Praying the Scripture

July 8, 2008
 
Dear St. Paul’s Family,
 
In preparing this week’s sermon, I was reminded of an author I read a few years ago named Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717).  She was born in France and entered a convent early in her life.  Because of her religious beliefs, she was imprisoned and spent twenty-five years in confinement in the prisons of Vincennes and the Bastille.  It was during this imprisonment that she wrote many of her books on Christian spirituality.  
 
Among her most famous was Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ, which was highly recommended by preachers of the era, including Hudson Taylor, Watchman Nee, and John Wesley.  
 
The book describes a different way of experiencing the Scriptures.  Not gleaning it for its information, like a repair manual or a recipe book. And not studying it for its technical merit, like a textbook.  Instead, Guyon encouraged people to live into the text letting it shape their lives. This, according to Guyon, takes time and patience, approaching it in a way she called “Praying the Scriptures”:
 
In coming to the Lord by means of “praying the Scripture,” you do not read quickly; you read very slowly.  You do not move from one passage to another, not until you have sensed the very heart of what you have read.  You may then want to take that portion of Scripture that has touched you and turn it into prayer.
 
After you have sensed something of the passage, and after you know that the essence of that portion has been extracted and all the deeper sense of it is gone, then, very slowly, gently, and in a calm manner begin to read the next portion of that passage.  You will be surprised to find that when your time with the Lord has ended, you will have read very little, probably no more than half a page.  
 
“Praying the Scripture” is not judged by how much you read but the way you read.  If you read quickly, it will benefit you little.  You will be like a bee that merely skims the surface of a flower.  Instead, in this new way of reading with prayer, you become as the bee who penetrates into the depths of the flower.  You plunge deeply within to remove its deepest nectar.
 
You may find that occasionally following Guyon’s prescription for praying the scriptures will give you a fresh approach to your devotional time.  You may even choose to take some time to try it now, with this Sunday’s scripture passage from Psalm 119:97-105:
 
Oh, how I love your law!
   It is my meditation all day long.
Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
   for it is always with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers,
   for your decrees are my meditation.
I understand more than the aged,
   for I keep your precepts.
I hold back my feet from every evil way,
   in order to keep your word.
I do not turn away from your ordinances,
   for you have taught me.
How sweet are your words to my taste,
   sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through your precepts I get understanding;
   therefore I hate every false way.
Your word is a lamp to my feet
   and a light to my path.

Join us this Sunday as we explore more fully this beautiful passage of the Psalms, with a sermon titled “A Song of Obedience.” May the words of the Scripture fill you, transform you, and be sweeter than honey to your mouth.
 
See you Sunday!
 
Grace,
 
Magrey