Yes, I did - all the time that I was mentally "in" Perhaps this is where you were going wrong.
I would read the quoted scriptures, try to figure out how they applied, even cross referenced them, but usually it would lead me on a big goose chase
Apart from when I was young and naive, my studying was a preparation for a talk or something. I just had to figure out how to use this material , not to understand it. I realized some years prior to my exit that it did not do to think too deeply. The more I thought about it , the more questions came to mind, and I did not want to face them, then. So I just read it , tried to make it interesting to the audience and got on with it .