“Regular, unselfish prayer.” That’s how I’d sum up last month’s column on the “30-plus program.” Our prayers become energized when we focus on the Work or others, and not just on ourselves.
We need that same approach to get the most out of our regular Bible study. After all, what is it that usually precludes us from getting in our study? Selfishness! Self gets in the way.
Something else self has to do is more important. Those who study regularly, however, and who get much out of their study, are ones who make Bible study a top priority. They get self out of the way.
That said, let me throw you a curve ball. My first point is:
1) To maximize your study efforts, you have to focus on self!
Paul explains in 2 Timothy: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine , for reproof , for correction , for instruction in righteousness ” (2 Timothy 3:16). And for whom is that correction and reproof? “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Get selfish desires out of the way of your regular study habits. Then go into study looking to receive correction for self!
Mr. Armstrong always said we are students. We are studying to become perfect (Matthew 5:48). The Holy Bible is our instruction manual, much like a computer is delivered with instructions. The more precisely you adhere to the instructions in that manual, the better your computer operates. Likewise, if we expect to live successful and happy lives, we have to go to our instruction manual to find out how to live. We have to go to our “how to” book to know how to have successful marriages, how to rear children, how to be the most productive employee, how to handle personal and family finance, how to keep fit, how to get along with others, how to have lots of friends, how to become educated—you name it!
Go into your regular study time thinking, What God inspired to be canonized right here in this passage He preserved for me. How can I learn from this passage of scripture? Where can I apply it in my life? God loves that kind of “selfish” study!
2) Ask God for understanding.
David wrote, “Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding , and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart” (Psalms 119:33-34). God is not looking for the brightest or the most handsome. He’s looking for those who look to Him for understanding.
Set aside time in that 30-plus program to ask for God’s guidance in your study. Ask Him to direct you to the scriptures you need. Ask for deep understanding. And ask for the strength to apply that knowledge.
On many occasions, Mr. Armstrong prayed to God with his Bible open, asking for God to make what he was studying more clear and understandable. God answered his prayers. He’ll do the same for you.
3) Be positive.
The apostle Paul was kicked out of Thessalonica and yet well received in Berea (Acts 17:10). How could that be? It had a lot to do with how each group of people studied their Bibles.
Page 10 of Malachi’s Message says, “Do you realize brethren, that your approach to Bible study helps reveal to God how noble you are? Do you search the Scriptures daily ‘with all readiness of mind,’ eager to see what the Bible says, so you can follow Christ more perfectly? God’s elect are very noble people when it comes to their Bible study.
“Thayer’s Lexicon says the word ‘searched’ is often used as the verb ‘judge’ in the Bible. The Bereans approached their Bible study by investigating and examining the evidence.”
The Bereans didn’t search the scriptures to prove Paul wrong. They were searching to prove him right! Their whole approach was positive. When God says “prove all things” in 1 Thessalonians 5:21, He means for us to do so with a Berean attitude.
4) Let the Bible interpret itself.
Notice 2 Peter 1:20-21: “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy [Spirit].”
God used certain “holy men” anciently to help teach the masses. He worked the same way in this end time. God calls, that’s true. But in this end time, He did it, directly or indirectly, through Herbert W. Armstrong.
Along these same lines, read Isaiah 28:9-11. That’s the passage that says, “precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.” “Stammering” means to make pauses. God has written the Bible with gaps and pauses between related material. To understand it, the material must be pieced together in just the right way.
Mr. Armstrong wrote inMystery of the Ages,“The truths of the Bible are revealed here a little, there a little, scattered from beginning to end, and revealed only through the Holy Spirit within those surrendered and yielded to God, willing to have confessed error and wrongdoing, and yielding to believe Christ the Word of God.…
“[Mystery of the Ages] merely puts the many pieces of the great puzzle together so they can be clearly understood.”
Mystery of the Ages is no private interpretation. Mr. Armstrong wrote it as he was moved by the Holy Spirit. And if we use that book as Mr. Armstrong intended us to, over and over, we will get more out of our Bible study.
5) Use other helps.
Mystery of the Ages should be the centerpiece around which you build your regular study habits. Add to that Malachi’s Message and dozens of other booklets (both pcg and Mr. Armstrong booklets) and you have enough material to study for years!
Beyond that, there are other tools you might try. First, set aside some money for a good-quality Bible, preferably one with wide margins. This will be your study Bible. (You might use a little one for traveling or services.)
The Church has recommended the King James translation for your study Bible. no other translation is as accurate. Read that again! To supplement your King James, you might consider the Moffatt translation, the Revised Standard Version or the New King James, in that order (my opinion, of course!).
As for Bible helps, a good personal library might also include a concordance, a Bible dictionary and a Bible atlas.
Next, if you’re really looking to spend some bucks, consider a Bible commentary. But I should warn you: All of the good ones are either out of print or hard to find (Langes, Soncino, Anchor Bible; basically the ones you hear my dad quote from). Check used bookstores. With commentaries, it’s usually the older the better. Stay away from new ones. Also, some may be online.
Still, nothing is quite as satisfying as simply marking your Bible with colored pencils and mechanical pens. There are many different methods for this type of study.
6) Review what you learn.
I have titled this “Adding to your 30-plus program” because fervent prayer must be coupled with regular Bible study for us to become more like God.
But for God’s instruction to really sink in, we must add a third element: meditation. Mr. Armstrong divided his daily spiritual intake into three parts: one-third of his time on his knees, one-third studying, and one-third thinking over what he had learned. Notice, two-thirds of his time was devoted to reading, studying and meditating!
David set a marvelous example in this area. He calls that man blessed whose “delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night” (Psalms 1:1-2).
If you’ve felt that your study just isn’t sinking in, chances are this third important dimension is missing. For God’s instruction to sink in deeply, prayer must be followed by regular study and review.
7) Apply what you learn.
We remember things we’ve done. Things we only think about doing we soon forget.
Paul explains in Philippians 4:9: “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”
If your personal Bible study has been lagging, turn it around and let God put some fire back into it! Give God the best time you have available. During that time, study to show yourself approved. Meditate on the things you study. Then go out and do! Then, as Paul said, the God of peace will be with you.