How many times have you been like me in swinging by a fast food place to pick up a couple of burgers to eat on the go from one place to another, absentmindedly wolfing down the food to get a little nourishment in the system? That approach is not unlike our daily feeding from the Word of God. We do it because we're supposed to, knowing it's good for us. But how much nourishment do we receive from that spiritual food when we eat it on the go, barely tasting it, or with our engine impatiently idling?

In 2 Timothy 2:1 Paul says this to his young charge, "You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus." Typically, our eyes skim that sentence, take it in to some degree, resonate with it a bit and move on. However, just what does it mean to be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ? How do we go about being strengthened by it? Is there a distinction to be made between the grace of Christ and the grace that is in Christ?

Then, almost as if reading our minds, Paul says a few verses later, "Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything" (2:7). If the questions raised by verse 1 made us tap the brakes, this call to think on makes us put it in park and turn off the engine. There is a command here not to just skim but to ruminate, with the enticement of the benefit of understanding from our Lord Himself.

What our God seems to be telling us here is that in order to receive greater benefit from our reading His Word, we need to be ready to ponder it. In expectation of our Lord Jesus granting understanding (including application), that pondering necessarily involves prayer in seeking and wrestling with Him over the truth He has set before us. In fact, we can say with conviction that prayer is the digestive juices by which we assimilate the milk and meat of God's Word for our spiritual nourishment and growth in grace.