|
All healthy things grow. If you have asked Jesus Christ to become your personal Lord and Savior, you have only begun the Christian life. Now God wants you to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18). Bible study, prayer, and worship are as vital to your spiritual health as eating, exercise and sleep are to your physical well-being. In this section of the website, we'll learn how to practice these transforming spiritual activities.
How do you study the Bible?
Visitors to Hampton Court in London are amazed by the maze they find there. Bushes form solid walls, head high. In the center sits a guide high on a platform. When pilgrims get lost wandering through the hedges, they look up to this guide, who points them to the next turn on their way.
God gave us his word to guide us in living for him. But as with any guide, we must follow its directions correctly. If our guide points south but we turn north, we will soon be lost, no matter how accurate our guide's suggestions. How do we follow his direction?
Meet the qualifications
To hear the Lord speak through his word, first join his family by making his Son your saving Lord. We must be close enough to hear his voice. Otherwise, we cannot understand the Spirit's speech to our hearts (1 Corinthians 2:10-11, 14).
Second, be willing to work and study hard. Paul's encouragement to Timothy applies to us: "Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching" (1 Timothy 4:13; "devote yourself" in the Greek requires previous, private preparations). Start with a good study Bible. Then acquire study tools such as a Bible dictionary, a concordance, an atlas, topical Bibles and encyclopedias, and good commentaries. But use such tools only to assist you in your personal study of God's word.
Third, choose to obey what you discover. Jesus was clear: "If any one chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or I speak on my own" (John 7:17). The Lord of the universe will not reveal his word as an option for us to consider. Only when we choose to follow his will, can we fully hear his voice.
Choose the right assumptions
Next, we choose presuppositions which will guide our study. A mathematician assumes that parallel lines never intersect, and that arithmetic certainties today will be certain tomorrow. The study of God's word requires similar assumptions.
First, know that Scripture can be understood. Church, creed, or council can guide us, but they cannot prescribe to us. Because of the "priesthood of the believer," every Christian has the right and responsibility to study the Scriptures personally.
Second, understand that the New Testament interprets the Old. The Bible centers in Jesus Christ, the One who fulfills the Hebrew Scriptures (Matthew 5:17). We seek in the New Testament guidance for interpreting the Hebrew Bible. For instance, an Old Testament law which is renewed in the New Testament retains the force of law for us today (cf. the Ten Commandments and Matthew 19:16-19). An Old Testament law not renewed in the New retains the force of principle for Christian living, but not binding law (cf. the dietary codes of Leviticus and Acts 15:28-29).
Third, use Scripture to interpret Scripture. The Bible is its own best commentary. Study difficult parts of the Bible in light of its clear teachings. For instance, Luke records Jesus' statement that we must "hate" our family to follow Christ (Luke 14:26). But Matthew's version clarifies that we must not love them more than we love Jesus (Matthew 10:37). Paul teaches that we must provide for our family (1 Timothy 5:8), and that a husband must love his wife as Christ loves the church (Ephesians 5:25).
Learn the background
Now we're ready to understand the text in its context. No literature makes complete sense unless we answer these questions first: who was the writer? who were the recipients? what was the author's purpose? what kind of literature is this (i.e., history, law, poetry, letters, or symbolism)? A good study Bible will give you the basics here, and encyclopedias and commentaries will round out the story.
Take these four steps
Once we understand the context of the passage we're about to read, we are ready to take these four steps to personal study and understanding.
- Grammar: what do the words and sentences of the text mean to say? Define unfamiliar words; restate the text in your words to be sure you know its literal meaning.
- History: is geographical knowledge assumed in this passage? Are social or cultural customs employed? Do differences exist between the original intention of the text and our culture today? (For instance, a Samaritan was a despised half-breed when Jesus told his famous parable, but today is a benevolent hero.)
- Theology: once we know the words and historical context of our passage, we are ready to identify its theological teachings. What does the text tell us about God, humanity, creation and the world, sin, salvation, missions and ministry, and/or the future? What abiding principles should we gain from this passage?
- Practice: now we are ready to apply the text to our lives. Write out the intended meaning of the passage, and its theological truths. Make direct applications where they are intended by the author ("prescriptive" truth), such as with the Ten Commandments or the Great Commission. Seek principles when the text does not intend to apply directly to our actions ("descriptive" truth), such as learning from David and Bathsheba that adultery is always destructive. Finally, define at least one action which the text requires of you today. You have not finished your study of God's word until your life is different as a result.
A potter must touch the clay he wishes to mold. Scripture is a tool God uses to shape us into the image of his Son (Romans 8:29). When last did reading the Bible change your life?
How can you pray more effectively?
Blaise Pascal, the mathematical and spiritual genius, believed that "all the troubles of life come upon us because we refuse to sit quietly for a while each day in our rooms." Oswald Chambers, a great theologian, agreed: "Prayer is the way the life of God is nourished. We look upon prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves; the Bible's idea of prayer is that we may get to know God himself." How can we know our Father more fully, by praying more effectively?
How to pray
Jesus' instructions on prayer are so simple we can all follow them: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" (Matthew 7:7). With this promise: "everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened" (v. 8). There is no such thing as "unanswered prayer," if only we will ask, seek, and knock.
Note the progression. A child asks for his mother's help. But he cannot find her, so he seeks her. He still cannot find her, so he knocks at her bedroom door until she opens and answers. So with us. We ask, but when it seems he does not hear, we seek him. When it seems he is not to be found, we knock. It may seem that the door is closed, but it is not. Your Father will always open to you: "The Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!" (Isaiah 30:18). He wants to hear your prayer even more than you want to pray it.
So pray with urgency. Jesus' words are imperatives, not options but commands. Charles Spurgeon, the famous pastor, advised: "He who prays without fervency does not pray at all. We cannot commune with God, who is a consuming fire, if there is no fire in our prayers." So pray urgently, and continually. Jesus' words are in the present tense: pray and keep on praying.
How do we pray with continual urgency?
- Begin. Make an appointment to meet with God. A man put on his calendar each day, 7-7:30, prayer. But he kept missing his appointment. Then he changed it to say 7-7:30, God. That's harder to neglect. Keep a specific prayer list, and note the ways God answers your requests.
- Pray in Jesus' name: "I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it" (John 14:13-14). To pray in Jesus' "name" is to ask by his merit, to draw on his "account." If I write a million-dollar check and sign it with my name, the check is worthless. If I sign a billionaire's name, the check is good. To pray in Jesus' name is to ask the Father's help by the merit of his Son. He never refuses such a request.
- Pray according to God's will: "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him" (1 John 5:14-15). He will give us what we ask, or something better.
- Pray for God's glory: "I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father" (John 14:13). Do you seek your glory or his?
- Pray with a clean heart: "If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my prayer" (Psalm 66:18-19). Is anything blocking your fellowship with your holy Lord? If you're not sure, you may ask him.
If God seems silent, check yourself by these biblical standards. But know that your Father wants to hear you even more than you want to be heard. So pray. Let nothing stop you. Meet with him today.
Why to pray
Now we come to a hard question: why? Why pray with continual urgency? If God is omniscient, he knows what we need. If he is omnipotent and all loving, he can and will do what is best. So why pray?
God has given us free will, and will not violate it. As a result, when we need him to act in ways which require our permission, we must first give that permission. Prayer doesn't change God, but it changes us. And it positions us to receive that which God wishes by his grace to give. Know that he will always give you what you ask, unless he can give you something better. Like any child, you may not understand your Father's will at the time. But his loving purpose is always for your good and his glory.
When God seems silent
When you pray but God seems silent, consider several possibilities. Perhaps he is still preparing you for his answer—you need more time in prayer to be able to hear him and obey his will. Perhaps he is still preparing your circumstances. You're praying for a job, for instance; God must move the person in your job to their next place so you can take theirs. He's not done with what he must do to answer you.
Perhaps you're not obedient to what he is saying; maybe sin clouds your eyes and ears, and you need more time in prayer to be right with him. Often he has a better answer than the one for which we are asking. He has already answered us, but we must keep praying until we see that he has.
Prayer is spiritual breathing. So "pray continually" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). There is much we can do after we pray, but little we can do until we pray. Is your Father waiting on you now?
How can you worship God passionately?
Football is America's favorite spectator sport. An English visitor described the game as 22 men in desperate need of rest, being watched by 70,000 people in desperate need of exercise. And the math only gets worse. The NFL estimates that 100 million people watch by television some part of a football game on any given Sunday. Given that 1,643 people make NFL rosters each year, that's a ratio of 60,864 fans per player. They watch every mistake, every penalty, sure that they could do it better.
We can afford to be spectators in some areas of our lives, but not with our souls. You and I will each stand personally before the God of the universe one day, to give account for the years he gave us to live. Here will be his first question: did you "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37)? Did you worship your Maker? We need to know what worship is, what it isn't, and why it matters so much to our God and to our souls.
What is worship?
Let's begin with what worship is, as God sees it. It's not what our culture thinks it is, or even what many church attenders think it is. God defines worship as "love": "Love the Lord your God." Love is a verb, not a noun or an adjective here. It requires doing, not just attending, watching, or believing. You haven't worshipped by attending church, listening to a sermon, singing hymns, or giving money. You've only worshipped when you've loved, adored, and honored. Worship is love.
Worship is loving God: "Love the Lord your God." Worship is about God, not us. It's not about what we "get" from the hour, but what we give to God. You are not the audience, and staff members are not the performers. Our job is to help you do your job, to be worship "coaches," to lead you to love God.
And worship is loving God in every way a human can love.
- With all our "hearts." The word refers to our emotions, our senses. Worship involves an intuitive expression of love for God.
- With all our "souls." The word means the life force itself, that which gives our bodies life, our very essence. Not as a peripheral matter but as your highest purpose and value today. Worship involves a passionate love for God.
- With all our "minds." We are to have no ungodly thoughts, or songs, or movies, or television shows, or books in our minds. We are to think about our faith, to study God's word, to engage intellectually in the worship of God.
- Mark's version adds that we are to love God with all our "strength" (Mark 12:30). This means to love God with our actions, when the worship hour is done. God is looking for Monday Christians, Monday worshippers, Monday disciples.
Did you know that you can love God in the same way you love anyone else who matters to you? You can spend the day with him—talking with him, thinking about him. Tell him how you feel, what you're thinking. Thank him for the good things you experience, for "every good and perfect gift is from above" (James 1:17). Ask him for what you need, and praise him for what he gives. Spend the day with Jesus. Love him. Worship him. This is his first commandment, his first expectation, for every day.
What worship is not
By these standards, worship is not performance, whether by the pastor or other worship leaders. God has called us to help you worship God, but the attenders are the performers. Don't evaluate worship today by the preacher's performance, but by yours.
Worship is not entertainment. It is to be exciting and encouraging, but we are not in the entertainment business. Worship leaders do not exist to impress the congregation as their audience. Rather, the congregation is present to impress God.
Worship is not therapy. God helps us as we worship him, but our first purpose is to express our love for him. Interestingly, we get far more out of worship when we come not for us but for him. When we worship for his sake more than our own.
Worship is not evangelism. Evangelism results from worship, as people see Christ in our joy. But God doesn't evaluate worship by how many public decisions get made at the front of the church. He measures our worship by how many hearts adore him all across the church.
Worship is not about us. It is about loving God, every service and every day.
Why does worship matter?
God made us for worship. This is why we were created. It's why he gave us free will—so we could choose to worship him. Love must be a choice. God made us to make this choice. Nothing else fulfills us. Augustine was right: "Our hearts are restless until they rest in him."
God empowers us when we worship. When did God empower Isaiah to go for him, Daniel to face the lions, the first Christians to witness at Pentecost? When did God shake the doorposts in Jerusalem and the prison bars in Philippi? When did Jesus reveal his heavenly splendor to John on Patmos? In worship. The power to serve God is found in worshipping God. If you want God's power for your life and purpose, you must worship God every day. That's how he empowers us.
And God deserves our worship. We love him because he first loved us (1 John 4:10). He created and redeemed us, and made us a place in his perfect heaven forever. He watched his Son die on our cross, to save our souls and purchase our salvation. He gave everything for us. He deserves our worship.
When last did he receive yours?
|
