It has pleased the Lord to teach me the truth that the first great and ordinary business to which I ought to attend every day is to have my soul happy in the Lord. If I am not happy in the Lord and not being nourished and strengthened in my inner man day by day, the things I do to serve the Lord might not be done in the right spirit. I have begun therefore to meditate on the Scriptures early each morning, not for the sake of the public ministry of the Word, but for my own soul. I often find, however, that the Lord is pleased to use that which He has communicated to me to minister to other believers at a later time. This occurs even though my meditation was not for the sake of public ministry of the Word, but for the profit of my inner man.

It often now astonishes me that I did not sooner see this point. In no book did I ever read about it. No public ministry ever brought the matter before me. No private discussion with a fellow believer stirred me up to this matter. And yet, now, since God has taught me this point, it is as plain to me as anything that the first thing the child of God has to do is to obtain food for his inner man.

What is the food for the inner man? Not prayer, but the Word of God. It is not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe; rather, it is considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts. What a difference it makes in service, decisions, and the trials of life for the soul to be refreshed and happy in the Lord.