What is more important?

 

Charles Spurgeon was once asked, “What is more important: prayer or reading the Bible?”. His reply was, “What is more important: breathing in or breathing out?”

Well, we all know the answer to that. Both. We need to breathe in, and we need to breathe out. Inhale. Exhale. We can’t have one without the other. Otherwise, we’d be dead.

And so it is with prayer and reading God’s Word. We need both.

We need God’s Word for instruction.

2 Timothy 3:16 KJV - All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

And we need prayer for communication with God. For intercession. For supplication. For more things than I have time to list here.

1 Chronicles 16:11 KJV - Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.

I want to take a look at why both of these things, prayer and Bible reading, are equally important in the life of the Christian who wants to grow in their spiritual walk.

Firstly, why is prayer so important in our walk with God? The easy answer and in reality, the only answer we should really need is: it is commanded in Scripture. We have many examples of Godly men and women in the Bible praying and its importance is spelled out very clearly in the Word of God. Even the Lord Jesus prayed to his Father.

Prayer is our communication line with God.  Have you ever truly stopped to think about how amazing that is? We, in all our sinfulness, have a direct line, to the Creator of the Universe. At any time, we can cry out to him in prayer. And he hears us. 24/7. Any time of day or night. Stop and let that sink in for a minute.

Not only is it commanded as a duty of the Christian, but prayer is so beneficial as it helps deepen our relationship with God. It helps us to grow. As we commune with God and he speaks to us through his Word, we grow closer to him.

Here are a few more reasons prayer is so important.

Prayer increases our faith – As our prayers are answered, we have more faith and trust in God. Our faith grows each time we have an answer to prayer. We put our trust more fully in God. We can look back at our lives and past victories and we are able to see his hand and grow in our confidence of him.

Prayer gives us a place to unload our burdens – We have someone who truly cares and will not be overwhelmed with whatever we bring to him. When we unload on our husband or friends and family, sometimes it’s all too much. We, as humans, are not built to carry all our burdens. God tells us to bring our cares to him. He is big enough to handle them.

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Prayer teaches us that God is always near

Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Oswald Chambers said, “The purpose of prayer is to reveal the presence of God equally present all the time in every condition”

We know that God is always listening, and his ears are open to our cries. He never places us on hold or mutes us or ignores us.

Prayer trains us not to panic – Turning to God as your default move, helps replace the tendency to panic. We can rest in him. We can rely on his strength.

Prayer changes lives – Prayer will change us. It will have a flow on effect and help to change others’ lives. God gets all the glory for this. People say ‘prayer changes things’, but it’s not entirely accurate, prayer changes lives, it changes us, which in turn changes things.

Prayer in its simplicity is basically talking to God. It’s talking to a trusted friend. If I only talked with my husband between 7 and 8 pm on a Wednesday night and maybe a few minutes on a Sunday morning, how well would I know him? What kind of a relationship would I have? But often, that’s how we approach prayer. A few minutes at a prayer meeting, before a meal and maybe at a Bible Study.

Prayer has to play a bigger part in our lives than that! Prayer is vital in building our relationship with Christ.

In I Thessalonians 5:17, we are told to pray without ceasing. This doesn’t mean we are to pray every minute of the day, as that wouldn’t be practical, but it means to have a continual attitude of prayer. A prayerful spirit.

“When prayer becomes your immediate reflex instead of your last resort, the whole battlefield begins to tilt your direction”

When our minds are disengaged, like when we’re going about our daily chores. Cleaning the bathtub, sweeping the house, or hanging the washing, our thoughts can go to prayer instead of frustration or anxiety. We can praise God and talk to him at these times. We can continually be lifting up our prayer to God all the day long.

I have barely scratched the surface on the subject of prayer, but I want to also stress the importance of reading God’s Word. Breathing in. Breathing out. Prayer and Bible reading. They go hand in hand.

We not only need to pray but we need to spend time in God’s Word. We need to listen to the Lord as he speaks to us through his Word. It’s not enough to spend time in prayer, we need to have a desire for the Word of God. We need to long to hear from him from the pages of Scripture.

1 Peter 2:2As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

We need to desire God’s Word just as a baby desires milk. Hungrily. Impatiently. Always wanting more. Never quite satisfied. There are so many Bible study books, commentaries, handbooks, apps and resources to help us in the study of God’s Word. They are only tools to use, and we have to be discerning in our choice of them, but they can be very useful. I have learnt a lot over the years from others’ study of the Word of God and their insight into passages of Scripture.

Obviously, the best time to study the Bible is during your own personal quiet time with the Lord. A time set aside that you spend with the Lord, alone, letting him speak to you and spending time talking to him in prayer.

Our effectiveness for God requires times of solitude. The impact you have on you family and on others will be in direct proportion to the time you spend away from people and with God. Time with God is so important for our spiritual development, and it is never wasted.

As well as saying ‘no’ to things that are wrong and sinful, we have to learn how to say ‘no’ to pleasant, profitable and good things that may hinder our time alone with God. I don’t think I need to elaborate on what those things are, as they will be different for each person.

And when we talk of a quiet time we are talking of a state of rest or calm, free from noise or disturbance, still, hushed, not turbulent, not excited, anxious or wrought up, but calm and peaceful. Yes, all words that are usually the opposite of our days, but not entirely impossible.

It’s so easy to fail at a regular quiet time with the Lord. For years I struggled with making time for Bible study, I think partly out of laziness, but also out of ignorance in thinking I had to have an hour of time set aside. And so, I gave up before I even started. God knows all about our life and he understands if we only have 5 minutes to spare. It’s what’s in our heart that matters.

Seasons of life change and our quiet times change. We need to remember that it’s the relationship we are working on. Not a strict schedule. It’s a time to draw apart with God. A time to talk with him, learn of him, grow in him. A time to deepen our knowledge of the Lord. To fellowship with him. To worship him. Your quiet time is a time for your own personal growth. This is not family devotion time. This is a time for you and the Lord only. It may have to be several small snippets throughout the day or one large chunk if you are blessed with being able to do that.

As mothers and wives and women who want to deepen our relationship with the Lord, we have to get creative with how we arrange our time in order to put God highest on the priority list.

My grandmother always had an open Bible on her bread bin in the kitchen and every time she had a spare moment or was working on that particular kitchen counter, she would read a few verses. She was way before the time of audible Bible apps and recordings.

For me, if it’s an early start and I am not able to sit and study while I eat breakfast, I’ll have my Bible app play as I get ready for work in the morning. I listen to the Word of God being read aloud and try and take in as much as I can and then meditate on what I’ve heard until I can come back and do further reading and study.

It’s not a one size fits all and you’ll have to find what works for you. The important thing is that you set aside time for it.

Both prayer and Bible reading are crucial in a growing Christian’s life and if we neglect either of these things, we are crippling our spiritual walk and could quite possibly be hindering our own families because of it. The example we set is important and we will not be fruitful if we are not tending to our relationship with God.  

WARNING: Don’t substitute activity FOR God, for a relationship WITH God. 

It’s easy to be busy in the work of the Lord, with our programs and ministries, but if we are just rushing madly about, serving him, without spending time in prayer and Bible study, we might as well quit. We will stay stagnant and stunted in our walk, and we will not have the power of God in our ministries or the blessings that go along with a heart that is devoted to Him.

Make sure that prayer and Bible reading are equally important in your life. Don’t think that you can have one without the other and still grow. You need both.

If you don’t have your Bible open, don’t expect answers to your prayers.

And if your voice is silent, don’t expect to gain understanding as you read.

 

When we pray, we speak to God; But when we read, he speaks to us.