DAY FOUR
The Helper
will teach you
everything . . .

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
JOHN 14:26

GOD SPEAKS to us through his Word. The first step in reading the Bible is to ask God to help you understand it. “But the Helper will teach you everything and will cause you to remember all that I told you. This Helper is the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name” (James 14:26 NCV).

Before reading the Bible, pray. Don’t go to Scripture looking for your own idea; go searching for God’s. Read the Bible prayerfully. Also, read the Bible carefully. Jesus told us, “Search, and you will find” (Matthew 7:7 NCV). God commends those who “chew on Scripture day and night” (Psalm 1:2 MSG). The Bible is not a newspaper to be skimmed but rather a mine to be quarried. “Search for it like silver, and hunt for it like hidden treasure. Then you will understand respect for the LORD, and you will find that you know God” (Proverbs 2:4–5 NCV).

1. Jesus promised to send a Helper. What does each of these verses say that the Holy Spirit would do once he arrived?

• John 14:16

• John 14:26

• John 15:26

• John 16:13

• John 16:14

His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted.
EPHESIANS 4:30 MSG

2. Jesus was filled with the Spirit. How does Isaiah 11:2 describe the “help” he provides?

3. What else did we receive when we were given the Holy Spirit, according to 1 Corinthians 2:12–13?

4. What insight is the Spirit able to provide, according to 1 Corinthians 2:9–10?

5. In 1 John 2:27, how is the Spirit’s role described?

Turn at my rebuke; surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.
PROVERBS 1:23

Here is a practical point. Study the Bible a little at a time. God seems to send messages as he did his manna: one day’s portion at a time. He provides “a command here, a command there. A rule here, a rule there. A little lesson here, a little lesson there” (Isaiah 28:10 NCV). Choose depth over quantity. Read until a verse “hits” you, then stop and meditate on it. Copy the verse onto a sheet of paper, or write it in your journal, and reflect on it several times.

On the morning I wrote this, for example, my quiet time found me in Matthew 18. I was only four verses into the chapter when I read, “The greatest person in the kingdom of heaven is the one who makes himself humble like this child.” I needed to go no further. I copied the words in my journal and have pondered them on and off during the day. Several times I asked God, “How can I be more childlike?” By the end of the day, I was reminded of my tendency to hurry and my proclivity to worry.

6. We know that gaining wisdom is a good thing. How do we acquire wisdom, according to Proverbs 2:1–6?

7. “Who has put wisdom in the mind? Or who has given understanding to the heart?” (Job 38:36). Time and again, Scripture tells us where to turn.

___ Psalm 119:73	a. Those who desire more of the Word will grow.
___ Psalm 119:99	b. The Lord speaks knowledge and understanding.
___ Proverbs 2:3-5	c. We gain insight from meditating on God’s testimonies, his statutes.
___ Proverbs 2:6	d. The Spirit helps us to keep God’s statutes.
___ James 1:5	e. The One who made us gives us understanding.
___ Ezekiel 36:27	f. The Lord gives understanding in all things.
___ 2 Timothy 2:7	g. If we cry out for understanding, we will gain a knowledge of God.
___ 1 Peter 2:2	h. God is the source of wisdom.

8. Take a look at these two verses from the Gospel of Luke. When do they take place in the scope of Jesus’ life here on earth? What is he doing in each?

• Luke 2:47

• Luke 24:45

9. What is Paul’s prayer for believers in Ephesians 1:18?

Will I learn what God intends? If I listen, I will.

Don’t be discouraged if your reading reaps a small harvest. Some days a lesser portion is all we need. A little girl returned from her first day at school. Her mom asked, “Did you learn anything?” “I guess not,” the girl responded. “I have to go back tomorrow and the next day and the next day . . .”

Such is the case with learning. And such is the case with Bible study. Understanding comes a little at a time over a lifetime.