There is nothing that replaces the hearing or reading of the Word of God. There are a number of important spiritual disciplines, all of which need to be part of our lives, but nothing has a greater impact than a daily encounter with the Bible. The temptations of our flesh are strong, and our own mind keeps trying to lead us astray, so without constant correction, without being confronted again and again by the way God thinks, we unconsciously drift back into unbelief, entertain temptation, and return to loving the world. Someone once said, “When we pray, we talk to God, but when we read the Word, He talks to us.” Though I admit the Bible isn’t the only way God talks to us, it is undoubtedly the most trustworthy way. When I try to hear God directly, my own thoughts can at times deceive me, but the plain truths and commands in the Bible never change, and are never wrong. Whenever I test the Bible by actually doing what it says, it always works.