by: David Hopkins
Psalms 119:100 I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.
#1 Search The Bible For Verses That Build Faith Or Defeat Fears
After and preferably only after you've finished reading one of the sixty six books in your Bible that's when you'll be ready to follow these four steps so you can dig for more understanding of the word of God and get additional revelation knowledge from the Holy Spirit.
First you need to gather all the key verses in that book that will help you pass the real life tests of life from the devil.
Since you already read the book you probably already have a few key verses in mind.
So start with those.
I do everything from my computer for efficiency and speed with a Bible reading program that will bookmark my key verses into categories that I set up for quick reference.
I also use it to write notes next to specific verses to help me understand them better.
But you can do it the old way and write them all down in a notepad if you prefer.
Next, I search that book and my mind to come up with more faith building verses and I'm picky about it because some books are loaded with them like psalms and proverbs.
#2 Define Keywords For Better Understanding
For example lets take one of the verses I used at the beginning of this article.
Psalms 119:100 I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.
I remember back when I first read that verse my mind immediately said "now what the heck is a precept?"
But wait, before you go grabbing your Bible dictionary grab your concordance first.
Or if you study on your computer like me just search the rest of the book of psalms for the term precepts.
Sometimes you might have to search for the singular version precept as well, but not in this case.
Read all 21 of the additional verses that mention the word precepts and you will start getting a feel of the meaning of the word.
You may also want to search the entire Bible for that word and read those verses as well.
Now break out your Bible dictionary and define that word.
Mine says "Rule of personal conduct" and "a doctrine that is taught" it also has "commandment", "principle", and "teaching" listed as synonyms.
Now you can also use a separate thesaurus to find more synonyms for that word which may also be in the book of psalms if you would like to dig deeper like I do.
Some people even go as far as to look the words meaning up in the original Hebrew or Greek but I haven't explored this avenue yet.
I prefer to study like this because I read from the KJV Bible but of course there are other translations if you prefer, but I don't advise them to be your main Bible.
I only use other Bibles as comparison against the KJV but I don't just take their changed words as accurate translations.
My favorite is the Amplified version.
And I don't fully trust the NIV version.
But that's just me and I do have my reasons.
Going over keywords like this will allow the whole verse to come alive and increases your understanding substantially.
Proverbs 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
#3 Memorize Verses To Renew Your Mind
Now that you're done collecting faith building and fear destroying verses, and you've made absolute sure you understand the meaning of the verse you need to spend some time embedding them in your mind.
These days I use a Bible memorization program to organize, quiz, and test me on verses so I can memorize them, but hey, back in the day I used plain old flash cards to do it.
You simply write the verse including the location on one side and you ask yourself a question about that verse on the other side.
For example for proverbs 4:7 I would ask "what is the most important thing?" because in step #2 I found out that principal means most important.
I also found out that wisdom means the word of God.
And the reason I knew this was because the Holy spirit revealed it to me after I read the book of proverbs a few times and it became clear to me.
Then you simplify and recite the verse over and over in your mind until you think you got it.
Like this.
"Understanding the word of God is the most important thing."
But wait.
The Holy spirit also revealed to me that the Bible is the word of God.
So I can go as far as to say.
"Understanding the Bible is the most important thing."
Isn't that amazing.
As a bonus you could also memorize the location of the verse but this isn't really that important.
Now move on to the next verse wash and repeat.
When your done you can gather all your flash cards and have one of your family members or friends quiz you until you get them all right all the way threw.
#4 Repeat Verses Out Loud To Make Yourself Believe Them
If You've completed step #3 you should have plenty of Bible verses in your mind by now so you should be able to repeat them out loud off the top of your head whenever you want.
If you can't you need to go back to step #3 to review your verses again.
All you do is say the same verse over and over and over and over like chanting, and no you don't have to yell them.
And yes you can light candles, close your eyes, and sit alone in the dark if you want to.
But break up the verses and use the synonyms and the revelation knowledge you found in step #2 like I showed you in step #3 like this.
"Proverbs 4:7 "Understanding the Bible is the most important thing."
Repeat that verse out loud without distractions for two to three minutes per verse and you'll see.
This particular verse will help you set your priorities straight by making you believe that understanding the Bible is the most important thing and causing you to seek the word of God first as opposed to money and other things.
And these four step by step christian meditation techniques can be used on a countless number of verses designed to renew your mind so you can keep the word of God and receive His blessings.
But like I said at the beginning of this article it is highly recommended that you read that book first.
