There is a prayer that I pray every morning before I read the Bible. I call it IOUS. And it goes likes this:

I – Incline my mind to know your thoughts.

O – Open my eyes to see your glory.

U – Unite my heart to yours.

S – Satisfy my soul that I may not sin against you.

I learned this from Pastor John Piper. But it’s also very biblical. I found almost exactly the same prayer in Psalm 19.

“7 The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple (Incline my mind)

8b the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes (Open my eyes)

8a the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart (Unite my heart to yours)

10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold (Satisfy my soul)

After I pray this, i proceed to open my Bible, following the daily reading plan… It is remarkable how often God speaks to me about my current circumstance or soon to be current circumstance. Often, the word is more for the one who I am to meet up with that day than for me. But either way, God honors my prayer and speaks to me. And it is exactly what I needed at the time.

Our God is a personal God. He speaks to us as individuals personally. And the primary way God speaks to us is not through nature, our favorite pastor, a devotional, or inspiring post on tweeter, but through His word, the Bible.

Try this in the morning. Pray the above prayer. Then, open your Bible and let God answer your prayers…

PH