[Another simple, spiritual, and most beneficial way to read the Bible is pray-reading. We take the Bible text as prayer and pray-read with it. Not only do we read and pray simultaneously, or pray and read, read and pray; but also we directly turn the text we are reading into the very words of prayer to pray with. At times we may apply the text to ourselves through prayer. The more we repeat this kind of pray-reading, the more uplifted and released our spirit becomes and the greater, deeper, and richer the benefit is which we receive.]
The apostle Paul told us to receive “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit” (Eph. 6:17-18). When we pray-read this way, we get nourished with the Spirit and we maintain the fellowship with the Lord (1 Pet. 2:2; 1 Tim. 4:6; 1 John 1:3). As we pray, the Lord may expose our shortcomings through His word; then, when we confess, He will forgive and cleanse us (1 John 1:9). We may also use the Word to pray for others and for the Lord’s move (1 Tim. 2:1; Col. 4:3-4). Pray-reading is very useful.
By reading the Bible sequentially, we obtain the breadth of the Word. By pray-reading the Bible, we are able to enjoy the Lord in His word. However, we need to study the Bible to grasp the depth of the truth in His word (1 Tim. 5:17b; 2 Tim. 2:15).
Before we fellowship on studying the truth, there are some preliminary points we need to address. We need to know the basic facts of the Bible. We should remember all the names of the books and their sequence so we can locate specific verses. We should know the fundamentals of each book, such as the points in lessons eleven through twenty-one. It is also helpful to memorize the first verse of every book so that we know how every book begins. In addition, it is good to familiarize ourselves with the key people and the key events which take place in each book so that we know the background as we are studying the truth. These basic facts should have been acquired before we entered junior high school. If we have not yet learned them, then we must do some remedial study.
First, we need a good translation of the Bible, such as the Recovery Version of the New Testament. The outlines guide our study. The footnotes open up the Word to us. The cross references direct us to other verses similar to the verses that we are studying.
Second, the Life-study Messages open the Word further to us. They explain the verses in the New Testament. The Life-study Messages are likened to footnotes on the footnotes in the Recovery Version. If we do not understand the footnotes in the Recovery Version, then we should refer to the corresponding sections in the Life-study Messages. Better yet, we should study the Bible sequentially with the aid of the Life-study Messages. (There are also Life-study Messages for some of the Old Testament books, such as the Pentateuch.)
Third, there are lesson books which teach us the truth step by step in a progressive way. There are the Life Lessons consisting of forty-eight lessons. The Life Lessons instruct new believers in the basics of the Christian life. The Truth Lessons are six volumes containing twelve lessons each. The Truth Lessons teach us various truths concerning the Bible. The six levels of lessons designed for the summer school of the truth teach us the basic truths of the Lord’s recovery in an abbreviated format.
Fourth, other books of truth written by Brother Watchman Nee and Brother Witness Lee teach us the truth by topics. Books such as The All-Inclusive Christ and The Economy of God are very helpful. In the Lord’s recovery, we have an abundance of good books that reveal the truth to us.
Fifth, one of the most commonly used study aids is a concordance. A concordance such as Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible is very helpful in finding verses. A concordance is arranged like a dictionary; it lists all the verses in the Bible that contain a certain word. For example, we may want to find some verses that explain the meaning of “truth.” We would then look up the word “truth.” We would find that there are 114 verses in the Old Testament and 108 verses in the New Testament listed under “truth.” By reading through these verses, we would be able to locate the ones that address our question.