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Pete Greig is a best-selling author, church pastor and bewildered instigator of the 24-7 Prayer movement. He hosts the popular Lectio 365 daily devotional and his publications include Red Moon Rising, God on Mute, and How to Pray. He is married to Sammy and they have two adult sons. Here he tells us why the Bible is so important to him.

 

How did you become a Christian?

I renounced the faith of my childhood in my late teens, but came back to it as an adult through Jackie Pullinger. I had the privilege of being in Hong Kong serving with her ministry among heroin addicts and the poor. That was when I realised not just that this Jesus thing is true, but also that he demands everything of me.

Image of a verse from the book of Isaiah in the Bible
As you’d renounced your faith why did you go to Jackie’s ministry?

I was trying hard to be an atheist but then, one day, sifting through some Christmas cards, I saw one with a Bible verse on it: ‘Your light will shine when you spend yourself on behalf of the poor and satisfy the needs of the oppressed.’ (Isaiah 58) It knocked the wind out of me. In that moment, I just knew God was speaking to me.

I didn’t know what to do, but someone told me to get the next flight to Hong Kong, so I did. In many ways, it was the defining moment of my life.

What difference does the Bible make to you?

Scripture is the primary way in which God speaks to me. The Bible isn’t just how I know about God, it’s how I know God. It’s conversational as well as informational and educational. So I’m trying to learn to use the Scriptures as God’s part of the conversation we call prayer.

Do you have a favourite part of the Bible?

I have parts of the Bible I turn to again and again, particularly the Psalms, because all of life is there – both joy and lament. It’s extraordinary to have access to the actual hymn book of Jesus, much of it written by King David himself.

Apart from Isaiah 58, do you have any other key passages?

Psalm 91. My wife Sammy was facing brain surgery for a large tumour, and we didn’t know if she would survive. The first time she went into the MRI scanner she was so frightened she was sick over this multimillion-pound machine.

Image of two verses from Psalm 91 in the Bible

But before her second scan, she memorised Psalm 91 and meditated on it for the entire half-hour she lay in the tube. When she came out she said, ‘I experienced the presence of God in there with me.’

This is the good news of the gospel and the wonder of Scripture – we can know the presence of God wherever we go and whatever life throws at us.

Prayer is key to your ministries. What role does the Bible play in this?

In recent years we’ve discovered the power of Lectio Divina – not just reading the Bible, but learning to truly pray the Bible. Lectio Divina is an ancient practice meaning ‘holy reading’ – encouraging us to read a few Scripture verses slowly and go deep. It’s about using our imaginations and rediscovering the power of meditating on Scripture – not just studying it.

Image of a quote from Sammy Greig on meditating on Psalm 91 in the Bible

The devotional app Lectio 365 that we launched a few years ago to help people do this, three times a day, now has 350,000 regular users in various languages.

George Gallup described the Bible as the ‘best-selling, least read book in America’. One of our biggest challenges is bringing the Scriptures to life for a whole new generation in the Western world.

So they know about God, the truth of God – but also they know God. So they learn how to pray the Scriptures, to hear him in the Scriptures, and shape their lives around a truly biblical paradigm.

What is the importance of people having the Bible in their own languages?

I’m so grateful for the vital work Wycliffe does, translating the word of God into new languages.

Image of Pete Greig of 24/7 Prayer speaking in public

It’s essential to give people the Scriptures in the language of their hearts.

This is because it’s not just a textbook. The Bible is a Living Letter from the very heart of God addressed to the heart and soul of every single tribe and tongue.

We want them to be able to understand the Bible in the language they learned at their mother’s side, in which they dream, that uniquely expresses their own particular culture, questions and context.

Pray for Bible translation Read more
Resources to help you study and pray Read more

For more on praying for the work of Bible translation, please visit our Prayer pages.

You can find out more about 24/7 Prayer here.

You can discover more about the Lectio 365 app here.

Story by: Jeremy Weightman

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