Living by the Book/Living by the Book Workbook Set (16 page)

Do you notice any connection between Nehemiah’s focus on sin following his focus on God? It’s pretty clear, isn’t it? A recognition of our sinfulness always follows a perception of God’s holiness. You see, the reason we think we’re such capable individuals is that we really don’t know what kind of God we’re related to. But when we fill our minds up with who God is, then our true condition comes to light.

Now pay close attention to the next verses because they pinpoint the whole prayer. Nehemiah started with adoration, focusing on who God is. Then he moved to confession. Now he concludes by claiming the promises of God:

Nehemiah moves to what we call “petition.” His focus is on the needs of his people. And in making his request, he leans on the promises of God. It’s obvious that he was a good Bible student, because in verses 8–9 he recalls several passages from the first five books of the Bible where God had set forth conditions for blessing or punishment, based on the faithfulness or unfaithfulness of His people. Nehemiah reminds Him of that: “OK, Lord. Remember what You promised? Well, I’m asking You to perform it.”

There’s a great lesson in that. Always pray on the basis of the promises of God. After all, the question with any promise is, who made it? I can tell you,
“I’m going to give you a million dollars for your cause.” That’s a great promise. But who is making it? A multimillionaire? Or a guy who probably has about ten bucks right now? Whenever someone makes a promise, always ask, who is making this promise?

Do you want to know how to pray? Nehemiah shows you: Begin with adoration. Occupy yourself with who God is. That will lead you to confession because you’ll see yourself in proper perspective. Then you are ready to petition God with your need.

By the way, try a comparison study of passages such as Exodus 3 and Isaiah 6. You’ll find this same pattern for prayer from Genesis to Revelation.

There’s a powerful precedent for prayerful Bible study in Psalm 119. Significantly, it’s the longest psalm in the Bible. In fact, it has more verses (176) than any other chapter in the canon. And every one of them has something to say about the Word of God—its purpose, its benefits, its value. I heartily recommend that you study it in detail.

A number of verses relate specifically to reading Scripture prayerfully. For instance, the psalmist uses the Word in praising God (v. 12). He asks God to help him become an observant reader (v. 18). He prays for understanding of God’s truth (vv. 27, 34). He asks for help in applying biblical truth to his life (vv. 33, 35–36, 133). He points out that God’s law is being broken; therefore, it is time for God to act (v. 126). He prays for mercy on the basis of God’s character (v. 132). He bases his petitions on God’s promises (vv. 169–70). He prays for forgiveness after reflecting on God’s commands (v. 176).

What a brilliant example of prayerful Bible study. Imagine if Christians today approached the Word in this manner.

I
t is sad but true that the average person thinks that reading the Bible is dreadfully boring. In fact, the only thing more boring would be listening to someone teach from the Bible. Yet I’m convinced that the reason Scripture seems dull to so many people is that we come to it dully. How different things would be if we employed the sixth strategy for first-rate Bible reading:

“Why don’t you read the Bible?” I’ve asked people.

“The Bible?” they reply incredulously. “C’mon, I’ve got better things to do with my time.” You get the feeling that if you handed them a Bible, they’d stop to blow the dust off before they opened it.

And no wonder. Often when we come to the Scriptures, we use the least imaginative, most overworked approaches possible. For instance, how many times have you been in a group where the leader says, “All right, everyone turn in your Bibles to such-and-such a passage.” You wait while everyone finds the place. That takes a while.

Then the leader goes on: “OK, we’re going to read this passage together.
Jim, why don’t you start with verse 1. Then Suzy, you take verse 2, and we’ll work our way around.”

So Jim starts in. Unfortunately, he’s not such a good reader, and he’s brought a King James Version with the old thees and thous. He stumbles all over the text trying to make sense of the king’s English. By the time he’s done, everybody else is nearly out cold.

Then Suzy takes her turn. Only she’s got one of those exotic modern translations, and no one else can follow along. Catastrophe strikes when the next person reads verse 3—it’s verse 3 in a different book of the Bible. And so it goes. By the time it’s over, nobody has the foggiest idea what the passage really says. But it doesn’t matter—most have already checked out mentally.

By contrast, our church used to have a pastor who was a master at dramatic presentations of Scripture. He had a background in theater, and he used it to advantage. Frequently he assumed the role of a biblical character in front of the congregation. He put on makeup and a costume. He did all kinds of background studies to give us a feel for the cultural setting. And then he told the character’s story in the first person, using simple, everyday language.

As a result, by the time he finished, we were not simply entertained, we were instructed. Our imaginations kicked into gear, and we entered into the text. We understood how biblical truth and human experience could mingle.

One of the things I’d love to see more people do when they study the Bible is to pray the simple prayer, “Lord, clothe the facts with fascination. Help me crawl into the skin of these people—to see through their eyes, to feel with their fingers, to understand with their hearts, and to know with their minds.” Then the Word of God would become alive.

I’ve got a number of suggestions for how to read God’s Word imaginatively.

I’ll mention this again and again. Reading different versions of the Bible is an excellent way to stimulate your imagination.

We are incredibly blessed to have such a variety of translations today. Until recently, Christians basically had one English version to read. In fact, prior to John Wycliffe’s translation in 1382, there were none. But thanks to major developments in our understanding of ancient Hebrew and Greek, we
now have some extraordinarily accurate translations, as well as some very readable ones.

One of my favorites is J. B. Phillips’
New Testament in Modern English
(revised edition). Phillips has a flowing style that does an excellent job of catching the atmosphere of the text. Here, for example, is how Paul’s encounter in Acts 17:16–21 with the philosophers of Athens reads in the
New American Standard Bible,
a very accurate translation:

Compare that with Phillips’ rendering: