As we begin the process of Bible study, a word regarding the place of prayer is essential. The importance of prayer in the study of scripture is based on certain premises. First, our method of study is inductive. When we come to the scriptures we are confessing that the Bible contains objective truths which we do not have within ourselves. And those truths are vitally important to our lives. "If the truths of the Bible already resided in man, then there would be no need for the Bible . . . (Traina, Methodical Bible Study, p. 7).  Second, we have had very little experience with the inductive process. Our tendency is not to listen to the Bible, but to impose our own beliefs and prejudices on it. Third, fallen man, by his nature, is blind to spiritual truth and prejudiced against it. Fourth, the Bible is a spiritual book. It is to be discerned spiritually as well as mentally. Its author is the Holy Spirit, and He who inspired it is the One who must illumine the minds of those who study it. (For a discussion of the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the hermeneutical process, see Thiselton, The Two Horizons, pp.85-92). Fifth, the ultimate goal of Bible study is not to know the book, nor even to obey the book, but to obey the God who wrote it (See Bruce Wilkerson's, The Seven Laws of the Learner. Atlanta: Walk Through The Bible Ministries, 1988. p. 183.).  For these reasons, Bible study begins with prayer. (See Traina, pp. 11-13: g. Sincere Bible Study, h. Assimilative Bible study, and i. Reverent Bible Study).  John Wesley believed that the illumination of the Holy Spirit was absolutely essential in both the understanding of scripture and its application to the heart and life. He recommended “serious and earnest” prayer not only before studying the text, but during the reading for times of self-examination in light of what one had studied, and at the end of study so that what had been learned intellectually might be written on the heart. Click on "Beginning Your Study" at the top of this page.