8/8 Psalm 119:18

¹⁸ Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.

This is my prayer each time I open the Word of God to read. Before I write each devotional, I have asked the LORD to open my eyes to the riches in His Word. In this same psalm, the author says the Word of God is more valuable to him than thousands of pieces of gold and silver. The more you see in it, the more valuable it becomes to you. These devotional thoughts are meant to stimulate your appreciation for the Word and see some of its riches so that you will hunger to spend more time in the Bible searching out its treasures.

When you come to the Word with expectation and pray for God to open your eyes to the wondrous things within it, you will experience God speaking to you through it. Perhaps you have noticed that to some extent in the verses of this devotional. Because God is all-knowing and cares about you, you can expect to hear His voice in His Word.

Study is not a haphazard thing. I would suggest you take one book of the Bible at a time. Go though it with some study helps such as a Bible handbook or a good commentary. Beware of commentaries that question the validity of the Bible. Don't be as concerned regarding how much you read as you are with understanding what you have read. Ask yourself what is being said and why. How does it apply to you today? Be consistent. Attend a Bible-study group and a church that preaches through one book of the Bible at a time, explaining the passage and applying it to your lives. Soon you will find the words of the Bible to be as valuable to you as they were to the psalmist.

Prayer: LORD, open our eyes to behold wondrous things out of Your Word.