Pictures and images are formed in our spirit by what you continually hear and see. It is of the utmost importance that you use the Word of God to paint the pictures in your heart.


Pictures and images are formed in our spirit by what you continually hear and see. It is of the utmost importance that you use the Word of God to paint the pictures in your heart. This is the primary reason for the instruction in Proverbs 4:20-21: "My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart."

Surround yourself with the Word of God. Let it saturate your entire being. God's Word is His integrity. He means exactly what He says. He has said you are righteous in His sight. Imagine yourself standing in His presence with confidence. He has said you are an able minister of the New Covenant. Get the picture clear in our heart of people responding to the Good News of Jesus as you minister to them.

Three things are mentioned in this scripture to show us how to attend to the Word.

1. Incline thine ear unto my sayings.
What a person hears will affect the way he sees things. If you listen to some religious tradition that says, "God will heal sometimes, but He doesn't heal everyone," that will affect how you view God's Word on healing. But when you continually hear, "Jesus healed them all," you can rest assured that healing is for you.

Jesus said it this way: "Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given" (Mark 4:24).

The way you measure out the Word of God in your own life is the way success in the Word will be measured to you. When you put 100 percent into the Word, you will get 100 percent results. Likewise, if you put 60 percent into the Word, you will get 60 percent results. If you put 30 percent into the Word, you will get 30 percent results. Choose the measure of results you desire, then get into the Word accordingly.

The people who are truly hearing the Word are doing what God has said, and Jesus said that those who hear would receive more. Once you hear the Word and act on it, you receive more revelation knowledge from the Lord.

2. Let them (God's words) not depart from thine eyes.
This does not mean reading your Bible 24-hours-a-day. That would be impossible and very impractical. But you can look into the Bible, see what God said He would do, and then view what is happening around you in the light of His Word.

In Luke 11:34 Jesus said, "The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light." To keep your body in the light, you have to keep your eyes full of light. The Word of God is light. Learn to see with the eyes of your spirit. Seeing things in line with God's Word will help you keep your body and the circumstances around you in line with the Word.

A powerful example of this principle is found in Genesis 13:14,15: "And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, 'Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to they see forever.'"

Abram had to see the land. God said, "Lift up now thine eyes." You must lift your spiritual eyes to "see" what God sees. God said that if Abram would see it, He would give him the land.

If you can see it, you can have it. If you can see health in your body, you can have it. If you can see prosperity in your life, you can have it. Whatever you can truly imagine on the inside can become a reality on the outside. If you cannot see it on the inside, you are hindered from ever experiencing it on the outside.

Abram had to see the land before he could have it. If he had only looked to the south, he would have received everything to the south. If you look into the Word and see everlasting life in heaven, you will only enjoy that portion of God's provision. If you never visualize yourself in health and prosperity, you will never have faith to receive it.

If you can see it, it is yours. Let the eyes of your spirit imagine the Word working in your life. God wants you above and not beneath, as the head and no the tail (Deut. 28:13). Let the Word of God perfect that image in your heart.

3. Keep them in the midst of thine heart.
The "heart" refers to the spirit man, which is recreated at the new birth. You must continue to feed the Word of God into your spirit. It is not a matter of eating just once. You must continue feeding the Word to maintain a healthy, well-balanced spiritual diet. You must keep it rolling over and over within your heart.

As one man has said, "Many people feed their bodies three hot meals a day, and their spirits once cold snack a week." It is not enough to feed your body once a week. It is likewise not sufficient to feed your spirit once in a while. Your entire man needs food every day. Keep yourself proficient in the Word, putting it into practice in your daily life. Practice will make you perfect.

In Joshua 14:7-8 Caleb describes the key to his success in entering the land God promised Israel: "Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart. Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the Lord my God."

Because God has said that the land belonged to Israel, Caleb could visualize them living there. Notice that the report he gave was what was alive in his heart. God's Word was alive in him.

However, the evil report came back also. These men had seen the same land, but they were not considering what God had spoken. The evil report made the heart of the people melt. Your ears and eyes are the gateways to your heart. This is why we are told in Proverbs 4:23, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."

God's life power flows out of your heart. You must protect your heart from input that is contrary to the Word of God. Caleb protected his heart when their report came. He kept the Word alive within him and later enjoyed the fruit of his faith.

These three areas - the ears, the eyes, and the heart - work together toward the goal of expanding the hope of the believer. When hope is expanded, it gives a greater capacity for faith.

Source: How to Meditate God's Word by Dennis Burke
Excerpt permission granted by Dennis Burke Ministries