Prayer and Fasting

The Path To God

Fasting And Praying

part1

Overview

God has said that we need to pray and fast to overcome many things in our lives. That it should be a part of our Christian lives, unfortunately, we as a church have fallen away from this. So God, has instructed me to help bring Praying and Fasting back into the church, so He can begin to work through us once again.

12 Specific Benefits

1. Revelation
2. Healing and wholeness
3. Righteousness
4. The presence of the shekinah glory of God
5. Answered prayers
6. Continual guidance
7. Contentment
8. Refreshing
9. Strength
10. Work that endures (like an ever-flowing spring)
11. Raising up of future generations
12. Restoration


Why Do We Fast?

(Nine Biblical Reasons)

1. We fast in obedience to God’s Word.
2. We fast to humble ourselves before God and to obtain His grace and power.
3. We fast to overcome temptations in areas that keep us from moving into God’s power.
4. We fast to be purified from sin (and to help others become purified as well).
5. We fast to become weak before God so God’s power can be strong.
6. We fast to obtain God’s support in order to accomplish His will.
7. We fast in times of crisis.
8. We fast when seeking God’s direction.
9. We fast for understanding and divine revelation.



The Principal Key of Fasting

This is the main reason we must fast and pray, it’s to cleanse ourselves to allow God’s Holy Spirit to work through us, so we can

Go beyond the in-filling of the Spirit to tap into the power of the Spirit.

(Note: I suggest while studying this you also learn as much as you can about having faith, building on it, and learning to act on it. For there is nothing that can steal away God’s power as UNBELIEF can. He could do nothing in his hometown because of unbelief. I find it hard to teach on pray and fasting without adding faith.)

Jesus Our Model

God sent Jesus to save us but He also sent him as a role model so we would know what is expected of us. Through Christ’s life we could learn the ways of God and His Kingdom.

God Sent Him and in return Christ sends you but not alone. He gave you his Holy Spirit to accompany you along the way.

Joh 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
Joh 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:


To give you POWER over all things:

Luk 10:17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.

Luk 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

Luk 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Luk 10:20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

Now that you know this, you say: “Why can’t I do the things Jesus did?” God has rules, unless you obey them he will not let you use the power, like you think you should because when you do have and use his power, people are going to be watching you and your life and you are His ambassador.

Act 5:32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.


People think repenting and being baptized and receiving the Holy Spirit should give them full rights to the Holy Spirit. Jesus, after He received the Holy Spirit was driven by the Holy Spirit to go fast in the wilderness for forty days and was tempted by Satan himself before He was given the power of the Holy Spirit.

Luk 3:22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.

Luk 4:1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

Luk 4:2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

Luk 4:14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.

As you see, even Jesus had what I call an incubation time with God before he was released to do His work. A time where God helps you grow in the Spirit, cleans the muck out of your life and let’s you be tested.

Praying and Fasting is how you go through this incubation time. This is where He puts conviction on your heart to clean out the things that are still hanging in your life that need to be removed. A time when he makes you take a deeper look at yourself and the things that are hidden in your heart that you kept covered so that no one will know. It’s the time He uses the Holy Spirit to come clean house and boy can He clean!

He uses this time to give you direction, guidance and correction to give you revelations of things to come and to allow the Holy Spirit to heal you spiritually and physically.

This is where He shows and gives His love of mankind to you and touches your heart.

He purifies your heart, soul and body during fasting and praying. This is where he begins to let the Holy Spirit work through you.

God will not work where evil resides, that is why we need to pray and ask for the renewing of our mind and the quickening of our souls. The cleaner we are on the inside, the more likely He is going to work through you.

If you are reading this, I believe you want to see God’s face. This is one step in getting there. God wants you to join his army and give you the tools to do battle with, think of fasting as boot camp with God. This is where He hands you the sword, the armor and the breastplate, it is your graduation present. Just like in our world, we don’t want to go to boot camp because it is a lot of hard work. It’s much harder when the drill sergeant is the Holy Ghost. He opens doors you never new existed.

The reason why I chose this book

Mr. Mahesh Chavda has spent his life praying and fasting; God has revealed many things to him about this. I felt, along with the Bible, his book would help to bring us to a better understanding of what God wants us to do and how to do it with fewer mistakes and saving time on the learning curve.

We have already gotten into part of the second chapter, Jesus Is Our Ultimate Model.

Here, he talks about the disciples and that they probably would not have wanted to believe Jesus if he told them they where going to change the world. He talks about how disciples hid in the upper room, frightened because their master was killed on the cross. Then Jesus came to them to prove he was alive and to bring the anointing of the Holy Spirit to them. After that, He sent them into the world to proclaim the gospel. Just as He sent them, He also sends us, to do the same. He sent us with the same authority, vision and responsibility. Notice, I said same authority, this is what Jesus told them and tells us through His Word.

Joh 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

Joh 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Joh 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

Sorry, I have to stop here and move to faith for a minute.
Why do we have to have God prove everything to us, when He has already told us He is the Truth, the Light and the Way but we still don’t believe him, we want him to prove everything to us. Now, we will go to work for a man believing he will put money in the bank for us, which we cannot see and in good faith we write checks on it and give it to someone else. This is all done and we never see anything but we know it has happened. When are we going to write the checks on what God gave us and know that they will happen? We have more trust in man than in God.

Now back to the book, Mahesh said we shouldn’t judge the disciples too harshly because the Modern Church today for the most part has hidden itself away. He believes we only have enough of God in us to survive in today’s world. So, how could we boldly go out into the world and minister to the hurting (like Jesus)? I’m sorry but I am inclined to believe the same.

Let’s learn the Secret to the Power Jesus has

We saw that Jesus was filled with the Holy spirit, he fasted for 40 days, was tempted by Satan and totally defeated him and came out of that experience in the Power of the Holy Spirit. We need to make the secret of his Power our Power. He is after all, our role model, right! Mahesh said, this was the same secret he discovered when working with Stevie. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is great but it is only the first stage of progress beyond salvation. We need to go on.

Move beyond the infilling into the Power of the Holy Spirit

Being filled with the Holy Spirit does not mean that you are ready for your calling.
We must first learn to submit to the discipline of the Holy Spirit. This is the time God disciples us in the crucial works of prayer, fasting and the skillful use of His Word as a weapon. Then we can go and do God’s work in the Power of the Holy Spirit. We have just touched on the obedience regarding prayer today but fasting is rarely practiced in the modern Church today.

You are going to find that the fasting part is just as important as the praying. This appears to be the principle key to going beyond the infilling of the spirit and to tap into the Power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus was able to do this in 40 days but it will probably take us longer. The most important part is to begin the process. Please understand, I am not saying go out and fast 40 days, unless God has put it into your heart and you know what you are doing. Without the proper training and God’s intervention you can cause yourself physical injury. This we will cover later as we study about fasting and praying.

For one to receive the power of the spirit, one must be ready to commit his or her life to Christ and make prayer and fasting a way of your Christian life. This will allow His anointing to begin to work through you with greater and greater power.

Please don’t think you need to measure up to the accomplished leaders and ministers. God only wants you to measure up to the plan He has for you. These leaders and ministers should be looked upon for encouragement to push closer to God.
There is a dramatic difference between being anointed of the Spirit and the power of the Spirit. In the follow verses you will begin to see the difference and how praying and fasting plays a big part.

Mat 17:14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,

Mat 17:15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick (This is what we might call an epileptic in today’s terms), and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.

Mat 17:16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
Mat 17:17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.

Mat 17:18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

Mat 17:19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?

Mat 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Mat 17:21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

I have Highlighted a few things here: again, this has to do with faith because your long days of fasting and praying can all be destroyed by a moments doubt. You must keep your eyes, heart and mind on God and do not allow doubt to enter in. The faith of a muster seed is all you need!

Second: You can see that Prayer by itself sometimes is not enough to win the battle. We need the infilling of the power and then we can overcome all things.

If we are to be victorious, we must fight our battles in the Spirit realm, here’s what Paul had to say about it.

2Co 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

2Co 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Co 10:6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Now beware, even though our fight is in the spiritual realm doesn’t mean that Satan will not try to pull you into the physical realm. He knows he has a better chance of overcoming you if he can get you into the physical realm. He would rather battle you in the flesh because that’s where he works best.

That is part of the reason why we fast and pray to keep control over our flesh. To keep our mind, body and soul in tune and aligned with God’s spirit world through the Holy Spirit.

Remember, Jesus prayed and fasted for power in his ministry, why shouldn’t you? As a matter of fact, Jesus wants us to:

Mat 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Mat 6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Mat 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

And

Mat 6:16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Mat 6:17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
Mat 6:18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

So, if you are a Christian, you pray and fast.
We are in the last days and Christ said that He would pour out his Spirit.
If you want to receive it, you will have to pay the price.

Joe 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

Joe 2:29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

Are You Willing To Pay The Price?

Author,
Donald Minor

P.S If you would like a copy of Mahesh Chavda's Book "The Hidden Power of Prayer and Fasting" follow the link below.

I Personally recommend this book in understanding fasting.

The Path to God Study Group

How to study the bible

Studying for yourself

This is an outline in understanding how to get the most out of God’s Word. First, you must confirm, “Does God Exist” in your heart and mind. This is a must before you start studying the bible. (If this is something you are not totally convinced of, please see one of the teachers in the class or talk with your pastor. We will find the materials you need to read and talk with you about it.) In studying the Bible there is a right way and a wrong way of going about it. We are about to show you a few ground rules to keep you on track and in helping you understand God’s word. There is not necessarily and order but you should use this as a guide.

Praying for guidance

First, you need to ask God to open your mind to His word. Dave was a man after God’s heart, he asked God many times for guidance, to open his mind and to reveal his truth to him.

Psa 119:33 HE. Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.
Psa 119:34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
Psa 119:35 Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.
Psa 119:36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.
Psa 119:37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.
Psa 119:38 Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.
Psa 119:39 Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.
Psa 119:40 Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.

Without God’s help you cannot truly understand God’s Word. Many intelligent men have tried and fall short of the true message God has. You need to be sincere and believe for God’s direction in your studies when asking for His help. Otherwise you are just wasting your time, without His help you will never understand the full truth that God has for you in His Word. Don’t get me wrong, some of the studies done by these men can be helpful but be careful. Put it to the test before you write it in your heart make sure what you have read aligns itself with God’s Word.

Formal education not necessary

Don’t ever think you are not smart enough to study God’s Word. God tells us his Word is not necessarily meant for the wise, mighty and noble to understand.

1Co 1:25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
1Co 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

God knows, you don’t know his plan and that’s why you must ask Him to show you and to reveal his truth to you. If all it took were brains to understand God’s word there would be a whole lot more people with this understanding. Keep in mind it’s not how smart you are, it’s where your heart is when you ask God. God said,

Jer 4:22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

There for prayer is your contact with God and the most important step in understand and studying His Word, without it you many spend many profitless hours of studying.

Attitude must be for self-correction

Before you rise from your knees in prayer recognize the reason that you are studying His Word; know it is not just to gain knowledge or to prove or disapprove certain doctrine or facts but to get closer to the stature of the fullness of the very character of Jesus Christ. The only way that you can do this is for you to be corrected.

Special note: God’s Word is written directly to each of us as an individual- it is personal, direct – and as far as our salvation is concerned it has nothing to do with anyone else.
(Another reason to ask for your understanding of his word)

Your attitude should be as Jeremiah’s in:

Jer 10:23 O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
Jer 10:24 O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.

Do this because you want and know you need correction if you wish to see God’s face. Remember:

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Keep in mind that the Bible contains the thoughts of your creator, it is the way he has set things to be. It is not to be argued about, it is not meant to be a club to chastise other people with. In other words you don’t use Ephesians 5:22 as a weapon against your wife or if you are a wife you don’t use Ephesians 5:25 against your husband. But each of you should apply scripture to yourself. The Bible says you should study:

2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Prove all things

Third rule which is an extension of the proper attitude of self-correction. You should always have a positive approach to God’s Word. Here is an example:

Act 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

The Bereans were not negative, angry or bitter nor were they trying to prove Paul wrong. If you hear or find something you don’t understand or you are not sure of, you need to prove it so with the Word. Always keep the word proving positive. The word prove means “put it to the test”. Here is somewhat an example of put it to the test:

Luk 14:19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.

This man wants to make sure the oxen could do what they were supposed to do.
What other oxens did, if what they said about them were true.

God wants you to test it to see if it holds true to His Word and Nature. Here is another example God wants us to prove Him in tithing:

Mal 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

This is not a search for errors or disproof, this is finding out what God does say in a positive way.
To prove God’s Word does not mean that you always have to go searching through a lexicon to find out Greek and Hebrew derivation. Using the Holy Spirit along with the good sense God gave you, most of the time you will know if it lines up with God’s Character.

The Bible never contradicts itself

The Bible is inspired by God there are no errors in it.

Joh 10:35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;

(Note: because there are no errors let’s look at the verse before this.)

Joh 10:34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?

(This statement was taken out of the Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary)

Ye are gods — being the official representatives and commissioned agents of God.

I suggest you keep this in mind as you study, you have a very big responsibility in knowing God’s Word, His mind, His Holy Spirit and His Character. You represent Him at all times. You are His Light unto the World.

If by chance you have scriptures that seem to say something different from another scripture and you don’t understand, you may need to study further. Always remember rule four: God NEVER contradicts Himself! Therefore, either your understanding of the particular scripture or the translation that you are reading is incorrect or misunderstood.
Example:
Pro 26:4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
Pro 26:5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.

These two verses are not contradictory but are complementary of each other. It depends on the circumstances in which you use each verse. Each verse has it own particular use and wisdom. It’s the last part of each verse that unlocks the use and wisdom.

Verse four reads; don’t degrade yourself by getting into an argument! Don’t harangue, bite back or argue back with someone trying to stir contention. You will find Jesus setting the example in the following verses Luke 20:1-8 He avoided the argument by giving them a question they did not want to answer, so He didn’t answer theirs.
In verse five, again the key is at the end of the verse. You don’t answer the question if you don’t accept the challenge; they are going to think of themselves wise. Paul had this problem with false apostles, he needed to smash the contentions and answer these false apostles. He answered them starting in II Corinthians 11:23, He showed he was the true minister. He answered and debunked the claims of these other men.

Now you have some wisdom that you can apply to your daily life!

What does the Bible say

Many times our misunderstanding comes form this world, from misinterpretation or a direct twisting of the scriptures.

Isa 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Isa 5:21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

Many who claim to be representatives or interpreters of His Word twist and wrest the Word to their own destruction and to their listeners destruction.

So, always ask yourself this question and answer it ” what does the Bible say?” use this scripture to go by:

Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Is it what the Bible says or is it what people want it to says or what they want you to believe it says?

At times you may need to use other aids, sometimes the true meaning may be hiding or not translated quite right in a way that is easy to understand. Like the following verse:


Luk 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

The King James translation is the only translation that says this “The kingdom of God is within you.” Not necessarily God’s exact words, so other aids are needed to truly understand the meaning.

Warning: Be sure of the resources that they are trusted and had been well established in the Christian church. See your pastor if you are not sure of the resource materials you are using. He should be able to offer you help in this area.

Which Bible do we recommend?

Again check with your pastor but most likely they are going to suggest the King James (KJV) or the New King James Versions (NKJV).

Why, because they are considered to be the most accurate and taken from the Greek Manuscripts. These scriptures have been carefully preserved over the generations. (Note: there are some corrupt texts out there that have been rejected by the Greeks long ago.)

Of course, other Bible translations can be helpful sometimes in understanding the Word of God. Here are a few you may wish to consider using:

The Revised Standard Version (RSV)
The New English Bible (NEB)
Moffatt translation

If you do not wish to purchase each Bible you can go online to: http://www.biblegateway.com/ They have 20 different versions of the Bible there but ask your Pastor which ones may not be for you. Some are written for different denominations. You can also find the Bible written in different languages, if you should need them for people that don’t speak or read English very well.

I also have a list of Bible translations with the dates they where written if this interests you.

Check the context

Read the verses before and after the verse you are reading is one of the best ways to check context but sometimes you may have to read a couple of chapters to find the meaning of a verse. Here’s a small example:

Luke 17:21 you need to ask yourself a few questions here regarding the context the text that is with (con) Luke 17:21 is Luke17:20 this verse just before answers the question regarding verse 21, but in order to answer that question you must ask yourself the question, “Who?”

In other words, you must ask yourself: If “the Kingdom of God is within you”- who is the “you” that the Bible is referring to? In this case verse 20 explains that it is the Pharisees! Certainly you know Jesus Christ wasn’t saying that the kingdom of God is inside the Pharisees! Therefore the con (with) (a help in your Bible sometimes)Text helps you see that there must be a mistranslation in this particular verse.

And sure enough when you check the margin of your bible, you find that the word “Within” should be better translated “among”- Referring to Jesus Himself as a representative of God’s Kingdom who was at that time “among” the Pharisees.

Some of the more modern Bibles make this easier because they have done it for you with translation notes and cross-references built in. Some even have commentaries built in also.

Get all the scripture

No one scripture can of itself, taken out of context, be used to establish the truth.

(2Pe 1:20) Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

To understand the Word of God, first you will need the Holy Spirit as your guide. Then you will need to gather all the scriptures on the matter and read them and ask for God’s understanding and guidance to open the meaning to you.

Keep in mind that when two or more writers have written on the same subject you need to read all the verses to get the proper understanding. The writers are looking at it from different viewpoints. You will have to put them altogether and use the Holy Spirit to understand God’s viewpoint.

Taken For the Ambassador College Publication, How to Study the Bible.

Let the Bible Interpret the Bible

You will hear how so many people will comment on how so and so interprets the Bible on their television shows and that they say it is the plain biblical truth.

(Rom 3:4) God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

Rom 3:4 God forbid, yea, let God be true, but every man a liar,.... Let no such thing ever enter into the minds of any, that the truth of God can be, or will be made of none effect by the want of faith in man; let it be always asserted and abode by; that God is true, faithful to his word, constant in his promises, and will always fulfil his purposes; though "every man is a liar", vain, fallacious, and inconstant: referring to Psa_116:11;
(Taken From the John Gill Exposition)

Lets look at the book of Revelation in the King James Version you can see man has named it “The Revelation Of St. John the Divine” but right in the first verse you find that it’s not so. The Bible says this is “The Revelation Of Jesus Christ.” The picture man tried to set was not the truth. The New King James does not read this way; it says “The Revelation Of Jesus Christ.” This is another good reason to use different sources; it makes these errors stand out.

Don’t put vague scripture first

Never establish a doctrine by a vague or difficult-to–be understood scripture. Like this verse when God was talking to Peter, most people will think that God cleansed the meat from reading this verses but lets read on.

Act 10:11 And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:
Act 10:12 Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
Act 10:13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.
Act 10:14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.
Act 10:15 And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.

Peter doubted what he had seen and even says so here

Act 10:17 Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made enquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate,

When he met with Cornelius he knew the true meaning of what God’s was trying to tell him.

Act 10:28 And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean

When studying, begin with the plainer scriptures first. Reserve more obscure ones for when you have more knowledge. Scriptures take out of contexts can be made to say more than one thing. It is important that you follow this rule, study all the scriptures on any subject to get the truth. Always beginning with the plain and clear scriptures first.

Use several translations

We have two options we can learn to read Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic or use different translations to help clear up things we don’t understand. The reason we need to do this is because the English Language has undergone a lot of changes in 360 years. Some words don’t carry the same meaning as they use too. Yes there are more modern translations, but use caution some of these versions have been rendered from faulty original text. Beware if they start to wander off to far from the King James Version because they are probably errors. The King James Version is still by far the most accurate and is used to judge the other versions.

Note to remember: when reading the King James Version, words that are in italics are supplied by the translator and are not always correct. They were added to help you understand better. In some cases they may hinder your understanding. However, the verse I John 5:7 in italics only appears in the New King James Version, it was inserted by the monk-copyist in the middle ages.

If you find words you don’t understand, look them up in the dictionary like Webster’s, if possible use a Bible dictionary or an Concordance which may help you find the Bibles meaning of the word.

Don’t establish doctrine with bible helps

These helps can lead you astray, be careful using them; Use them to establish historical or grammatical facts related to the Bible. Do not use the to establish doctrine or interpret meanings in the Bible. They can be useful in finding other scriptures in the Bible on the same subject. Use Bible helps for technical facts, not interpretative facts.

Bible study aids

Here are a few suggested Bible study aids:

Other Bible translations:

Revised Standard Version
New English Bible
New American Bible
Moffatt Translation
The Amplified Bible
The Goodspeed Translation
The Holy Scriptures Translation by the Jewish Publication Society (Old Testament only)

There are a great many translations of the New Testament. Some of them are known by names of the translator such as Williams or Phillips. While these often add clarity where they are right, they also tend to introduce denominational doctrinal bias depending on the author’s preconceptions. One volume, 26 translations, includes extracts from 26 different versions for each New Testament passage.

Concordances:

Cruden’s Complete Concordance
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible
English’s Greek Concordance of the New Testament and the Englishman’s Hebrew and chaldee Concordance of the Old Testament (You don’t need to know Greek or Hebrew to use these.)

Commentaries

The international Critical Commentary
The Jerome Bible Commentary
Clark’s Commentary
Jamieson- Faustett-Brown Commentary
Matthew Henry Commentary
Matthew Henry Concise Commentary

Dictionaries and Handbook

( Please Note Some Of these books are old and hard to find)

The New Bible Dictionary
The Interpreter’s Bible Dictionary
Peake’s Bible Dictionary
Hasting”s Dictionary of the Bible
Halley’s Bible Handbook
Unger’s Bible Handbook
Oxford’s Bibles Atlas
Rand McNally Bible Atlas
Robertson Harmony of the Gospels (PDF) (Can be found here (http://www.archive.org/index.php and many others. )
Introduction to the Old Testament by R. K. Harrison
Introduction to the New Testament by Donald Guthrie

This is a book archive where you can find a lot of study helps books like Bible dictionaries, handbook and more. They can be down loaded in a PDF format. I found 53 books on prayer and fasting here.
http://www.archive.org/index.php

If you find (PDF) behind books it can be found on line in that format and download for FREE

Materials used to find this information was taken from:
The King James Bible
How to study the Bible by Ambassador College Publications
My own personal study habits, Donald Minor

Author

Donald Minor

Please note: there is a PDF file format at my other website for free, if you wish to send it to friend or print it.

http://www.shouldibuyit.com/free_bible_lesson_downloads/

God knew What He Was Doing

We go through life looking for all kinds of things that will bring happiness into our lives. We buy big houses, nice cars, rings and things, trying to build memories and things to hold onto, things we think mean so much. It’s sad to say, that many times it’s late in life that we learn the things that are most important to us, are the simplest things in life and in the end hold more meaning than anything we could ever buy or possess. It’s the simple things God gave us from the very beginning of time, like a smell that you remember that brings the memories of happy times, with loved ones long past or an action that someone does, that brings our childhood memories back to mind of good times past. This building of memories that God gave us is kind of a self-check system; He knew we would rather have more happy memories than bad. He also gave memories as an encouragement to do good things not bad. He gave us an inter feeling to go along with these memories to encourage us even more, to do good things for one another. Sometimes just the simple act of helping someone can bring more satisfaction than all the money in the world. Just to see the smile on another persons face and to know that you just made that person’s day or life in some cases. To feel that warm feeling inside and to know you’ve done well. Again, some of us don’t learn these things till late in life. Sometimes it’s not until we are laying on our deathbed, that we realize that we wasted a lot of time doing things and making big deals out of things, which in the end, really don’t matter. Why do you think He said, love your neighbor, doing nice things bring back good memories, things you will enjoy looking back on. He knew that there would come a time that we would want to enjoy looking back on our lives and see good things not bad. Doing good thing please God too! He knew that being greedy, deceitful and hateful to others and trying to get everything you can from someone was not the way to go. This would not be something that would build memories that you would want to keep in mind. They most likely would be accompanied by memories of pain, worrying and suffering. Things you probably would not want to remember at all. I think for this reason, God gave us memories, so as we aged and looked back on our lives, we would see some of what God would see and if you can’t see the good that’s been happening in our lives, what do you think God is going to see. Have you stopped to add up the score on your life lately? Maybe it’s time to be good to your neighbors, friends and family? Author Donald Minor