They shall still bear fruit in old age;
They shall be fresh and flourishing,
Psalm 92:14
Sometimes we need a few fresh ideas to reset our spiritual life. A new spiritual practice or discipline can add a little zest to a familiar routine. Who doesn’t need a fresh word from the Lord? In our verse above the word fresh, dashan in Hebrew, means “stalwart, flourishing, rich.” Below are a few fresh ideas to reset your spirit and to flourish.
A fresh read
Lately I have been impressed by the value of rereading familiar books of the Bible. Recently I was doing Bible study with a dear friend. We were reading in 1 Kings about Elijah and the widow’s jar of oil, a section of Scripture we’ve both read many times. However, this time we both noticed important details that had previously escaped our attention. Like the fact that God used a foreign widow to bless Elijah (weren’t there any widows in Israel for God to use?) and that the widow had so little to give yet God abundantly used her gift. How had we missed these details before? Never underestimate the power of rereading God’s Word. Refresh your faith by rereading a familiar portion of scripture.
A fresh prayer
Prayer is an important part of every Christian’s life and definitely helps to refresh your spirit. I especially love the practice of combining prayer and Scripture. But lately I feel like my prayer routine is becoming a little, well, routine.
The other day I was scrolling through my Facebook news feed and an ad for Pray a Word a Day caught my eye. I was intrigued by the title, so I searched for the book and perused a short sample. I was hooked. Basically this daily devo has a theme word for each day, which you pray for yourself and loved ones. I keep this prayer book open on my night stand so I can see it as I go about my activities. Several times a day I pray for myself and others. If there is not a scripture included for the theme word, I simply write one on that page. I love this fresh prayer practice.
A fresh Bible study practice
Last week my sister told me about a fresh practice she is adding to her Bible study discipline. “I want the lessons from this Habakkuk study to really stick” she said, “so I’m going to go through each week of the study, write the main points I learned on a piece of paper and clip it to the front of my study book. Then I’m going to review what I learned when ever I come across this book.” Genius! What a great way to sink biblical truths heart deep.
How about you? Can you share an idea or two about how to refresh your spirit this month? We’d love to hear it! To see our body and soul posts related to our Fresh theme for the month of July, find them here: Fresh Food and Fresh Thoughts: Don’t Spiral Into Toxic Thinking.
