Back in January I wrote about discovering that the “Big Three” of “attend, abide, abound” were really my most important daily tasks. Without first attending to God and His word, I end up “gravel-scrabbling” all day: without a deliberate, regular effort to put down deeper roots and draw consistent nourishment from the Source, the end result is scarcity and depletion rather than abundant fruit. And fruit isn’t the same as productivity! It develops slowly and seasonally.
In short, I found that, as a trellis or framework for the day, “attend/abide/abound” helped me remember to “set my mind on things above.” I started by writing those as my Big Three tasks daily, as a reminder and a habit. I took them with me to work. And I kept reading the Daily Office passages, starting with the morning Psalm, and noticing interconnections with the other readings and the “spontaneous” thoughts God brings to mind.
But here’s another thing I’ve learned about “attend/abide/abound” over the past several months. It turns out, for me at least, that “attend/abide/abound” is a useful framework for interacting with Scripture reading as well. As I read I can consider:
Attend: what is the passage saying? (And what is the Spirit prompting me to hear? do other passages come to mind, and why? How is He attending to me?)
Abide: dwell in the Word, dwell on it, listen some more. (What does the passage say about abiding, about being rooted in Him? What am I hearing about His never abandoning us?)'
Abound: praise and thanks — “the sacrifice of thanksgiving” - may naturally follow. (Or just being reminded of His abundance, His desire to provide, in the same space as whatever laments I’ve brought.)
Writing in a journaling Bible and in a planner/trellis over the past several years has helped me “know and be known” because words and ideas turn out to be the way I interact with reality. (And God is reality! Jesus is the Truth!) It has taken decades, but I finally did realize that I could ask the Lord for help in getting to know Him, and could gradually let Him cast out the fear of writing something “wrong” or offensive!
So I offer the idea in case you need permission as well. It certainly would work to use a single blank book or journal, but there’s something about directly, physically interacting with the journaling Bible that, for me, helps build relationship with the living Word as I listen to the Spirit. And having the Daily Office readings in a liturgical planner gives me a structured starting point, as well as the gift of knowing there is a larger community reading and praying in the same passages each day.
But regardless of how or where you start — just start. Ask Him to help you attend to Him as He attends to you; to teach you to abide as He abides with you; to teach you to trust in and share HIs abundant provision as He shares it with you.
In the end, prayer isn’t just reciting a list of requests to God- He already knows our needs! And Bible reading isn’t like reading a textbook. We have the amazing opportunity to attend to God’s voice; to abide in the loving Presence of our Father, to receive and share His abundant love in Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Thanks be to God!
