How to Study the Bible

Many Christians wonder how they can learn the Bible for themselves; after all, Jesus Christ is their personal Savior and they want to have an intimate connection with Him.  This small paper will instruct you on how to study the Bible with the purpose of gaining tools for a life time of learning.  Your instructor will go through some sample texts to help you get started.

Steps for becoming effective students of God’s word.  [Flexibility and your personality will dictate which of these steps you use.]

1.      Take seriously the study of the Bible; Psalm 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

2.      Buy a notebook especially dedicated to your observations. 

 

3.      Consider buying, downloading, or reading on the Internet a book called “The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge”; think about doing the same with a book called “Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words”.  These books are helpful as references for words or cross references.  Determine to study only the Bible and not commentators, favorite Pastors, or pet authors.

 

4.      Consider using only one Bible for the reading, preferably one that has only the text and not footnotes.  In this way, your mind’s eye will begin to ‘map’ the pages for better memory.  To supplement during the day, consider a pocket Bible if you feel you will use it.

 

5.      Pray that you would study the New Testament and read the Old Testament; ask the Lord to bring you to a small epistle first.  Choose a small book of the New Testament; this is a decision between you and the Lord, but frankly – there are no right or wrong answers here.

 

6.      Pray that you would fill your mind with God’s word.  Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

7.      Read the book of your choosing at least once a day for thirty days; don’t go too fast or too slow.  On the second day, read the book.  On the third day, read the book.  On the fourth day, read the book.  On the fifth day … all the way to the 30^th day, read the book.

 

a.      Start absorbing.  During the first week, you will hopefully experience several things.  First, as you continually repeat the reading, you will start to observe themes, words, and concepts that keep reappearing in the book.

b.      Fatigue.  During the second week to third week, you may struggle with boredom or ‘fatigue’.  This is completely normal, but it is during this time you need to keep going forward.  It would be helpful if you take notes [we will teach you how]; the key is repetition and study.  Half the battle is simply constant reading.

c.       Your Own Outlines:  During the third week, you may be able to choose to write your own outline.  By this time, you may have a fairly good understanding of at least one main point in each chapter; use that key word or phrase to begin outlining.

d.      Be prepared to be amazed at what you have learned!  By the fourth week, you will have a good understanding / grasp of the epistle you are reading.

 

8.      Use your wealth of knowledge for good.  Use what you are learning in your conversation with friends and fellow believers; as you put to practice what you are learning from the Lord, the information will solidify in your mind.  It is yet another technique to help with memory.

 

9.      Take Note:  Use your notebook during the process to write down your observations.

 

10. Once 30 days are up, ask yourself:  Is there more to do, or could I move to another book?

Writing Notes:  Using your notebook to write down your observation will help you to dig in God’s Word for treasures; don’t give in to the temptation to look to other ‘popular’ authors.  They did exactly what you are doing now; isn’t it wonderful to have the Holy Spirit as our teacher?

·       First Impressions:  On day 1, title the page ‘First Impressions’ or something similar.  Here, simply write down your feelings and observations of the book from the first day. Don’t do too much on this day; get your feet wet, read the text, and give your first impressions.

·        Outline:  Dedicate one page to an ‘outline’ of the book; as you believe you grasp the feel of the text, write out the outline.  Give yourself room to change it from day to day as you grow.

·        Questions:  Now one might ask, what am I going to learn?  Take one of your study days to read the Bible, and then write down any and all questions that come to you.  Maybe you keep seeing the word ‘in Christ’, so your question might be:  ‘What does it mean to be in Christ’ or ‘how many times does the author mention being in Christ’?  Perhaps you simply write, “Do word study on the word faith” or “do word concept study on “giving God glory”.  Each question becomes further study material from day to day; it will keep you on track.

·        Themes:  As you continue to study, you will begin to notice themes, repetitive words and phrases, or concepts.  They are important; usually there is a recurring theme in each chapter.

·        Last Day:  Look back at all the Lord has done!  Congratulations; you are a student of God’s word and you learned, through the power of the Holy Spirit, how to learn the Bible on your own!