Engaging with The Word
Date: 29th March, 2026.
Preacher: Pastor Akin Kunlipe
In this Year of Perfection, our focus throughout March was God’s Perfect Word. This journey revealed that while the world’s knowledge often pursues missing variables and fleeting trivialities with no lasting sustenance, the Word of God delivers a precise, life-transforming understanding that leads to spiritual prosperity. To bring our lives into total harmony with the Word, we must move beyond casual interest and embrace these four disciplines: reading, meditating and memorizing, praying, and doing the Word.
Reading for Divine Knowledge
The foundation of a relationship with God begins with reading His Word to gain a precise understanding of His character. Drawing from 2 Peter 1:2–3, we know that grace and peace are multiplied through the “full, personal, precise, and correct knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” This reading is not academic; as highlighted in Colossians 1:9–10, spiritual wisdom and complete knowledge of God’s will lead to a life that honours and pleases Him. Just as kings in Deuteronomy 17:18–20 were once commanded to keep a copy of the law and read it all their days to revere the Lord, believers today read to grow progressively in their relationship with God.
Meditation and Memorisation of the Word of God
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Reading alone is insufficient; the Word must be stored within the heart to be drawn upon when needed. Following the instruction in Psalm 119:11, the Word is hidden in the heart to guard against sin. This process of meditation is likened to Joshua 1:8, where studying the book of instruction day and night is the only way to ensure good success. Meditation involves taking a single verse and ruminating on it. By letting the “word of Christ dwell in you richly,” as commanded in Colossians 3:16, believers build a spiritual deposit that allows them to face trials with the same authority Jesus used in Matthew 4:10 when He commanded Satan to be gone.
The stored Word acts as a weapon for every situation. When battling lust, the heart can pull from Matthew 5:28 to remember that purity begins in the mind, or double down with the promise in Matthew 5:8 that the pure in heart shall see God. In moments of discouragement where it seems nothing is working, the memory can recall Isaiah 64:4, which reveals that God works for those who wait for him. Furthermore, when battling illness, one can bring out the sword of 3 John 1:2, praying for health and prosperity even as the soul prospers. These deposits allow the believer to answer the enemy’s persistence with the same authority Christ demonstrated.
Praying the Word of God
Praying the Word is speaking the mind of God over life’s circumstances. This is the essence of true prophecy, speaking as an oracle of God rather than just identifying personal details. As seen in Ezekiel 37:4–5, when Ezekiel was commanded to prophesy to the dry bones, he told them to “hear the Word of the Lord” and declared that breath would enter them so they might live. This illustrates that to prophesy is to pray the mind of God, a mind found exclusively in His Word.
This type of prayer is rooted in the confidence of 1 John 5:14–15, which promises that if anything is asked according to His will, He hears and grants the petition. Whether praying for provision through Philippians 4:19, seeking comfort through Psalm 80:1, or laying hold of the promise in 2 Peter 1:3 that all things pertaining to life and godliness have been given, praying the Word ensures that every request is aligned with divine intent.
Obedience: Doing the Word
The final and most critical step is becoming a doer of the Word. As warned in James 1:21–25, listening to God’s Word without obeying it is like looking in a mirror and immediately forgetting your own face. The blessing is not found in the hearing, but in the doing of the “perfect law that sets you free.” Obedience demonstrates that the Word has truly taken root and has the power to save the soul. We must recognize that we dishonour God if we do not do what the Word says, because God reveals Himself to us in His Word.
