I would like to take a brief moment to reiterate what has been said by every spiritual mentor worth anything:
PRAY
BEFORE
YOU
READ
SCRIPTURE!
Before we can expect to understand and internalize the truth of God’s word, we must ask the Lord for the help of the Holy Spirit. Intellect will not carry you through. Spiritual matters must be illumined by the Spirit himself. For a believer, the study of the word is a joint effort with the Spirit to have our hearts and minds transformed, it’s not merely an exercise to increase Bible knowledge.
I will not run through the Bible, pulling out scriptures that prove my point–we don’t have time in this brief appeal for prayer to clarify context and verify the texts are meant to be used this way or that. Consider the practicality of the need for prayer, though.
Imagine a little child attempting to learn to speak or read aloud without the benefit of someone overseeing and helping them pronounce words or understand what they are reading. How the words fit together or don’t fit together. Wouldn’t the little person be a bit muddled for the neglect?
We are little people who need oversight. Holy Spirit oversight specifically as we enter into the reading of the word. Like Roy Zuck says,
“We must be sure that in the entire process of studying, interpreting, and applying the Bible, we are relying of the Holy Spirit to guide us. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to show us areas in our lives where application is needed, and then to make us sensitive to that need, and to give us the desire to change by appropriating the truth. In applying God’s Word we need to ask the Holy Spirit to work in us to bring about changes in our lives that will make us more Christlike. It is not enough to perceive the truth; we must also receive it, by responding as God would have us to do.”
Roy B. Zuck 1
Our Bible Study Bite today is to hearts and minds that are tuned to ongoing conversation with the Lord generally in every area of life, but specifically in the study of the word.
