I don’t know about you but I can tend to be an extremist. When I find a hobby I like I go to the extreme in that hobby and pursue only that hobby leaving my previous hobbies left to mourn my absence. When it comes to my times with God I have found the same to be true. I go through seasons where I am very Word focused and all of my time is spent reading the Word and times where I am prayer focused and all of my time is spent in prayer and recently God has been showing me that a balance is necessary.
Picture with me if you will that you are walking down a road. This road represents your spiritual journey. The easiest and quickest route is in the middle of the road. This is because it is the healthiest place for you to be. On either side of the road are two ditches. One ditch is the Word the other is prayer. (I cannot believe I am referring to the Word and prayer as a ditch, but go with me). It is extremely easy to find yourself only focusing on one and ending up in a ditch. While it may be the best ditch you’ve ever been in it still slows you down spiritually and creates an unbalanced spiritual diet.
In John 7:37-39 Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the Water we drink when we find ourselves thirsting. The Holy Spirit is the water. Psalms 16:11 says that in God’s presence is fullness of Joy and Nehemiah 8:10 says the joy of the Lord is our strength. This means when we are weak we get into God’s presence, drink of the water, and get filled with joy and that joy becomes strength to us.
In John 6:35 and 48 Jesus says that He is the bread of life. Earlier in the book of John in the first chapter it says that Jesus is the word in flesh. Matthew 4:4 tells us not to live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (the Bible). All this tells us that the Word is our bread. When we read the word we stand in authority. Jesus used the Word to repel the devils temptation. When we read the Word we also receive faith Romans 10:17.
What does all this mean? Our natural bodies need both bread (food) and water to survive. If we only drink water we will become weak and eventually die and if we only eat bread the same fate awaits us. Spiritually if we only read the bible and leave no time for prayer or vice versa we will become spiritually weak and struggle to survive spiritually. Reading only the Word and not taking the time to pray leaves you in a thirsty place with little or no joy and grace. Praying only and not reading the Word leaves you in a place with little or no faith and authority. We need both. If you find yourself in a place lacking strength, joy, authority, faith, grace, evaluate your water and bread intake, get in the middle of the road and run faster than you’ve ever run before.
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