How Can I Understand the Bible?

When you make time to read God’s Word, how do you prepare for such a daunting task? At times, it can feel intimidating and overwhelming to open the Bible to read and contemplate such weighty and lofty matters. In my personal Bible reading, I often feel inadequate and unable to truly understand and apply to my life what I am reading. That would certainly be true if I had to rely on my flesh alone to grasp what I am reading. Scripture is clear that we cannot understand the things of God apart from the Spirit of God. In 1 Corinthians 2:14, we read, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” Therefore, to rely on our flesh to discern biblical truths is foolish. We must pray and seek for the Holy Spirit’s guidance to reveal to us the will of God in Scripture.  

In the book of John, Jesus tells us about the role of the Holy Spirit in each one of His followers’ lives. “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come” (John 16:13). This promise to His believers is one that should bring us great confidence in discerning the Word of God, not only in our Bible reading but also in our day to day lives. The Holy Spirit will help illuminate the truth to us when we are battling with our flesh.  

I would challenge you when you read your Bible to slow down and take a few minutes to pray. Ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate the truth of Scripture and how you can better apply it to your life. Jesus has promised to us, as Christians, that we freely have access to the Spirit of Truth, and trying to discern the things of the Spirit apart from the Spirit of God is a foolish task. I hope you are pleasantly surprised to find how much more you will learn when asking God for help!