Go to God by prayer for a key to unlock the mysteries of His Word. It is not the plodding but the praying soul, that will get this treasure of Scripture knowledge. God often brings a truth to the Christian’s hand as a return of prayer, which he had long hunted for in vain with much labour and study: “There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets” (Dan. 2:28); and where doth He reveal the secrets of His world but at the throne of grace?
Gleanings from William Gurnall, Hamilton Smith, Soli Deo Gloria, 1995, p. 106-107.
Some say pray and pray and don’t lean on the unspiritual work of human study. Others say, study and study because God is not going to tell you the meaning of a word in prayer. But the Bible will not have anything to do with this dichotomy. We must study and accurately handle the Word of God, and we must pray or we will not see in the Word the one thing needful, the glory of God in the face of Christ.
Prayer without study is presumption. Study without prayer is atheism.
Quoted in: Charles Bridges, The Christian Ministry, p. 212, by permission Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA.
Without prayer the study of Scripture can turn into a merely intellectual exercise. Prayer without Scripture will lack needed motivation and guidance.
A Journey to Victorious Praying, Moody Publishers, 2003, p. 84-85.
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