How To Nourish Your Soul With The Word Of God
How we can we nourish our souls with the Word of God, so that we can have daily communion with God and grow spiritually? In this message, Pastor Brian gives us seven things we can do with the Word of God. Afterwards, the church took Psalm 23, and applied the seven steps, so that they could grow in their devotion to the Word.
How To Nourish Your Soul With The Word Of God
We all know that we nourish our bodies by eating those things that will give our bodies what it needs to be healthy and strong. That’s why we eat fruits and vegetables, and lean meats, nuts and juices.
But what do we do if we want to nourish our souls? How can we seek our spiritual strength and vitality?
Did you know the authors of Scripture had a lot to say about this?
Job 23:12 “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”
Job understood that God’s words were like food, and He treasured the Word of God more than his physical food.
Jeremiah 15:16 “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart.”
Jeremiah says that He ate God’s words. Not only that, but His words for a joy and the delight of his heart!
1 Peter 2:2 “like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.”
Babies, it seems, are always hungry, and cry for food constantly. Peter says we should be like them. He compares the Word with milk, and says that the Word is the way we grow in respect to salvation.
Mt. 4:3-4 When the devil tempted Jesus to command stones become bread to satisfy his hunger, “Jesus answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”
Jesus understood that just as His physical life was sustained by bread, His spiritual life was sustained by every Word of God.
John 6:31-33 “Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’ Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.”
Here Jesus is comparing Himself to the manna that God provided the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. The people had to go out every morning and gather the manna so that they would have food for that day. So too, we must go and feed on Christ every day so that we have the spiritual strength we need for the day. The way we feed on Christ is by feeding on His word by faith.
So, just from these passages of Scripture what have we learned?
- God’s Word is like food for our souls
- God’s Word is more valuable than our physical food
- God’s Word will provide us with joy and delight
- God’s Word enables us to grow spiritually
- God’s Word should be fed on daily
But how do we nourish our souls on the word of God? That’s what I want to help you with today.
1. Prioritize God’s Word
What I mean by this is to make a commitment to start every day with God’s Word. If you are going to treasure God’s Word more than your necessary food, you must put a higher priority on God’s Word than eating. That’s why Ray Comfort has invented the slogan, “No Bible – No Breakfast.” Just as the Israelites had to go out every morning to gather manna for the day, you and I must go to the Word for our spiritual nourishment for each day.
I’m amazed that Christians who have been walking with the Lord for many years, still have not prioritized God’s Word in their life. I understand that there will be obstacles in our life that will make this difficult.
We all have a certain time we need to be at work. That means we have to discipline ourselves to get up far enough in advance so that we have time to spend in the Scriptures.
We may struggle with laziness. If we are just naturally lazy, we will find prioritizing God’s Word to be difficult. We must put that laziness to death and develop spiritual discipline in our life.
2. Read God’s Word
Now this point is super simple. I don’t need to explain it. We all understand what reading the Bible means. And doing this is fairly easy. We all know how to read. We read other things all the time: posts online, menus, the news, sports, etc. The way to begin is to simply read the Bible.
I recommend that you don’t try to read too much at one time. I’m not a fan of trying to read the Bible in a year. There’s usually so much you must read every day that you don’t have the time to meditate on and internalize any of it, and it turns out to be unprofitable. At least that’s what happened when I embarked on a 1 Year Bible Reading Plan. Much better, I think, is to read along with the church on our Bible Reading Plan. Every year I come up with a Bible Reading Plan. This year we are reading through 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Revelation, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon and Genesis. But we are purposely keeping our reading to a manageable size. If you don’t have a copy of our Bible Reading Plan for 2026, ask me about it later, and I’ll get you a copy.
3. Meditate on God’s Word
Psalm 1 says that the Blessed Man meditates on God’s Word day and night. To meditate is to mull a truth over and over in your mind. In order to meditate, you need to slow down and focus on something in particular from what you have read that day. I call this “My Takeaway.” If you have just read a chapter in Scripture, what particular portion did God use to “ring your bell.” Which portion spoke to you? Whatever it was, go back to it, and spend some time thinking about it.
A good way to meditate on Scripture is to emphasize every word in a sentence. For example, let’s say you read Psalm 23 this morning. You could meditate by emphasizing each word:
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
“The Lord IS my shepherd; I shall not want.”
“The Lord is MY shepherd; I shall not want.”
“The Lord is my SHEPHERD; I shall not want.”
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
“The Lord is my shepherd; I SHALL NOT want.”
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not WANT.”
As you focus on each word in that verse, you will be seeing it with a new perspective again and again.
4. Memorize God’s Word
Perhaps as you are reading your chapter that morning, there is one verse in particular that really speaks to your heart, challenges you, or encourages you. Why not take a couple of minutes and commit it to memory? Throughout the day, go back and quote it to yourself.
The reason the apostles could quote OT Scripture in their writings, is because they had memorized it. It is obvious Jesus had memorized much of the Scriptures. When the devil tempted him three different times, Jesus responded three different times by quoting Scripture. Jesus wasn’t opening up a scroll and trying to find Scripture to quote to the devil. He had hidden God’s Word in his heart. So should we. How much of the Bible have you memorized? Make it a point in 2026 that you will engage in this discipline. It will help your spiritual life greatly.
5. Journal God’s Word
What do I mean by this? I mean, when you have identified your “take away” for the morning, write about it. You will be surprised at the ideas and thoughts that will come to your mind, when you begin to write. You can jot down what you think the verse means. Other passages in the Bible may come to your mind, and you can jot them down. You may think of a way that you can apply that truth to your mind, and you can jot that down. You might think of a person that needs to hear that truth, and you can jot that down so that you send them that verse later in the day.
So, when you sit down to read the Bible at the beginning of your day, bring a journal and a pen with you, and make it a daily practice to journal your thoughts. If I simply read a passage, I remember little of it later on. But if I take the time to journal, I will remember much more!
6. Pray God’s Word
Another very effective thing you can do to nourish your soul on God’s Word, is to turn it into prayer.
As you pray the Word, make it personal. For example, if I was reading Colossians 3, I could change words like “you” to “I”, and “your” to “my.” Col. 3:1-4 might read like this:
“Therefore if I have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set MY mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For I have died and MY life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is MY life is revealed, then I also will be revealed with Him in glory.”
Then, take what you have just read, and turn it into prayer:
“Lord you have raised me up with Christ! Help me to seek the things above today. I need your grace to set my mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. Help me to be heavenly-minded today Lord. Lord, you have crucified my old man together with Christ. I have died. And it is true – my life is hidden with Christ in God. That’s why I have such a wonderful hope. When Christ is revealed, you will also reveal me with Him in glory. Lord, I can’t wait for that day!”
7. Live God’s Word
Before you draw your time in God’s Word to a close, search the chapter, or your takeaway for a point of application.
A good way to do this is by using the SPECK method:
- Is there a SIN to confess?
- Is there a Promise to claim?
- Is there an Example to follow?
- Is there a Command to obey?
- Is there Knowledge to pursue?
When you have discovered something that you need to put into practice, jot it down in your journal, and pray about it, asking the Holy Spirit to help you to live that truth out.
Conclusion
There you have 7 different ways to nourish your soul on God’s Word: Prioritize – Read – Meditate – Memorize – Journal – Pray – Live God’s Word.
And in order to really help you with these concepts, I want to take some time as a church this morning and do this together. We will take the 5 steps of Read, Meditate, Memorize, Journal, and Pray and do them together.
Let’s take a very familiar passage of Scripture – Psalm 23. And let’s apply what we have learned to this passage of Scripture. Then, use the principles you have learned today, in your own private time of devotions with the Lord.
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