listen carefully
Back when I was in school, I remember being glad when a teacher taught "by the book". Though they gave lectures, everything they spoke of was already in the textbook. At exam time, I only needed to study the book, and I could do reasonably well, whether or not I listened to the teaching.
There was a significant drawback to this manner of learning. Following the exams, I retained very little from those courses. Once I regurgitated the text onto the exam, it was as if there was a flushing of my mind to make room for the next text and tests. But the classes in which the teacher taught, using the text as a companion, were the ones that I can remember to this day.
Jesus says, Be careful how you listen, for whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them (Luke 8:18). As we seek to hear the Word of God we need to do so carefully, not merely perusing and parroting the text, but listening for The Teacher behind it, The Holy Spirit, who has been sent to guide us into all the Truth (John 16:13). We may think we're "getting it" by just reading it. But without prayer, thought, and listening for that Voice Who highlights and clarifies the text, what we think we have received may well be taken away from us over time. But those who will hear, read, study, memorize, and meditate on God's Word will find it leading them to timeless Truths and to The Eternal Truth Himself, Who will give more than the printed page to those who listen carefully to His Word.