An important part of the Christian life is reading God’s Word because this is how God speaks to us.

• 2 Peter 1:20-21 – Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
• 2 Timothy 3:16-17- All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 
• 1 Thessalonians 2:13- And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.

Another important aspect of the Christian life is prayer because we have a personal God that hears our prayers and answers them.

• John 5:14 says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”
• John 9:31 – “We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will.”
• 1 Peter 3:12 – “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

These are so important and yet whenever I speak to young people, they share how much of a struggle this is for them. For this reason, a key part of CMT is Bible journaling, discipleship and prayer. It is my desire that this will help you to develop these spiritual disciplines, which you will hopefully continue once you have completed CMT. It’s so important that you see these as an opportunity to grow in your faith and not as a task to be ticked off.  

COMA Method Explained (Greg Clarke, Matthew A Malcolm, Matthew Brain., The Bible Overview: How to Understand the Bible as a Whole, Matthias Media)

The COMA process is a simple way of approaching any passage of the Bible that we come across. It has four stages, which should take place after you’ve prayed for understanding and read through the passage:

1. CONTEXT—Where does this passage fit? 
2. OBSERVATION—How is this passage communicated? 
3. MEANING—What does this passage mean? 
4. APPLICATION—Why does this passage matter?

We are going to add PRAYER because of the importance of this in our relationship with God

CONTEXT
The context of a passage is the answer to the question: “Where does it fit?” To answer this, you need to address the following issues:

• Where does the content of this passage fit into the bigger story of the Bible?
• What has happened so far?
• What is still to come?
• What is the main thrust of this book of the Bible?

For instance, in trying to understand Colossians 3:12-13, it might be worth reading through all of Colossians. We would see that the book as a whole is talking about Christ’s rule over everything, and what it means for how we live now as we wait for his return. The book looks back at what Jesus has done (all the way back to creation), and forward to what God will bring to completion through Jesus. Certainly, we should read the verses before verse 13, since verse 13 begins with the word “Therefore”. In verses 5-11, we see the nature of the new self and we learn that in Christ the divisions between his people—Jew and Gentile, circumcised and uncircumcised—have been removed.

OBSERVATION

Observation refers to how something is communicated. It’s worth asking questions such as:

• What type of writing is this book/passage?
• Is there any way that the passage can be naturally broken down into smaller sections?
• Are there any words that seem particularly important, or that are hard to understand?
• How is this writing structured? (E.g. is it a poem? A proverb? A letter?)

With our Colossians passage, we’ll notice that it’s part of a letter to various Christians (see 1:2). We might divide our passage up into smaller parts and try to summarize what each part is about. And we might notice that some of the wording that is used is quite significant. The phrase “God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved” has an Old Testament ring to it. Israel is often called by God his “chosen” and “beloved” (e.g. Deuteronomy 7:7-8; Psalms 135:4; Isaiah 45:4, 65:9). That’s the observation of our passage of the Bible.

MEANING

That brings us to meaning (“What does this passage mean?”). Here, we draw together the things we have already found out, and ask the questions:

• What does this passage tell us about God, Jesus, God’s people, or the world?
• What might this passage have meant to its original hearers?
• How can we sum up the meaning of this passage in our own words?

In Colossians, Paul identifies Christian people among “God’s chosen” and his “dearly loved”. With this identity, they are urged to behave in a manner worthy of their God. Just as Israel’s special relationship with God meant they were to act in a holy fashion, so those who know Christ are to aim for perfect unity through their holiness and love. That’s the meaning of the passage.

APPLICATION

The final stage of the process is the application (“Why does this matter?”). Ask yourself:

• How does the message of this passage instruct us today?
• Does it require us to change our understanding of who God is, what God does, or how God works in relation to his people or the world?
• Does it require that we change the attitudes we hold, or the way we live?

From our Colossians passage, we might conclude that we need to rethink our identity and our task as Christians, or as a church. Do we understand that we are extremely privileged—chosen and loved by God? We would also be challenged about the way we relate to each other. Do we bear with each other and forgive each other? Do we seek to love each other and thus find unity? That’s the application of the passage.

PRAYER

The idea here is to write a short prayer relating to your reflections.

• What do you want to say to God?
• What is God saying to you?

Use the following acronym ‘ACTS’ to write your prayer to God

• Adoration: What do you want to give God praise for?
• Confession: What would you like to offer to God for forgiveness, healing, renewal or restoration?
• Thanksgiving: What blessings in your life do you want to thank God for?• Seeking: What needs, or desires do you want to lay before God?