Many years ago I read about George Mueller – in my opinion, one of the greatest men of faith of recent history.  Every day as he would meet alone with God to pray and read the Bible he always asked some key question to help apply God’s Word & Truth to his life.

At least 25 years ago, I took those questions (as have others) and made them into an acrostic. My acrostic spells out ENSPEC; the idea for me is that I want to INSPECT every scripture I read and get everything out of it possible.   I want to know what it means and how God wants me to understand and apply it in my life. 

I started using ENSPEC over 25 years ago and still use it today when I read God’s Word.  It’s an invaluable tool in helping me learn how to apply specific scripture in my life.  It’s something I’ve taught to thousands of students and adults. 

When I read & study a passage, I don’t ask God to show me answers to every question – I just ask Him to reveal to me what I need to apply in my life and that’s usually an answer to one of the 6 questions.  There are times when I don’t find anything specific and that’s fine, but most days there are definite things I can take with me and apply to my attitudes, actions or both.

Here are the questions I ask:

E – Is there an EXAMPLE in this passage I should follow?

N – Is there a NEW THOUGHT about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit or even about Satan for me to grasp?

S – Is there a SIN revealed in this passage that I need to repent of and confess?

P – Is there a PROMISE that I can claim.

E – Is there an ERROR revealed in this passage that I should avoid?

C – Is there a COMMAND for me to obey?

I challenge you to start using these questions as you read and study God’s Word and make the decision to apply what you learn as you read.