PRESSing In

Last week I shared that Barry and I are spending time in God's Word and praying several nights a week. It's been a tremendous blessing to spend this time with Barry, and we find our study spilling into our conversations during the day more and more. On one Sunday recently, I leaned over during the sermon and said, "This ties right into our study of Romans!" Barry replied, "I think EVERYTHING ties into Romans." So true!!

I wanted to share the simple format that we learned for our study time at Festivals of Marriage, a retreat sponsored by Lifeway. PRESS is the acronym that is used.

Pray-We start with a short prayer and ask God to settle our hearts and minds. We ask Him to
speak to us personally through His Word.

Read-One of us reads a short passage out loud. We usually stick to about 5-7 verses so that
we can focus on one or two clear truths.

Express-We talk about what the verses say to us. Stephani (the facilitator) shared that she
usually waits for her husband to go first. That's been a valuable tip for me. Girls, I probably
love to talk more than any of you, and I definitely love to talk more than Barry. I'm learning
so much about Barry's heart by waiting to hear from him first. It's worth it to wait to hear
what God is speaking to me through Him!

Study-Here we use a commentary to learn more about the verses. We've got quite a few
commentaries at home that have been given as gifts, but Crosswalk.com is also an
invaluable resource for study. We love to use their commentaries in their Bible study section
as well as reading different translations that you can set up in parallel on the site. It's
enlightening to see what is revealed in various translations as well as reading the thoughts
of scholars and lovers of the Word.

Seek-We end with prayer. We ask God to help us live out what we've learned and to reveal
places of sin that require repentance. We pray for our family and needs that have arisen
throughout the day.

This simple method is helping us to become consistent. That's our main goal right now, because that's where we've fallen short in the past. I know we'll grow in other ways as we persevere. I love to envision us with gray hair sitting in recliners side by side with our Bibles on our laps and prayer on our lips. In those days we'll have lots of leisurely time for prayer and study, but I believe our short times together now are building a foundation for the days to come.