Today’s post is part of a series entitled “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Evangelists” by Ministry Council member Rob Wolgemuth. Read the introduction here and Habit #1 here.

Habit #2: Saturate yourself with the Word of God through regular times of study:

Both men were students of the Bible; they both daily set aside extensive time for regular Bible study which enabled both to saturate their ministries and the sermons they preached with the Word of God: Dallimore said: “Whitefield in the pulpit was a reflection of Whitefield in the study. The hours on his knees with the Bible, the Greek New Testament and some rich puritan volume spread out before him, were his preparation for this pressing and powerful ministry.” Additionally, Whitefield’s incredible knowledge of the Bible greatly aided him in pulling together talks and sermons (often at a moment’s notice) from his memory of God’s Word (Dallimore p. 83). Torrey about Moody: “Every day of his life, I have reason for believing, he arose very early in the morning to study the Word of God, way down to the close of his life.” Torrey said that Moody used to rise at about four o’clock in the morning to study the Bible. About which Moody said: “If I am going to get in any study, I have got to get up before the other folks get up.” He would shut himself up in a remote room in his house, alone with his God and his Bible. Moody once said of the Bible, “Oh, you may talk about power; but, if you neglect the one Book that God has given you as the one instrument through which He imparts and exercises His power, you will not have it.” He also said, “Get full of Scripture and then you can’t help but say it. It says itself. Keep the world out of your heart by getting full of something else.” Torrey concludes his section on Moody’s knowledge of the Bible by crediting the enormous crowds Moody would draw directly to his knowledge of the Bible, “If you wish to get an audience and wish to do that audience some good after you get them, study, study, STUDY the one Book, and preach, preach, PREACH the one Book, and teach, teach, TEACH the one Book, the Bible, the only Book that is God’s Word, and the only Book that has power to gather and hold and bless the crowds for any great length of time” (Capitalization by Torrey, Chapter 3). Join us tomorrow at God Centered Life to read the third habit, and over the coming week to find all seven. You can sign up here to receive email notifications when new posts are published. ]]>