I remember sitting at an FCA Camp in Marshall, Ind., when I was in high school, believing that I could conquer anything. Over the last several years, I’ve grown to miss that feeling. After a period of spiritual dryness, I have started once again to look for ways to build my faith. I started to read the Bible more and am doing devotions to help me grow closer to God.

Through the help of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word, I came up with a simple method called “SUN UP.” It stands for Scripture Understanding Navigate Under Prayer.

Scripture – The Bible is our foundation and our nutrition for a healthy life. Each day, we should look for Scripture that allows us to see God’s willingness to help us and to grow us to become more like Christ. The Bible is the foundation that we need to make decisions and to live our life to the fullest. Yes, He is always there for us, but we need to read His Word in order to understand His character and what He is asking us to do.

Understanding – Reading Scripture is great, but if we don’t understand what it is trying to tell us, we can’t apply it to our lives. More than just reading, we should take time to meditate on the verses and let the words become part of who we are. Personally, I think understanding the Bible is one of the best parts about becoming a Christian. It is so powerful for us to apply what God is saying to us and to listen to Him.

Navigate – This is my favorite part of SUN UP: being able to take the Word of God and apply it to our lives—to navigate our minds and hearts to conquer the storms that arise and to see God’s blessings and believe what He is trying to tell us. We must take His Word and navigate our lives through the journeys that He has in front of us.

Under Prayer – Now that we read and understand Scripture, it is time to pray for His Word to become part of our lives and to let God show us the purpose of the reading.

Today, consider just how much you are seeking the Lord and taking in His Word. Take time to read and understand the Scriptures for yourself and watch the spiritual transformation take place!