When I was in high school we had an excellent youth pastor for the junior high to college age category. One thing we got from him was this helpful method for studying the Bible. I thought perhaps it might help you, too. It is 2PROAPT. You're welcome. Oh, okay, I'll explain.
Pray. It's always best to start with prayer when you're seeking to listen to God.
Preview. Skim the text. Skim above and below. Get a quick overview of the text and the context.
Read. What does it say? Read it all completely.
Observe. What does it mean? Include the text and the context. Look at any cross references or other helpful links.
Apply. Having asked for God's guidance, take it. See what He wants you to do with it. God's Word is sufficient to make you complete (2 Tim 3:16-17). Don't just stop with knowledge; do something. Preferably, something specific and measurable.
Pray. You can't pray too much, and ending this with prayer is always a good idea.
Tell someone else. Sharing what you learned with someone else is helpful as ministry and for accountability. Especially if you decided God wanted you to do something, right?
It's not the end-all, but it has been helpful for a lot of people (including me) over the years. We need to be serious about the Word. Paul commended the Thessalonians because they understood the Word to be not just the words of men, but the Word of God (1 Thess 2:13). We should be so diligent.
2 comments:
We definitely need to get more of His Word into our lives. It's how we get to know the God we want to love, and how we keep ourselves from being blown around by every changing wind of doctrine.
I like that! Seems very practical. I’ll give it a try. Thanks for sharing with us.
I had been taught a neat system years ago, called “God’s Word in Your Heart and Hand,” where each finger was given a letter: HEAR (listen), EXAMINE (read), ANALYZE (study), REMEMBER (memorize), and THINK (meditate)--spelling out HEART--with APPLY (do it) finishing it up in the palm of the hand. Seeing it as a diagram makes it clearer than I can explain it here, but once it’s memorized, one can recite it off one’s fingers very easily. I like the “heart and hand” reminder that God’s Word must go beyond my ears to my very core of thinking, feeling, and doing.
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