How many spiritual books have you read? Perhaps hundreds. Of those books, how many have you chewed their contents, digested them and actually lived them? I believe that if you are reading a good book about spiritual power, the goal is to be the book rather than just read the book.
Take the Ten Commandments. Just about everyone has read them, but how many can say “My life is a moving, living, breathing picture of the Ten Commandments?” If you are reading a good book about God’s power in your life, wouldn’t you rather say I’m living the book rather than just I’ve read the book?
Below are four tips that will help you move your reading of spiritual books from the rush-read stage to the life-change stage.
Tip #1. SLOW READ. Rather than rush-reading your book, take it slow. A slow-read of any book on spiritual power allows you to fully digest the contents of the book. A slow-read may mean that it will take you months to read the entire book. That’s okay. All the while, you are living what you have read. By the time you are midway through the book, you will be living more powerfully than you ever thought possible.
Tip#2. STOP! As you slow-read, a phrase or sentence will pop out and grab your attention. Do not keep reading. Stop. Sit with those words. Contemplate them. View them from every angle. Don’t rush through this process.
Tip#3. PRAY. Now take those few words, or sentence into silent prayer asking for deeper understanding of those words. Wait expectantly to be God taught. You may not “hear” anything right away, but that “still small voice” will speak. It will open new doors of understanding and revelation.
Tip#4. WALK. Yes, walk the read. Ask yourself, “How am I going to live this passage in my day-to-day living?”