G.K. Beale on the Importance of Scripture Memorization and Prayer

In this excerpt from our 2014 Fall Conference, G.K. Beale explains the importance of Scripture memorization and prayer in his daily devotions.

Transcript

What keeps me going in my daily devotions is Acts chapter 7. That's not my favorite book by the way. But in Acts 7 it says that Scripture is the living words or oracles of God. Well, if that's true and we come to any part of Scripture, we can expect and should believe that we're going to be transformed by living oracles. It's not a dead word, these are living oracles. And one of the things that has really helped my prayer life, because it's so filled with Scripture, is The Valley of Vision by Banner of Truth.

If you do not own a copy of The Valley of Vision, let me know, and I'll give you a nickel towards the purchase of it. And if you need more, let me know. But really, I pray through those, I pray through one of those every day. They are marvelous, they're the prayers of the Puritans. And also, to turn Scripture into prayer in your devotions. Personalize it. One thing I've done—it's funny you should mention Psalm 51—I've memorized most of Psalm 51, and I began to realize not just when I'm reading should I turn it into prayer but it would be nice when I'm traveling or whatever and I don't have a Bible before me to have it in my mind. It's hard for me to memorize quite frankly, but you can do it. Even if you are not a good memorizer. And so to pray through those words and to turn them into prayer. A lot of times it doesn't take that much to turn Psalm 51 into prayer because it is a prayer.