Step 1

pray

So you probably know that you should pray before doing big things like starting a new job or getting married. But did you also know that you have to pray before reading The Bible? You need to pray because The Bible is God’s Word.

You see, people use words to communicate their minds to other people. As human beings, we have no problem understanding each other’s words because we already have similar minds. But, in case you haven’t noticed, God Is Not a man. His Mind is far Greater than yours and far Different from yours. Even when you hear Him Speaking perfect English, you can’t fathom The Mind He Is Communicating through His Word. Therefore, you desperately need Him to help you understand The Bible. Only God Has The Power to Give you His Mind through His Word. So when you pray to God for understanding of His Word, remember that you asking Him to help you grasp His Mind and not your own.

But even after He Explains His Word to you, you will still have difficulty hearing Him. This is because a part of you still resists The Truth. You know that part of you, the part that doesn’t want to admit he’s wrong, the part that has believed the wrong thing for so long he can’t even see what the truth is anymore. So in addition to understanding, you need something more from God. You need God to Tear down your defenses. You need God to make your hard heart soft so that you can receive His Holy Word. Therefore, pray to God. Ask Him to break you and heal you. Ask Him to remove all the obstacles in your mind, heart and spirit that prevent you from receiving His Word.

Bible reading starts with prayer. Pray to God to give you His Mind so you can understand The Bible. Ask Him to remove every place where you are actively or passively resisting His Holy Word. So before reading The Bible, try praying using words like these: Father, open me up with your word, open your word up to me. Amen!

“… for from the first day that you set your heart to under­stand and hum­bled your­self before your God, your words have been heard …”
- Daniel 10:12

About
Wanna reach out and ask me some ques­tions? Or do you want clar­i­fi­ca­tion on some­thing writ­ten here? If so, write me a let­ter. I’d love to hear from you and I’ll respond. I bet your hon­est ques­tion will pro­duce insights that will ben­e­fit other read­ers.