Lesson Four of the Basic Course

Before you start go here for instructions

a) Read the Bible daily

The Bible is alimentation for your spirit. Feed yourself every day with the Word of God.
Just like your body weakens if you are not fed enough, your spirit will become weak and wobble, which affects your faith, hope and love.

When is the best time to read the Bible?
The best time is always in the morning; then your spirit is fresh and open.
Read a chapter a day.

b) Read the Bible systematically, use a method
Start in the New Testament, and by this order:

1. Gospel of Mark
2. Gospel of John
3. Acts of the Apostles
4. Romans
5. I Corinthians
6. Galatians
7. Gospel of Luke and II Corinthians
8. Ephesians, Philippians, Titus
9. Colossians en I John
10. Gospel of Matthew and James
11. I and II Thessalonians
12. I and II Timothy
13. I and II Peter
14. Hebrews
15. Judas, Philemon and II and III John
16. Revelations

After reading the New Testament this way, you may construct another plan to read.
If you read a chapter a day, you finish the whole New Testament in 9 months.

d) Read the Bible in a spirit of prayer
The Bible is not a magazine, or a romance.
It is a book that has the power to transform your life, and guide you.
Sometimes it is the purpose of the Lord that you read a particular passage just that particular day.
Only through the Bible you will know Jesus; and without knowing Him, you cannot follow Him.
If you read the Word, you feed yourself spiritually, so read every verse in a spirit of prayer.
Start with a short prayer, in which you ask God for wisdom to understand what you read, and how to apply it in your life. God will always respond to such prayer.
After you have been reading, you ponder about it, meditate on it. Let it penetrate your heart and thinking. It is like ruminating it.

e) Read the Bible repeatedly
There are certain concepts in the Bible that you will not comprehend at the first time.
And, dependent age, circumstances and the moment you read this, it will be difficult to understand.
Very often in such cases if you read the same passage, which seemed so complicated to understand, or so difficult to practice, at another time suddenly speaks clearly to you when you read it again.

Example: If you are in a period without trouble, and no one persecutes you, and you read Romans 12:14 - "Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse" - you may think: "such thing is not for me …"

Some practical notes:

==> Always use a pencil or a marker. Mark the verses that ´touch you more´. Also mark the ones you did not understand, so you may ask about it to others who can help or explain (for instance, your Homegroup Leader)
==> Use at the same time a notebook, in which you can make notes, and write down ideas and insights you get while reading.
==> Never start reading the Bible in the Old Testament. Only when you are more established in Church and you have help.

Now open your Bible in Hebrews 4:12. Read and read it over until it is in your heart.

" To indicate a bible passage, we say the name of the book (eg Hebrews), the chapter (eg 4), and the verse (eg. 12) "

The Bible is the Word of God, as you knew already; now how can we communicate about what we read?
By means of prayer.
Praying is speaking with God
So we are not going to repeat words in an empty meaningless way, but we speak through what we read in the Bible.
To be able to grow spiritually, you need prayer.
Prayer is the source of spiritual strength and well being. Prayer is respiration of the spirit.

Practical rules for prayer

1. Pray every day

2. Pray with expectation, with a believing heart

Everybody can pray, but only a child of God can pray in faith. (remember the study on this subject).
Only this type of prayer reaches God.
Read Mark 11:24 - "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

Pray and receive, pray with faith and expect really the answer from the Lord.

3. Pray with an open heart
To pray is to open your heart for Jesus, so that He can come in and executes His power and will in us, and through us.

4. Pray with patience
To pray is a spiritual exercise. And because it is an exercise, it will be easier after you have practiced more.
For instance, it is not easy to pray in the beginning, but as you do it more often, it becomes easier.
The answer comes at Gods time, and according His will, so have patience.

5. Pray with thanksgiving, i.e.: in an attitude of joy, trust and gratitude.

about anything, but in ……………….….……………………………… by

………..……….….....………… and …………..……….…….……………,

with ………………………………………………... present your requests to God.

Pray based on the promises of God, with a heart full of praise and thanks. Open your heart if you come near to God, with strong faith, and you can be sure the answer comes.

THE INGREDIENTS OF PRAYER
There is no fixed formula to pray; but we may conclude that prayer has the following ingredients:

1. Praise - To praise God and Jesus as our Lord and Master.
2. Confession (admittance) of our sins - our errors, weaknesses, mistakes etc. Admitting we don't do everything correct or perfect.
3. Asking and pleading - To ask for forgiveness, for things we need, for strength and health, to live for Him, for His guidance every day.
4. Intercession - To pray for others, like family and friends, for our daily work, for the society we live in, for our parents, for the government, for the other believers and our Church.
5. Thanksgiving - for God's love for us, for the fact Jesus died in our place on the Cross, for the answer to our prayers, for what Jesus means to our lives.

Acts 1:8 - "…and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

What is a witness?
It is someone who tells about something he knows is the truth.
So, to witness of something, or of a certain occurrence, you need to have been there present, you must have experienced it yourself. You must be known with the facts yourself to be able to witness.

As we have seen in Acts 1:8, we are called to be witnesses for Jesus, our Lord. This is an able task, and a privilege to be called for.
If we love someone, it is difficult not to talk about this person; we talk about him or her with everyone who wants to hear it.
If one speaks about an important person, it is with respect about all the things that person has done. And parents always talk about their children, because they love them.
Likewise we ought to talk about Jesus, about the love we have for God, and about the sacrifice He has made for us at the cross; and to tell about what Jesus has done for us, in our own life, and still is doing.

In Mark 16:15, Jesus asks us to go into the whole world, and to preach the good news to all creation.

What does it mean: go into all the world?
How do we preach the gospel?
Who is ´all creation´?
It means: to tell about Jesus to your neighbor, your colleague at work or at school, to that person who is depressed, without hope, or to that other, who seems to be well, but feels empty inside.