D.L. Moody said these words on the subject of understanding. “It makes all the difference in the world how we look upon God. Some people fear God, but when they understand that He is their Father, that fear is gone.” 1. How we are to look upon God and God’s Word is laid out for us in the pages of the Bible. You can become a man of understanding.
Paths to Understanding: Pray for It
Ephesians 1:16–18 (KJV)
16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; 17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
- Notice Paul is praying.
- He is praying for the Ephesians that the eyes of their heart might have understanding in the knowledge of God.
- You can pray this prayer for yourself.
- Pray this prayer for your Pastor, your minsters, and your Sunday School teachers.
- If you desire your heart to harvest God’s Word, if thirty, sixty, and hundredfold returns of His Word appeals to you, then make friends with understanding. Become buddy buddies with insight.
- Crave it.
- Have a passion for it.
- And bug God until the answer comes.
- If understanding is missing, Satan comes immediately to take the Word which was sown.
- Crying out for understanding brings the Spirit of Revelation on the scene which shuts down Satan’s operation.
- Praying for revelation shuts the devil out because if you ask, you will receive.
- If you seek you will find.
- If you knock, the door will open and there is nothing the enemy can do about it.
- The enemy does not have access to the ‘understanding’ transaction between you and the great teacher, the Holy Spirit.
- That transaction takes place in your heart and the enemy has no access to your spirit.
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Paths to Understanding: Engage the Ministry of the Holy Spirit
- Meditating the Word gives you access to the Holy Spirit’s ministry of teaching you the sayings of Jesus.
John 14:26 (KJV)
26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
- Look at the impact of the Spirit of God in the ministry of Jesus.
Isaiah 11:2 (KJV)
2 And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and might, The spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;
- Notice the effect of the Holy Spirit who rested on Jesus.
- He came upon Him as ‘the Spirit of wisdom and understanding’.
- We are not shut out of this ministry.
- The same Holy Spirit who came upon Jesus is available to come upon you.
- 1 John 2:27 confirms this.
1 John 2:27 (NKJV)
27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
- The anointing, in the person of the Holy Spirit, will teach you concerning all things.
- He will give you understanding and such input from Him guarantees that you will be way side ground.
- The Holy Spirit is the inspiring power behind the Word.
- It is by His moving that we have the scriptures in the first place.
- If anyone knows what a Bible passage means, it’s Him.
- Develop a relationship with Him. Talk to Him about the Bible.
- Ask the Holy Spirit questions.
- His ministry is to lead you into all the truth about God.
- In next week’s blog, we will cover yet one more way, you can increase in understanding God’s Word.
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Call to Action:
Praying for understanding and engaging the ministry of the Holy Spirit are two ways in which you can increase in understanding. Some essential knowledge about how to study the Bible will also help. But knowing the mechanics of Bible study is not enough to increase in wisdom. That simply is Holy Spirit territory. Engage His ministry through prayer and by looking to Him and watch your Bible study come to life on the inside of you.
Question: What do you do to come to an understanding of a particular passage of scripture? Please leave your comments in the comments section below.
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References
- Elliot Ritzema and Elizabeth Vince, eds., 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Modern Church, Pastorum Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013) ↩
