Learning to Love (Psalm 119:33-48)

One lesson you can’t learn fully on your own is how to love.  Love is an inclusive activity; it involves you AND someone else.  It’s simply impossible to love yourself enough to learn what true love is. 

Psalm 119:33-48 stresses God as the primary cause and power behind our prayers as well as the inclusive "and":  me and you, us and them, God and me.  It ends with an emphasis on God's love as our primary motive in studying his word. 

If you are getting started in a relationship with God, trying to have a quiet time or seeking guidance at this point in your life, you're in the right place.

Spend your first fifteen minutes of the day listening to God and responding in a personal way.  This podcast will show you how and teach you in an easy to follow process.

In fifteen minutes (or less) you will listen to God's word for you, reflect on it and learn to pray to God as well as carry that word with you through the rest of your day.  What a perfect way to get started!

We are listening to the longest psalm of the Bible: Psalm 119.  We're listening to one or two stanzas at a time, and we've seen that this psalm is written as an acrostic in Hebrew, where the lines begin with the letters of the alphabet in order. This episode features the fifth and sixth stanzas (he and waw). 

God is the source or cause behind our prayers, and our ultimate longing for him and his word is expressed through love (vv. 47-48).  The "and" is crucial here; we can't learn what true love is alone or in isolation.  It takes a relationship or a community to experience true love.   God is good for his promises, and his love is an expression of his faithfulness and fierce loyalty. 

I invite you to write out one stanza (8 verses) of Psalm 119 each day until you finish it.  Writing out scripture is one way to meditate on it and make it stick.  After you've written out the stanza for the day, pick one verse from that section to meditate on throughout the day.  For today's reading, I recommend either v. 33, 35, 47 or 48.   

If you want to get more daily encouragement you can follow me on Twitter @WordofPrayer15.  Go ahead and get started listening and follow/subscribe to this podcast to hear more from God's word.   You can also find us on Facebook at Word of Prayer 15.

As we progress in season three get a copy of the book God Help Me Grow: Learning to Pray through the Psalms on Amazon (or the ebook) so you can pray all of the first 30 psalms in the book of Psalms.

You can download the helpsheet that details and demonstrates the four step process we use on First Fifteen using Psalm 1.

Additional resources at the Word of Prayer website https://word-of-prayer.com