Did you know that IFA sponsors a Bible Read-a-thon?

Jeremiah 15:16 ‘Your words were found, and I ate them; and Your words became a joy to me and the delight of my heart; for I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.’ (Amplified Classic)

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Have you taken your place on the wall?

The 2^nd grade reading award for ‘reading out loud with most expression,’ is going to…..’ Me?!

The looks on other kids faces said, ’huh?? her??’  Even by 7 years old, the reputation had begun, ‘she never says anything…’what’s the matter with her, why doesn’t she speak?’. See, I almost never talked at school, but with that book in my hands, a heart-and-mouth force was unleashed.

That’s just one example showing how God can prepare you from any moment in your life, to strengthen you, for another moment at an unexpected time.  That moment for me in 2^nd grade, more than a half century ago has blessed me in a unique way, rekindled in November 2020 when I started reading with the IFA’s Bible Read-A-thon over America!

November 2020, I turned on Intercessory Prayer time with IFA, on YouTube.  I don’t remember how I got to them. Someone came on talking about reading the Bible out loud.  Their internet cut out, so the information was brief. But I knew I must do this. Do what?  I don’t even know what she said.  I saw Kris Kubal talking to someone named Karen. That’s about it. I returned later, listened to decipher what this thing was.  That afternoon I used the teeny, tiny bit of necessary information, to go online, sign up, get a phone number, a checklist of what to do.  Do what?  Really, I wasn’t sure what I was doing.  Something about reading the Bible out loud and pray for our country and leaders, that’s all I heard and it was enough for me to draw a faith line in the sand, step over and keep going every day since.

Sure, I’ve read the Bible, sometimes regularly, mostly not. I’ve worked in education and health care for decades.  I know a couple of other languages besides English, studied Latin, Greek, some Hebrew.  History and Geography are some of my favorite subjects.  I value the power of voice in stories still long after that reading with expression award.

But that’s not what I was here for. I was hungry, I needed that medicine for all my health, all my life and in big doses.

Something very special grew in this unexpected garden of Biblical verse. Everyone who signs up to read has testified to this in some way or another.  The amount of time of reading isn’t the point.  It’s reading this Bible, OUT LOUD.  Those capital letters are to emphasize the power in this action.  Like CS Lewis title, ‘Surprised by Joy,’ that’s the continual thread of awakening I and others received during this Bible Read-A-Thon Over America!.

Sure, you can get great resources for Bible study, a myriad of translations, devotionals, apps, videos, audios, just for yourself, family or with your church. All great.  Others I’ve chatted with during the past year and a half of this Bible Read-A-Thon say they get great benefit from weaving these different approaches together. Along with reading OUT LOUD.

Why? Why read the Bible out loud?  Why sign up, call in to a dedicated phone line and read out loud, the Bible?  Why read the Bible out loud with a total stranger?  Why go back and log what you read on a dedicated online signup?  Why follow the tag team sequence reading from Genesis through Revelation, over and over and over? Why is there a calendar for 24 hours a day, every day of the month? Why non-stop?

Because…..here’s some of why:

It’s now May 2022 and thanks to IFA’s sponsorship of what I found out is called, ‘The Bible Read-A-Thon over America!’ I have been reading OUT LOUD the sacred, alive, exciting, holy Word of God, Holy Spirit filled words we call the Bible- every day.   Yes, every day anywhere from 1 hour to 6 hours.  In the height of the election cycles and the inauguration, well into the pandemic restrictions affecting our nation those 6 hours more than ever became a prayer offering.  And a blessing.  Both ways, coming to give God’s mighty power of the Holy Bible out as a prayer and having it returned to me in wonderous ways spiritually, mentally, physically, I would never have predicted.

As I slowly came to see the importance of the Bible’s model of honoring timelines and days of remembrance, here’s some of what’s grown: from the seeds of reading, have grown roots of online fellowship, then shoots of prayer, shoots of praise and song, special days of 24-hour challenges to spur Christians to read again; prayer vigils during the tumultuous times of the past 18 months in the US and globally. Now for the FRUITS: For myself and others… just ask them, they’ll gleefully tell you all they’re understanding, doing, opening up to in their walk with the Lord.  I’ve read through numerous translations, I’ve read the Bible in English, French and Spanish.  I’ve interviewed and written testimonies for other readers from all around America.  And, done their portraits.

Thanks to IFA and the miracle of this sacred book, growing in prayerfully listening for the Holy Spirit in these words I read out loud, other outer steps became clear to me: I’m more committed to be involved in knowing and living Biblical Citizenship and also completed a certification as a Biblical Counselor.

This is awkward for me to talk about myself, but I want to shout the power of this Holy Book to heal, tear down strongholds, build up faith, release prayer and praise with all glory to God.  There’s practical application: I live in a ‘not always so nice’ part of New York City. With the pandemic of 2020-21 and as neighborhoods were coming apart at the seams, I might get up in the night, sign up to read and then walk the building binding the enemy’s efforts of destruction in the all –night street activity: the drugs, noise, violence. In the name of Jesus, Jesus you are Lord over our hearts and homes.    It didn’t change immediately. Then I took it to the streets.  The police officers at the precinct roll their eyes to see me coming. ‘Not her, again’.  Unlike 2^nd grade, now I talk.  I showed them all the printouts of documents I’ve filed at various city departments detailing the danger of the neighborhood, my apartment vandalized, verbal threats against me for reporting these things.  They would say they know.  I would persist, in my heart praying for Holy Spirit to speak through me, touch them in some way please. In my backpack on the top of the file folders … always a Bible.

What’s happened here, with the IFA’s Bible Read-A-Thon over America! across the United States across the miles and hours is a sweet fragrant offering of God’s sacred Word for such a time as this.

This is the body of Christ doing what the Bible Read-A-Thon form says, ‘SUBMIT and sign up’.  This is the body of Christ working together, helping each other when the phone or computer is in a glitch.  This is the body of Christ awake in Bible revival.  This is the Body of Christ nourished by His Word, going forth as ambassadors. This is the body of Christ receiving Him more deeply, personally and corporately   in body, soul and spirit.

What did you think of this article? Share your thoughts and prayers in the comments!

(From Melanie Schmich, IFA Intercessor. Photo Credit: Canva)