Two Simple Questions to Ask When Pondering Scripture

I have learned that there are just two simple questions to ask when pondering and reflecting on Scripture in your prayer life:

1. What is God revealing to me about Himself?
2. How is He calling me to respond? 

For several years, I just focused on the second. What is God asking or calling me to do? I was fixated on this question every time I went to prayer. I'm a chronic "do-er" -- driven to action and results.

That gets me far in the workplace, but only part-way in the spiritual life.

We're called to respond to God and act on our faith, but we are also called to know God deeply and intimately. We're called to recognize Him revealing Himself in Scripture and in our daily lives. 

It's as much about action as it is about our relationship with Him, and knowing Him personally. I think that's the lesson of the Martha and Mary story in the Gospels. 

I realized that I missed one of the most critical questions: Who is God to me? How is He revealing Himself to me in Scripture? How is He present and showing up to me right now as I read and contemplate this? 

When I opened my mind to this, I increasingly found God revealing Himself in ways that only made it clearer how to respond to Him. 

They go hand in hand: Knowing God. Responding to God.

Let God reveal Himself to you first, and then respond.