WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT … ?

During one of our earlier THIRST-DAY SERIES learning sessions with the pastoral leaders of Ligaya’s Central B District, I talked about the vision of scripture-focused small group meetings. At some point, Joseph Mora asked a very good question that must have been in the minds of the other participants: “What verse can we use to pray during specific situations?” Let me try to answer that here.

First of all, Joseph’s question is based on a strong belief in what Paul wrote:

All scripture is God-breathed, and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God will be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Tim 3:16-17

And so, yes, indeed, it is important for those who lead prayer meetings, or who disciple fellow Christians, to be equipped with God-breathed scripture.

Sometimes, during our regular bible reading quiet time, we encounter a passage in scripture, and the Holy Spirit inspires us to use this for an exhortation, or a preaching.

But, like Joseph’s question, there are many other times when you have a topic in mind to talk to someone about, and you’re in need of the appropriate Word of inspiration. I’ve often been asked to give a preaching or a message in a group meeting, and the one inviting me simply gives me the “theme” for the meeting, and he leaves it up to me to discern what scripture to build on for that. Is there a way to do this, without simply waiting for inspiration to pop in our heads or be awakened in a dream? Thankfully, there is.

If you have a digital bible, then you can try searching using the search button. Just type in a key word, then many verses that carry that key word will be listed for you to choose from.

Problem is, some of our modern day concerns and issues do not have exact words corresponding to what would be found in scripture. For instance, you will not find terms like “quarantine”, “drug addiction”, or “midlifing” in scripture; but these may be the topics where you’d like to know what scripture has to say about them.

Topical Bible to the rescue

The better solution is for you to gain access to a topical bible, whether in hard copy or digital form. The typical topical bible (sorry for tongue twister) contains a range of topics in alphabetical order, and a list of bible references corresponding to that topic. Here are some of the good sites that I have found, including my favorite:

1. https://www.biblesnet.com/torreys_new_topical_textbook/index.html — Torrey’s Topical Bible (alphabetical). This is a list of 680 assorted topics alphabetically arranged, majority of which are typical words in scripture that are also searchable through a regular bible search. But it includes others that I would classify as basic Christian living topics like prayer, praise and prophecy, plus some “theological topics” like sanctification, temptation, and preciousness of Christ. There are also a number of daily living stuff like money, mourning, and murmuring.
2. https://www.christianity.com/bible/bible-topics.php — Bible Verses by Topic by Christianity.com covers 92 topics such as “hard work”, “positivity”, “for police officers”, “quarantine”, and, of course, more spiritual topics like “hope”, “heaven”, “faith”, and so on.
3. https://www.biblesnet.com/scriptures.html — This is a very good 31-item list focused on real-life concerns and feelings, fitting the opening question: “Where to find help when …. sick or in pain / needing peace / leaving home / friends fail / disaster threatens / etc.”
4. http://www.openbible.info/topics — Unlike the first three items above, where you can look through the alphabetical list for a topic of interest to you, this is a search engine which helps you answer the question: “What does the bible say about _______?” I don’t know how many topics it has, but I tried typing in modern-day issues like “midlife crisis”, or “drug addiction”, or “feminism”, or “fake news”, and I was surprised that it was able to generate verses that seemed to relate to these topics quite well. Now you understand why this is my go-to topical bible favorite.

Some important advice

Just some additional caveats when you search for scripture using methods like this.

• Be prayerful. Of course, trust that the Lord will honor your desire to seek His will. Therefore, do this prayerfully, and expect God to guide you.
• Be wise. Not all verses generated may be applicable to your concern, so exercise wisdom.
• Be discerning. Never take God’s word out of context. Be sure to go to the suggested verse, and read its context. The context of a verse might put a very different slant on what the verse seems to say, so beware of misquoting the Lord.
• Be caring. Just because you found a scripture verse or two that seems suitable for your topic at hand, you still need to connect the topic to the verse and to present it with relevant context, with sincere concern for your listener, and in a way that honors God. Remember the old saying, “People don’t care what you know, until they know that you care.”
• Be guided. In case you’re having to deal with a difficult pastoral issue, make sure you seek guidance from someone whom you know has godly wisdom that you can trust, and who can co-discern with you.

DIY

I want to end this article with a scripture verse to encourage you about this service of yours that involves “discernment“. But why don’t I let you dig up the verse yourself. Go ahead, and search for this topic (“discernment” or “spiritual discernment”) in this topical bible I mentioned above — http://www.openbible.info/topics/ — and feast on God’s Word. May the Holy Spirit encourage you to use scripture “for every good work”. God bless you.