Last night I read Amos 8:11, which at some point I had
underlined in my Bible: “‘Behold the days are coming,’ declares the Lord God, ‘when
I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord’” (ESV). While this prophecy had an
immediate application for Israel in that age, I think we can see some signs of the
famine today as well. “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound
teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers
to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and
wander off into myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
The difference now seems to be that people don’t know they
are starving. Like a person dying from lack of a certain nutrient, they don’t
know how sick they are. They are filling up on spiritual junk food. Many who go
to church don’t realize that they are not hearing the words of the Lord. The
message sounds nice and makes them feel good, but it has no nutritional value
for spiritual growth. Many others go to church and take in good content, but
they never allow it to digest and take effect in their lives. They never move
beyond their need to be spoon-fed.
I’ve heard “sermons” that had no scriptural content. I’ve
heard others that I’m still chewing on long afterward. I don’t want to find my spiritual
growth lagging or declining because of a famine of the Word. One necessary “treatment”
for this condition is getting into the Word for myself. An article today on the
Desiring God blog asks, “What if you had to pay five dollars every time you read
your Bible? What would your Bible budget be this month?” I suspect most of us
would come in under budget every month. Studying Scripture regularly not only
contributes to spiritual growth, but it protects against the lies and fluff
that are promulgated from so many sources.
The other essential
ingredient is to pray both for the people preaching or teaching the Word of God
in my local church and for my own receptivity to the Word. I know there have
been many times when I have attended church prayerlessly and have gotten
nothing out of the message. Sometimes the person behind the pulpit has not
delivered the Word, but I have been equally guilty in not hearing the Word. If
there is a single sentence of Scripture shared, there is something worth
thinking about. The rest of the sermon may be meaningless babble, but God’s
Word is never empty (Isaiah 55:11) and is always profitable (2 Timothy 3:16).
Prayer may not improve the way a message is delivered, but it can certainly
change the way I listen. Alistair Begg said this week,
“I can preach the same sermons if
you would pray harder and they will be ten times more effective… Because for a
meaningful preaching event, you need an expectant, praying preacher, and you
need an expectant, praying congregation. And when the expectations meet at the
throne of grace whereby both preacher and listener are looking to God rather
than one another then suddenly there’s a divine chemistry that takes place
there.”
That is a convicting thought. How many church members would
be strengthened by prayerful listening to the Word of God? How many churches
would be greatly improved by just a few more people praying for their pastor?
How many church conflicts could be avoided if people chose to pray rather than
complain?
Lord, forgive me for
taking Your Word for granted. Forgive me for settling for spiritual junk food.
Forgive me for failing to pray consistently for myself and for my pastor. “Open my eyes,
that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law… I will never forget Your
precepts, for by them You have given me life… I open my mouth and pant, because
I long for Your commandments… Let my soul live and praise You, and let Your
rules help me” (Psalm 119:18, 93, 131, 175).
