“What an answer to my prayer!”
Denise had been a Christian since the tender age of twelve. But it wasn’t until after she was married with two children that she realized something…
She needed to attend a Bible study.
Oh, she had always been very active in church. She was used to other people telling her what the Bible meant. But she hadn’t been a part of a Bible study where she was challenged to discover God’s Word for herself.
Then someone invited her to a Precept training workshop.
“I remember distinctly sitting in the back of the room, taking all this in and thinking, ‘What an answer to my prayer!’” Denise says. “The like-minded people who were there were engaged in God’s Word in a way that I had never experienced before. Tools to know how to study God’s Word. I literally sat and cried.”
Despite the impactful experience of the workshop, Denise wasn’t confident that she could ever lead others in studying God’s Word.
But God knew differently, and Denise started a Bible study anyway…
It began with just three—Denise and two other women. Then slowly they began adding to their little group.
Denise explains, “We had no publicity; it was just word of mouth. Women who were eager to study the Bible using the inductive study method: observing, interpreting, and applying [it] in our daily walk with God.”
This continued for years. But little did Denise know that everything in her life was about to change. She was about to understand even more deeply the real impact that God’s Word—the same Word she had been studying with Precept—would have as a source of stability. It would help her stand on the foundation of Jesus amidst impossibly hard times.
Denise says, “I was about to encounter this active living Word in a whole new way. I understood truth. Now I would experience His grace through a very difficult season in my life.”
First, Denise lost both of her parents back-to-back within the span of two years. Then just one year later, she lost her husband as well. To top it off, within two months after these losses she had two major surgeries. She found herself in a fog of deep grief, and there were times when she felt she couldn’t even pray.
Of course, Denise knew the Bible. And when people quoted Scripture to her, she knew it was true, even though the sorrow and pain swept over her and collided with her sense of understanding.
Denise says, “God met me with great compassion and healing that only He could bring. The power of His presence—no words were needed. I just had to be still and know that my God was there.”
Her family, friends, and church were sources of support, and she even continued to lead Bible studies during this season of grief.
“I thank God for the [previous] years of equipping and training me for life. After that season [of grief] God’s Word became even more alive like never before.”
Eventually, Denise felt the need to move her Bible studies from her home into her church, with her pastor’s support. This change opened the door for many more in her church and community to participate in the group. Currently, Denise says that it’s a “vibrant, active class who loves discussion.”
Denise’s heart goes out to the newcomers in her class, as she remembers her own search for an answered prayer before she came to that Precept workshop all those years ago. She says, “I always tell the ladies the most important thing while studying the Word [is that] you will have an audience with the living God and His Son Jesus Christ.”
Denise is thankful that she found Precept 30 years ago. She has recently explored one of the new Yarrow studies for young adults and thinks it’s “perfect for this new generation.”
As a Precept partner, you can make an impact on the next generation, as well as men and women just like Denise. By giving to Precept, you support the sharing of God’s Word—and the changed lives that are the result.
