I am being convinced that we need to come to God like a child every day. What a wonderful humbling experience to grow in His Word.
If the enemy is telling you that you don’t need to read the Bible as much as you used to, you need to read it more.
Have you ever thought, I have read the Bible so many times that I have a pretty good handle on what it is saying. Therefore I don’t need to read it as much? Have you ever said to yourself, “I have read that certain Scripture so many times that I am sure I know what that verse means. Besides, I have heard others share that they got the same meaning from it”?
Recently, I sensed the Lord saying to me, “There is a dangerous mindset in many of My people when it comes to receiving fresh revelation from My Word. The longer they walk with Me in My Word, there is a tendency for them to think that they know it all! Many have forgotten that My Word is a living Word, full of ongoing revelation and eternal insights.”
What a Wonderful, Humbling Experience to Come to God Like a Child Every Day
I believe how we pick up our Bibles to read them determines how we receive what is in it. If we come pridefully boasting in what we think we already know of His Word, we will surely fail in the full revelation of it. When was the last time God’s Word became personally alive to you? Was it when you were broken before Him, and you felt like you didn’t know anything? Or was it when you thought you had some good ideas to share with God about how He could run the universe better? I believe it is still our subtle know-it-all attitude that keeps hindering us from the ongoing revelation of the one who knows everything. Perhaps “Unless you become as little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven” (see Matt. 18:3) would be fitting for reading God’s Word, also.
Your Bible is Always Begging You to Open It
For 23 years, I ministered in prisons. One prisoner in a cell was handed a Bible, and he took it and threw it under his bed as he cursed it. Years later, he testified that there were nights he could not sleep. He couldn’t get that Bible out of his mind. One night, he got up and reached under his bed to get it. As he picked up that Bible, he said he had an irresistible urge to open it and start reading it. He could not put it down. The presence of a Bible in his cell overcame the powers of darkness in his life and set him free, as well as others in that prison.
I have heard several testimonies of sick people who had all kinds of prayer, but nothing changed. One woman testified after becoming so desperate, “Every night as I lay down in bed, I would take my Bible and lay it on my chest.” She said it wasn’t long until her sickness was gone. It made me wonder, If a closed Bible can do that, what can an open Bible do?
I believe we are right now in a kairos moment to receive fresh manna hot out of the oven of heaven. Yesterday’s manna has gone stale for us. I want to encourage you to imagine for a moment that you have never read anything in the Bible. Now open it and begin reading it for the very first time.
Pray this simple prayer first: “Open my eyes to behold wondrous things from Your law” (Ps. 119:18). {eoa}
Bill Yount has been a member of Bridge of Life Church in Hagerstown, Maryland, for the past 40 years and is in leadership. He faithfully served in prison ministry at Mount Hope Inc. for 23 years and now travels full time, ministering in churches and Aglow circles. He is currently an adviser at large for Aglow International. Bill has authored several prophetic books. His latest book is Handfuls of Purpose. His prophetic email list is: @billyountweekly.com. Visit Bill’s website at billyount.com.
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