How Do I Study The Bible More Effectively?
The Bible is the greatest book on the planet. Why? The Bible is written by men and women of God who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. The writings of the Bible reflect the state of man (lost without God), the heart of God, the separation of sin, life without the redeeming resurrection of Jesus (see the Old Testament), the unfulfilling pursuit of money, sex, and glory (Solomon in Ecclesiastes), and the heart of a God lover (David in the Psalms). It would take volumes of books to explain the beauty of God’s Word.
How can you get the most out of your reading of the Bible? Here are seven things to keep in mind.
- Set a time to read
- Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you
- Use a Bible reading plan
- Don’t rush your studies
- Look at the original languages
- Read a daily Proverb
- Study Bible topics
- Set A Time To Read the Bible
Set aside time each day to read your Bible; morning or evening, lunchtime or afternoon. If you want to know God better, you’ve got to know His Word. He speaks through the Bible. Set aside the time you can and expand it. The more time you spend, the deeper you go with God. If you want to start light, begin with 15 minutes each day, then increase the time you spend from there.
2. Pray And Ask The Holy Spirit To Teach You
The Lord Jesus teaches us that we have the Holy Spirit here on the Earth to help us (John Chapter 17). Before you jump into the Bible reading of the day pray something like this
“Father God, I thank you for your love, I thank you for your Bible. I pray that You teach me, by the leading of Your Holy Spirit, what I need to know today. Reveal Your heart and wisdom to me through Your Word in Jesus’ Mighty Name, AMEN!”
3. Use A Bible Reading Plan
It is important that you fellowship with the Father every day. Your time in prayer and the reading of the Word is how you fellowship. When you decide to go on a drive or ride, you have to look at a map and determine where you are going. For Bible Reading, it is important to have a plan. There are many ways you can read through the Bible in one year. You can use a mobile app such as OliveTree, the Youversion Bible, or Accordance Bible software for example. The other option is using your church software such as here
4. Don’t Rush Your Reading
Knowing God is not a sprint, it’s a marathon, much like many human relationships. It’s great to have read through the Bible from cover to cover in a year or even shorter. However, Bible study is not about the quantity, it’s about the quality of your read. Jesus Christ is alive and resurrected in the New Testament. We live in the New Testament so that’s the best place to spend your time. More on how to spend your time in a moment.
5. Look At The Original Languages
Much like English is the international language of our generation, Greek was the language of the world during the writing of the New Testament 2,000 years ago. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew as that was the language two or three thousand years before that. Get your hands on a Strong’s Concordance or some other tool that allows you to see what the original word means. For example, in John 3:17, we hear about the world being ‘saved’. That is the Greek word SOZO. In other places the word is translated healed, made whole, or made complete such as when the woman with internal bleeding was healed in Mark 5:28. Study the original languages
6. Read A Daily Proverb
There are 31 chapters in the book of Proverbs. If you want to gain wisdom and know-how for every day life, you should thoughtfully read a proverb. If today is the 15th of the month, read Proverbs chapter 15. Remember, As you read, please read the context. Some read and pray Proverbs chapter 30: 7-9 but don’t realize in Proverbs 30:2 the writer says they are stupid. It’s important to always read the context.
7. Study A Bible Topic
Bible study is fun. It’s like opening a treasure chest. A powerful way to see the hear the voice of God as you study out topics like healing, prosperity, love, faith, protection, blessings, character studies (Daniel, Rahab, David, Moses, Esther, and many others). You can do topical studies by looking up a word in the concordance in back of your Bible. Other great tools are The Thompson Chain Reference Bible, The Dake Annotated Reference Bible, the New Spirit Filled Life Bible, as well as the Nave’s Topical Bible.
With these seven points, you begin a journey. It’s not a day trip, it’s an adventure for your lifetime. There is nothing more exciting than discovering God’s plan for your life.
May God bless you abundantly as you study, pray and meditate [think deeply] on the Word of God!
Do you have God’s power in your daily life?
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