Lord, Help Me Understand Your Word
Learning to pray about understanding the Scriptures
How many times have you read a portion of Scripture—or even one verse—and found yourself saying, “What did I just read?” If we’re honest, I think we’d all admit to being there on multiple occasions. There are some parts of Scripture that are difficult to understand; even Peter mentioned that in his epistle referencing Paul’s letters (2 Pet. 3:16). And then there are parts that, if we’d give it more thought, we’d likely understand.
The issue comes when we get frustrated by our lack of understanding, which then compels us to put the Bible down and be done with it. I get it; it’s irritating to not comprehend Scripture. There have been many times where, recently, I’ve read the gospel of Matthew and I had to stop reading because I simply didn’t understand a verse or passage. I told myself to stop and research information about it.
Of course, God doesn’t want us to put Scripture down in frustration. He wants us to persevere in our reading, to keep moving forward in understanding who He is. Have we thought about praying?
“Before and after you read the Scripture,” Richard Baxter wrote, “pray earnestly that the Spirit who wrote it may interpret it for you, keep you from unbelief and error, and lead you into the truth.”
Allow me to give you an odd analogy. Think of prayer and Bible reading as a sandwich in this scenario. Prayer is the bread and the Bible is the meat on the inside. Pray, read, then pray again. And pray as you read for good measure! We ought to do this because we’re admitting to the Lord that we need His help; we need His grace; we need His guidance and wisdom. We want to understand His Word to know Him more.
Also, as Baxter said, we pray for help because the Spirit who helps us pray is the same Spirit who wrote Scripture through these men. If we earnestly go to the Lord in prayer about this, He will answer us. God is not going to stiff arm you regarding this. But we also must pray to understand so that don’t drift away or fall into errors of unbelief and sin. We want to comprehend so we may walk in the truth of God.
So, friend, be intentional about praying. Pray before you open your Bible; pray as you read the Bible; pray again when you close your Bible. Seek God’s face so that you may understand what you’re reading, and the Spirit of God will surely illumine your heart to comprehend what you’re reading.
Thank you for this piece. You get it. Sometimes I can re-read a verse of Scripture three times and can't quite comprehend it. Glad to not feel so alone in this. I must pray more for enlightenment and understanding!
This is very good and so important especially for new believers but also for lifelong Christians. Also, this is a good example of why we need to be in a biblical church so that we can get proper teaching as well. And also one of the many reasons I read your blog, you are very good at explaining the Word of God! Thank you Blake and family!