Knowing the statistics on Scripture access, it’s easy to view the world’s people as split in two: those who have the Bible and those who don’t have even a single verse.

If you’re reading this, you are blessed with a rich heritage of English-speaking men and women who have pored over the pages of God’s Word for centuries. And yet I wonder: Are we really all that different from people who don’t have a single Scripture verse in their own language?

What do you mean? you ask.

Savoring Living Water: How to Have an Effective Quiet Time

Well, when I read Katie Orr and Lara Williams’ newly released book Savoring Living Water: How to Have an Effective Quiet Time, I realized one way that people with or without Scripture access are much the same.

In the opening chapter, Katie and Lara invite us to meditate on this verse from the prophet Jeremiah:

“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.” -Jeremiah 2:13, ESV

Reflecting on this verse, they write: “I dig cracked, stagnant cisterns that cannot hold water. With hopes of quenching my thirst, I look to people and circumstances for abundance and joy. Yet whatever they bring leaks from the hole in my heart. The hole only God can fill. Yet He patiently draws us to Himself.”

So true, I thought. It’s as though at times I myself live as someone without God’s Word – and perhaps you can relate.

They write: “We thirst. We know that nothing in this physical world quenches the soul-longing. We want to drink of His living water. But the sixty-six books in this Bible intimidate with their revelation. Yet He intends His Word to be our oasis. So we need a plan.”

A plan on how to savor God’s Word

Katie and Lara uniquely address this need for a plan in Savoring Living Water. When they started writing the book, they had one goal: teaching women how to have an effective time in God’s Word.

Lara explains, “I was the rebellious preacher kid, but God graciously redeemed my life. And one way He drew me back was through the book of Hebrews. From it He spoke so intimately.”

Knowing in a real way the power of God’s Word, she continues, “Throughout His Word, the Lord makes promise after promise of abundant life in Him, yet so many of us live defeated lives – lacking passion and power. My heart beats to stir up revival in the hearts of my fellow sisters and brothers. That we would learn how to apply His truths to the moments of our everyday lives.”

Katie was a missionary with Campus Crusade for Christ for seven years before her family sensed God’s calling to serve the local church ministry. She says, “My heart beats to equip believers with what they need to walk with the Lord for a lifetime. That was my favorite part of ministry on staff with Crusade, giving students the tools they needed to experience God through His Word. I’ve carried on this same ministry to those in the church. God has built me to teach and equip. I love to teach God’s Word, but I love it more when I see lives transformed as a result of being in the Bible on their own!”

With their rich perspectives and wonderfully clear writing, you will discover through the pages of Savoring Living Water:

• A practical how-to method for studying the Bible on your own
• Tips on connecting with God in a meaningful way through journaling and Scripture memory
• Ways to deal with the distractions that inevitably arise during a quiet time
• How to apply God’s Word to the moments of daily living
• …and much more.

“A strange, humbling paradox”

While Katie and Lara were drafting Savoring Living Water, God opened their eyes to a “strange, humbling paradox.” After watching a short video of the Kimyal New Testament dedication in Papua, Indonesia, Lara shares: “I thought about how we were writing this book to serve as a tool for our fellow sisters and brothers. And how nearly every single person who would read our book probably has numerous Bibles in various versions stacked neatly on their bookshelves — just like me.

“Yet there are hundreds of millions of people in our world who have never even read a single verse of Scripture in their own language. That reality made me physically nauseous.”

A crazy, big goal

Now, teaming up with OneVerse, Lara and Katie have set a Crazy, Big Goal to sponsor the translation of the entire book of Philippians — all 104 verses – in the Vidunda language of East Africa! They will do it by directing two dollars from the sale of every copy to the Vidunda translation project.

Won’t you join them? Together we can make a difference.

Click here to purchase a copy of Savoring Living Water: How to Have an Effective Quiet Time.

So let’s turn from the broken cisterns and drink from “the fountain of living waters” (Jer. 2:13). And at the same time, let’s invite the Vidunda people to savor with us – for the first time – God’s living water.