A reflection based on “Studying, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible” by Henrichsen (chapter 14) and “Living by the Book” by Hendricks (chapters 5-12)
Living by the Book
What is the insight?
The insight I chose for this section comes from chapter twelve. Christians must read the Scriptures prayerfully in order to properly understand their meaning from reading the Scriptures prayerfully, one may come away from the Bible with a fleshly understanding, rather to than the one intended by God.
Why is it insightful over the other topics?
This practice is extremely important, and is far and away the most important principle in this section. Prayer outweighs any and all hermeneutic methods, because although proper hermeneutical practices (such as contextual evaluation and grammatical studies) are needed to understand the Scriptures best, the Scriptures are written as a message from God to mankind. The Scriptures are inherently a conversational piece, which prayer takes the most advantage of. Additionally, while prayerful study can come away with an incorrect understanding of a biblical text, the use and power of prayer can be used by God to bring up other texts which go together with the text at hand. Study of the Bible must be paired with prayer, otherwise the reader is approaching the text in their own flesh, and not in the conversational manner intended by the nature of Scripture itself.
What is the application in ministry?
This should be applied to ministry, and can be done very easily. Prayer must permeate all areas of Bible study, both on the professional minister and lay-Christian levels. Professional ministers must be prayerful in their study for preaching, in order to understand conversationally the intend of the Spirit in the text. lay-Christians must do this in their own personal Bible study. When done in a group setting, prayer can be done before or after reading a text, before diving into what the text means.
Studying, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible
What is the insight?
The insight from this section comes from rule three. Faith and the Spirit are both necessary components to interpret the Scriptures properly. In order to understand the Scriptures well, one must have saving faith. Apart from this, one may take away from the text things such as the attributes of God which are negative and not intended by the author. When one sees God’s providence, an unbeliever may see a hateful God (in the case of using Babylon to humble His nation). Apart from depending on the Spirit, one is depending on their own flesh, which is unreliable.
Why is it insightful over the other topics?
Similarly to the previous insight, interpreting the Scriptures with the help of God is absolutely essential to proper Bible study. Even the best commentary or grammatical companion would not compare to the aid of the Spirit in interpreting the Scriptures. Faith and reliance on the Spirit are essentially the same thing, as both are renewal from the Spirit and dependence on the Spirit. As Christians, it is important to believe that the reliance of the Spirit is something we can not go without.
What is the application in ministry?
This insight can be applied similarly to the previous insight. Reliance on the Spirit means not only depending on Him while in the Bible study, but also outside of the Bible study. The “muscle” of depending on the Spirit must be exercised at all times, whether studying the Bible or not. This can be done through many spiritual disciplines, including fasting and prayer, which are done apart from Bible study but are an essential precursor to proper dependence on the Spirit.
Bible Students 
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