Survival Skills: Prayer

(Part 1 of 10 posts about prayer.)

Who is your closest friend or relative? Who do you communicate with the most? Odds are they are the same person. The more we communicate with someone the closer we become. The less we communicate, the further we drift. Communication with God is vital to survival as a Christian.

He communicated to us in the Bible. We communicate with Him in prayer. It's a two-way conversation.

Over the next week, we'll learn how Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:5-13. Read it for yourself in the meantime.

Bible: Respond

(Post 6 of 6 posts about reading the Bible.)

Step five: respond.

Once you've prayerfully read, researched, and reworded some Scripture, it's time to respond. Is there a command to obey? Is there a promise to claim? Is there a warning to heed? You'll need to prayerfully consider the passage in order to respond rightly. The Holy Spirit helps with this whole process from prayer to response, so don't worry. Just submit yourself wholly to what it says.

It's like what you do with food. Reading spoons it in your mouth. Research and rewording chews it up. Responding digests it and turns it in to real life action. If you don't respond, you'll just end up with a bunch of Scripture dribbling down your chin and you'll eventually starve to death. So... respond.

I'll be praying for you as you get started reading your Bible. Bon appetite.

Bible: Reword

(Post 5 of 6 posts about reading the Bible.)

Step four: reword.

Once you've prayerfully read a little bit and researched what it means, I recommend rewording it in your own language. You know you understand something when you can explain it in your own words. For example:

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
Lean not on your own understanding." (Proverbs 3:5)

I would reword this verse something like this:

"All of my heart must lean on God, trusting Him. None of my heart should lean on myself, trusting my own understanding."

Rewording it clarifies its meaning and makes it your own. Try it!

Bible: Research

(Part 4 of 6 posts about reading the Bible.)

Step three: research.

You've prayed for God's help. You've read a little bit. Now it's time to answer some of your questions. You won't be able to read God's word without having questions and you're in luck. There are a brazillion helpful websites you can turn to. Here is my favorite one (right now): www.biblos.com. It takes some getting used to, but once you do, you'll be able navigate the Bible as easily as Facebook (sort of).

Some other trusted sites:
www.desiringgod.org
www.crosswalk.com
www.biblegateway.com
www.gty.org
www.monergism.com

You can also just google your question and see what comes up, but be careful. You can't believe everything you read on the WWW.

Your goal here: figure out what it means.

Bible: Read

(Part 3 of 6 posts about reading the Bible.)

Step two: read. Duh.

After you ask for God's help, just read it. This isn't something super-spiritual. You don't need to dress like a monk or anything. Just read what it says. There will be stuff you don't understand and that's okay. Just take it in. Read. What. It. Says.

"But where do I start?"

Good question. What genre do you want to try first. The Bible is one book; but it is also like a library. It is one book made up of 66 smaller books. Each stands alone; yet all work together to tell the whole story of God's work in the world through Jesus. They're basically divided like this (look at the table of contents in your Bible to see what I'm talking about):

Genesis through Esther = History books. You read each of these straight through because each tells a historical  story.
Job through Song of Songs = Wisdom literature. These include conversations, poems, songs, witty sayings, and deep thoughts.
Isaiah through Malachi = Prophets. God spoke through these books to His people, addressing them directly. You'll find some history in here too; but the main feature is God's speeches to His people.
Matthew through Acts = More history books. Actually, Matthew through Luke are biographies of Jesus; but each reads the same as a history book, from beginning to end. Acts is the history of the church when it first got started.
Romans through Jude = Letters. Read these like you're looking at someone's mail. Each book is a letter written by a person to another person or group of people.
Revelation = Prophecy again.

So, just pray for God's help and start reading a book within The Book.

Bible: Pray

(Part 2 of 6 posts about reading the Bible.)

Step one: pray.

We pray before we attempt to read the Bible because we need God's help to understand it and respond to it. We need Him to give us eyes that see Him and ears that hear Him.

For example, David prayed:

"Open my eyes, that I may behold
Wonderful things from Your law."
- Psalm 119:18

You might repeat his prayer, meaning each word. Or you might pray your own words. The important thing is to depend on God to help you read the Bible. And the crazy thing is: He WILL!

Survival Skills: Bible

(Part 1 of 6 posts about reading the Bible.)

Your Bible is your field manual. Your canteen. Your sword. You can't survive spiritually without regularly reading it, drinking the living water it provides, and learning to use it in the battle of life. Yet many of us struggle to read our Bibles. It's hard to understand. Hard to enjoy. Hard to find time to even try. However, hard as it may be, you can do it. And you must. And like everything else that is difficult and wonderful, the more you work at it, the better it gets. Remember, at one time in your life, walking was hard. Reading was hard. We learn to do these things because they are essential to life. Reading your Bible is essential for your spiritual life and you can do it.

Here's a basic process you can try as you get acquainted with your Bible:
1. Pray
2. Read
3. Research
4. Reword
5. Respond

I'll be explanding on these five steps in the days to come.