The Bible says: examine yourself, and see if you're in faith. It says: contend for the faith.
There's a challenge of us, in Christian life, and it's not one thing that does it. It's a combination of these things. Firstly, read the word of God. Learn to listen to the word of God. Two ways you can listen; why don't you get CDs and just listen to them, people who don't read too well, it's a great way, get them in, just listen to them. Janice just listens to them for hours, and now she's finding she's having encounters with God off what she's listening to, and she can remember large amounts of things, because she just listens and listens and listens and listens for God to speak. Put a CD on when you're driving. Let the word of God just be playing while you're wandering around, driving around. Let the word of God come.
The other one you can listen to is yourself. Speak the word of God. Pray the word of God. Get the Bible and read out the word of God, give voice to the word of God, and listen to what you're saying. That starts to affect you. You are speaking it out for yourself.
Second thing is: read the word of God, but when you're reading it, read with expectation. Ask the Holy Ghost - the Bible's not an ordinary book. It's written by someone, written by the Holy Ghost! So what better than to have the author living inside me! Holy Ghost, stir yourself up in tongues.
As you get the Bible, open it up, and say: Holy Ghost, I need you to speak to me, draw my attention to something you want to talk to me about today. You start to read, keep yourself alive, stand up and read as you walk around. If you sit down too long looking, you get snoring - Have another cup of coffee and away I'll go again, you know? I just get tired if I sit down too long, just looking at something. Get it and start to pray: Holy Ghost, speak to me. Read it out loud.
Another thing you need to do is to meditate in the word of God. Now when you meditate in the word of God, all of your brain is active. Your whole heart engages with the word. When you're studying, only the left part of your brain is active. A lot of people will read it, and then will study it; but actually don't take time to reflect on it, and muse over it.
In Psalm 39:3, David says: as I mused, or meditated, the fire began to burn. Now to meditate takes a bit of time, and it takes a bit of discipline, because everything in you wants to get busy. It's: hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry; quick, tell me, give me the message now, quick. This kind of lifestyle is not a spiritual lifestyle.
You've actually got to find, and create, moments to slow down your whole inner being, so you can begin to ponder the word of God, and let it get into your heart; and the first area of difficulty you'll have in doing that is: your mind will race, your body will race.
You've got to just begin to bring them down, say: no, I love the word of God. God is speaking to me out of His word, and you begin to meditate. To meditate, just take it, and begin to imagine it; so read a story two or three times, or read a Verse if you're drawn to a Verse, start to ponder it, start to just go over it and over it. Then begin to ponder on the Verse, look at it and imagine it; see what it would be like, if it was true in your life. Allow your heart and mind and soul to welcome it, like a friend, into your life. Allow your imagination to begin to flow. Let the Holy Spirit quicken things.
I found with some of the stories, for example, as you meditate on them, and dwell on them for a while - they get a life of their own. They begin to talk with you; so meditate on them. What is God wanting me to do?