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Resources for Understanding the Bible

2 PROAPT Overview: Click here for a PDF version of below Goto top
Pray Preview Read Observe Apply Pray Tell

2PROAPT: An Overview

P Pray: Make a habit of always beginning your time in God’s word by talking with its Author. Ask God to calm you down, help you bring your problems to him and clearly understand and hear his voice as you read the text. This is not the time for long petitions, but rather to turn yourself over to God and say “I’m here. Let’s spend some time together. What do you want to say to me?” Psalms 119:18

P Preview: Preview the entire passage (or a bit more) by quickly reading all of it from beginning to end. Don’t worry right now about the details, just get an overall “road map” for what the passage looks like and where it sits in relationship to the verses before and after it. (e.g. for Habakkuk 1:12-2:1—Habakkuk has just learned that God is going to raise up the Babylonians to conquer Judah as judgment on their rebellion and is now questioning how God can do this because He is a holy God. God is then going to respond to this complaint in chapter 2.)

R Read: Now go back through the passage reading it much more slowly. Try to capture the exact essence of each thought and write it down as clearly as you can. The key question here is: What does the text say?

O Observe: Looking over your “Read” section and the text, highlight those 1 or 2 sections which really catch you at the moment. It may be helpful to try and outline parts of the passage, or focus on particular challenges or questions, or note words or phrases that don’t seem to make sense so that you can look at a commentary. Where do you sense God nudging, drawing your attention, or comforting you. The key question here is: What does the text mean?

A Apply: Now that you have spent some time digging in the text, plant your feet in the application section for a while—do not rush. One of Satan’s greatest ploys is to convince us that we are too busy or have something more important to do than sitting at the table with God. Focus on how God wants you to respond to this passage in very specific ways. As a result of God’s word to you in this passage:

 What are you going to do?

 How could you change the way you think about God or relate to him?

 What aspects of your life do you need to bring to him for guidance or healing?

Now, and this is the most important thing, as a result of hearing God speak to you, you need to answer in a concrete, specific manner:

 How will this affect my schedule over the next 2 days?

 How will this affect my relationships over the next 2 days?

If you fail to make concrete plans regarding these two questions you will quickly find your time with God turning very inwardly focused, without much impact in your day-to-day lifestyle. When that happens, it becomes easy to start seeing God’s word as a burden instead of a joy.

P Pray: Once you have heard what God wants you to do, you need to ask for his help, power and wisdom to be able to carry out this application. Just because we know what God wants for us does not mean that we will automatically be obedient or able. In fact, most of what God calls us to do are things which we cannot do on our own, although we often try.

T Tell: Now that you have carefully placed yourself in a place where God can speak, listened intently for his voice through his word, discussed what it is he wants you to do/think/say as a result of your time with him and asked him to help you carry this out, it is vital that you tell someone else about this. The purpose of doing this is so that they can encourage you, pray for you and help you see how things are going. Most often we fail to realize that true community, biblical community, requires this sort of vulnerable, intentional, entanglement in each other’s lives. It is a purely secular point of view which says that my relationship with God is a private affair with no connection to other believers. God always relates to us in the context of a community.

Tools top
PROAPT
Pray, Read, Observe, Apply, Pray, Tell
Tool to help in getting cool insights from the Bible.
See importance of reading the Bible below

Right here and choose "save link as" to download a printable copy of PROAPT.

Benefits of Reading the Bible top

JOHN 8:31-32 RSV
31 Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples,
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

JOSHUA 1:8 Beck
8 Don't stop reading this book of the Law, but day and night think of what it says, so you can be careful to do everything written in it; then you will prosper and succeed.

ACTS 20:32 LB
32 "And now I entrust you to God and his care and to his wonderful words that are able to build your faith and give you all the inheritance of those who are set apart for himself.

MATTHEW 4:4 NLT
4 But Jesus told him, "No! The Scriptures say, 'People need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every word of God.' "

JOHN 6:63 ICB
63 It is not the flesh that gives a person life. It is the spirit that gives life. The words I told you are spirit, and so they give life.

ROMANS 15:4 CEV
4 And the Scriptures were written to teach and encourage us by giving us hope.

JOHN 14:23-24 Rieu
23 Jesus replied: 'If anyone loves me he will cherish my word; my Father will love him and we will come to him and make him our abode.
24 He that does not love me neglects my words. Yet the word you hear is not my own but that of the Father who sent me.

2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17 NLT
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right.
17 It is God's way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.

HEBREWS 4:12 NLT
12 For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are.

Information to Use When Choosing a Translation of the Bible top

Tools for studying the book of Thessalonians top;
Click here to download a document that has scripture on the left and blank space on the right where you can write notes, questions, comments, outline the passage, etc.

Click here to download the left-handed version of the above document (i.e. verses are on the right, and blank space is on the left). top

UMSL XA Bible Resources