The “Read until…” Method

In the LK10 Community, we have a deep commitment to Jesus’ theology of the Holy Spirit.  One thing that Jesus taught about the Spirit was that “…He will guide you into all truth.”  (Jn 16:13).  And, one way that we put this into practice is by “reading until…”  That is, reading Scripture, other books, articles, etc. until the Spirit stops us.  And, then, asking Him what He wants to say to us about the place He stopped us.  I first learned this method of listening the the Spirit many years ago from a book by Evelyn Christenson.  She applied this practice primarily to reading Scripture.

Then, some years later, I heard Ralph Moore, founding pastor of Hope Chapels in Hawaii describe his process of making disciples.  I was struck by the remarkable simplicity of this method.  (So many discipleship “methods” are overwhelmingly complex!)  He said he would gather a group of people and then pick a book.  Sometimes this would be a book from the Bible, or a Christian book or even sometimes a secular book.  (Note:  While the Bible is certainly our primary “text”, the Lord can speak as we read other books as well.)  The assignment was to read a chapter in that book.  But, while reading, they were to listen to the Spirit and stop when He said stop.  Then, they ask the Spirit what He wanted to say about the word or idea or concept where He stopped them.

When the group got together, they would share what the Spirit had taught them that week.  Ralph said there were two things to notice about this method.  First, it helped everyone grow in their capacity to hear the Lord.  Second, because it was so simple, it was highly reproducible.   After a while, anyone in the group could gather their own group of people and do the same thing with them.  Over time, all the key issues of discipleship were dealt with in each group. The end result was an amazing ministry of generational disciple making which has resulted in over 1000 churches (traditional churches!) being planted.

I haven’t been able to find an article or video on Ralph’s method (if you have such a resource, please send it to me).  But, here’s a key quote from Evelyn’s book…

“I assigned a portion of Scripture, instructing them to “take this portion of Scripture, find any spot you want in this cabin, and read until God speaks to you.  Read only until He speaks.  Don’t read any more.  If you read on after He speaks, you’ll get confused, not knowing what you should pray about.  Then, ask God why He stopped you at that point, what needs changing in your life, and then what He wants you to do about it.  Be sure to listen as He gently brings answers to your mind.  God’s speaking to you in the Scriptures may be only a little nudge, or you may think some words are popping out in bold print… Through the years I have never ceased to be astounded at this process as I’ve led thousands to read until God speaks.”  Lord, Change Me!, p. 47, 48.

So, this is the “method” we will be using in Leader 101.  (Obviously, it’s not the method that is life changing.  The method is only valuable because it helps us hear the One who changes lives.)