Rhema!

Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him (I Sam. 3:7).

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God...and this is the word that was preached to you (I Peter 1:23).

Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you (James 1:21).

Before the "Word of the Lord" was ever written, it was always spoken.  That is, the "Word of the Lord" is, as Hebrews tells us, a "living and active" word, "sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow...." (Heb. 4:12).  St. James tells us that [God] chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created (I:18).   The Word of God is not merely a concept, an idea, an expression of meaning in an intellectual sense, but it lives and moves and delivers in the sense of bringing to birth.

The Greek of the New Testament actually uses two different words for what is translated into English as "Word" of the Lord.  The Logos is the Word, the Divine Expression or Manifestation from the beginning, as John tells; Rhema is the Word that is spoken to us, the Word that comes to us, or that comes alive in us.

Scripture tells us that the Word of the Lord stands forever (Is. 40:8).  It is outside of us, objectively alive apart from whether we know and recognize it or not.  It "comes;" it is fulfilled; it is creative; it rules history.  One time I looked up the meaning of "word" in the Hebrew and discovered that the "Word of the Lord" is the Proclamation of God, the Promise of God, the Purpose (Plan) of God, the Provision of God, the Providence of God, and the Power of God to accomplish all that it says.

The Word of the Lord (Logos) stands forever with us or without us; it does not need us to be true or to accomplish its purpose.  But each one of us, like Samuel, must eventually come into some kind of relationship with the Word of the Lord.  It must be revealed to us (Rhema) as living and true if we are, like Samuel, to "know" the Lord.  God reveals Himself by His impact on the life of individuals and on the history of His people.  His Truth (I am the Truth) is not a religious system of principles, but a way to be followed step by step.  God reveals Truth to us by revealing Himself.

God is a living Person.  It is not enough to study Scripture if it does not lead us to an encounter with the Living God, Who personally intervenes in our lives -- creating us, saving us, purifying us, lifting us up as He did throughout all of history.

From the beginning, when the Word of the Lord came to people, it lifted them up and moved them to act: Abraham, Moses, Joshua, the Prophets, the Apostles (Pentecost), etc.  It moved not only the mind of man, but also his heart and body.  We say that all Scripture is inspired by God, but that inspiration is not restricted to the time of the actual writing of it.  Rather, the inspiration continues to our reading of it as well.  The same Living Holy Spirit Who hovered over the divine writer still hovers over us as we read or listen to the Word of the Lord.  We await His Rhema, His speaking to us a living Word which impacts our hearts, minds, souls, and lives.

No one can experience Scripture without the inbreathing of the Holy Spirit.  We can study the Word for years, but until we are born again of water and the Spirit, we cannot understand or know the One who explains all things to us.  Prayer is not just saying things to God, but awaiting His Word to us, His living Word, the One that brings us to new life and reveals not just ideas to us, but God Himself.

Let us begin; let us ask; let us ask for a new and living Word.  He is waiting for us.