Benefits of Reading The Word

Some people say that the Bible 
is boring. Some say that they 
cannot understand it. A few others 
started the year planning to complete 
the Bible in one year but have 
since fallen off track. I also used 
to think that the Bible was 
super boring. I understood some parts 
and other parts appeared to be 
written in an unknown language. 
I did not delight in reading
the Word of God kan kan 
(at all, at all)

All this changed when I listened 
to Rabbi, @GbengaWemimo teach 
on the word of God sometime in early 
2020. He encouraged us to read 
the book of John out loud, at least 
5 times. I wondered why there was 
an emphasis on reading the word 
of God out loud.

Why couldn’t we just read it 
like we would read our textbooks 
or novels? He referred to Joshua 
1:8 “This Book of the Law shall not 
depart from your mouth, but you 
shall read [and meditate on] it 
day and night, so that you 
may be careful to do [everything] 
In accordance with all that is 
written in it; for then you 
will make your way prosperous, 
and then you will be successful.”

I learned that when we read 
the word of God out loud, 
that we use our eyes to see 
the word, we speak it out 
with our mouths and we listen 
to it with our ears. Three senses 
are involved in taking in the 
word of God. Also our environment 
hears the word of God and 
it comes alive when we read 
the word of God out loud.
I was like “so you mean 
the word of God was meant 
to be read out loud?”. 

Wow! 
I had never seen Joshua 1:8 in 
that light. So I decided to practice 
what I had been taught. 
I remember reading Ezekiel chapters 
1 and 10 out loud. To be honest, 
I didn’t fully understand what I was 
reading but after about 15-20 minutes, 
I noticed a change in my atmosphere. 
I felt like a power surge in the room 
and goosebumps broke out on my skin. 
The hair on the back of my neck 
stood up. I could feel the 
presence of God so mightily 
in the room. It was an 
awesome experience. 
This experience encouraged me to start 
reading the book of John out loud. 
My God!! 
Apostle John made Jesus so real 
and so powerful in the book of John.

I started to enjoy reading the 
word of God. It tasted like honey. 
So so sweet. I started thinking 
about the word of God all the time. 
Everything else was a distraction. 
I was always talking about what 
I had read to everyone around me.
The book of John also opened up the 
supernatural to me.

I took it a step further after 
my bestie @sicamoore told me of 
how she used her imagination whilst 
reading the word of God, and I 
started to imagine myself, going about 
with Jesus and the disciples, I started 
to imagine myself performing the 
miracles Jesus performed. As I saw 
myself doing this in my imagination, 
I started to do it in the physical. 

The experience was and continues to 
be glorious. It makes the scriptures 
come alive for me. Now, when 
I read the word of God, I ask 
the Holy Spirit to help me understand 
what I am reading. Since I started 
doing this, I have noticed that 
I have a better understanding of 
the word of God.

The Holy Spirit opens my eyes 
to see hidden truths in the scriptures.
The word of God guides me when 
I need to know what steps to take. 
When I need to respond to questions, 
the Holy Spirit reminds me of a verse 
that answers the questions perfectly. 
I can use particular scripture to 
enforce healing and break the hold 
of the enemy over a situation.
So, let’s start reading the word 
of God out loud if we haven’t 
been doing this.

Should we start a “Read The 
Book of John Out Loud 5 times Challenge”, 
where we would read 
out loud the book of John at 
least 5 times and then come back 
and share our experiences on Twitter?

Hebrews 4:12 NIV
“For the word of God is alive and active. 
Sharper than any double-edged sword, it 
penetrates even to dividing soul and 
spirit, joints and marrow; it judges 
the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

#ReadingthewordofGod 
#ReadTheBookofJohnOutLoud5TimesChallenge

- Olufunto Phillips