“Heavenly wisdom is gained by prayer. Study may form a Biblical scholar, but prayer puts the heart under a heavenly discipleship and therefore forms the wise and spiritual Christian.
“God keeps the key of the treasure-house in his own hand. No other inspiration can be looked for than Divine grace to make his Word clear and impressive. Every verse read and meditated on furnishes material for prayer. Every text prayed over opens a mine of “unsearchable riches,” with a light from above more clear and full than the most intelligent exposition. David and his wise son sought this learning upon their knees, and the most matured Christian will continue to lift up his voice for a more enlarged knowledge of God.
“But prayer must not stand in the stead of diligence. Let it rather give life and energy to it. Look at the miner—his indefatigable pains—his invincible resolution—his untiring perseverance—seeking—yea—searching for hid treasures. Such must be our standard in searching into the sacred storehouse.
“The rule of success is—Dig up and down the field; and if the search be discouraging—dig again. The patient industry of perusal and re-perusal will open the embosomed treasure. What miner would be content with the first ore? Would he not search deeper and deeper until he has possessed himself of the whole treasure; not satisfied with taking away much, but determined to leave nothing? Thus let it be our daily exercise to explore “the length, and the breadth, and the depth” of our boundless stores, until we be “filled with all the fulness of God.”
“This habit of living in the element of Scripture is invaluable. To be filled from this Divine treasury—to have large portions of the Word daily passing through the mind—gives us a firmer grasp and a more suitable and diversified application of it. There can be no sound judgment without this feeding, enriching study. In the mere exercise of reading we often scarcely know where to begin, and we perform the routine without any definite object. Our knowledge therefore must be scanty and ineffective. Nor is the neglect of this habit less hurtful to the Church. All fundamental errors and heresies in the Church may be traced to this source—“Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures.” They are mostly based on partial or disjointed statements of truth. Truth separated from truth becomes error. The mind, therefore, prayerfully occupied in the search of Divine Truth,—crying and lifting up the voice—will never fail to discern the two great principles of godliness—the fear and knowledge of God. There is no peradventure nor disappointment in this search.
“–Adapted from Charles Bridges, Proverbs;”
From the Mount Calvary Baptist Church bulletin January 11, 2026; used by permission.
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