Are you someone who struggles with reading the Bible? Maybe you don’t know where to start reading the Bible, or perhaps you don’t know what the story is about. If you are like me, reading can be a struggle when trying to comprehend what’s going on. I will teach you how to study the Bible in this blog post.
When I read, I get lost very easily. I get distracted and forget what I had just read 5 seconds before. I also have a difficult time comprehending what the passage I am reading is about.
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As a new Christian, I had no idea where to start reading the Bible. I had no idea what to read, and honestly, reading the Bible was very intimidating because I struggled with reading in general.
I started reading here and there, with no rhyme or reason and I would flip open to a random page and start reading. Now there is nothing wrong with doing that. At least I was in God’s word, right!?
But looking back now that I am a little bit more experienced. There are a few things that I wish I had known from the beginning that made my reading time more efficient.
How To Study The Bible Step 1
Choose A Bible
The first thing you need to know about studying the Bible is knowing which Bible to study. There are many different Bibles, so knowing where to start can be overwhelming and intimidating.
If I could suggest a bible, I would recommend the Bible that I currently study. I have a She Reads Truth Bible. The Translation of that Bible is Christian Standard Bible (CSB). When choosing a Bible, make sure to do your research.
The She Reads Truth Bible has beautiful graphics, an easy to read font and layout. This Bible also has very relatable devotionals in between chapters.
I love to pair my She Reads Truth bible with Bible tabs that make it a little bit easier to navigate. However, the She Reads Truth Bible already has built in chapter tabs.
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In the process of choosing a Bible, keep in mind what you want in your Bible. Whether that be a study Bible, which has some background information about the passage you read. Or maybe you would like a side section in your Bible to take notes.
Keep those things in mind when choosing a bible. I decided on the She Reads Truth Bible because it has background information on each book of the Bible. It shares the date the passage was written, who wrote it, and who it is meant for.
The She Reads Truth Bible also has maps from biblical times. I enjoy looking at these maps because I am a visual learner, and I love being able to make connections with the maps. This Bible also has bible reading plans that help you stay on track with reading. The Bible plans are handy if you are anything like me and love organization.
How To Study The Bible Step 2
Environment
In this day and age, everything is all about aesthetics. Don’t get me wrong, I love an aesthetically pleasing environment, but when it comes to our relationship with God, we need to let the aesthetics go.
Reading the Bible and spending time with God is crucial for our growth as Christians. God commands us to meditate on his word day and night.
However, reading the Bible can get tricky when checking off a list becomes an everyday task.
When this happens, when you are struggling to enjoy sitting down to read the Bible, I have some tips for you. This is when we can start thinking about an aesthetic environment.
What I mean by that is that creating an aesthetic environment is creating an environment that you look forward to, a cozy, comforting, motivating, whatever that may look like for you.
For me, it can look like opening all the blinds in the morning, sitting down to drink my favorite hot tea and reading, or it can look like lighting a candle early in the morning and sipping on coffee. These things help me look forward to spending time with God, and it helps me feel good and motivated.
How To Study The Bible Step 3
What To Read First
When deciding what book to start with in the Bible, it doesn’t matter. But in my experience, I wanted to start with Genesis. I started with Genesis because that’s where it all started. It was the book of creation.
I wanted to learn about God and who He was. I wanted to know his purpose for us here on this earth, and what better place to start than in Genesis, where it talks about the creation of the world and humans.
Once I read about the Creator and His creation, I flipped to the Gospels. The Gospels are the books about Jesus and his life. The Gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
If you start in the gospels, the first book in the Gospels is Matthew. Matthew begins with the birth of Jesus and His growing up. This is a great place to start with learning about the savior of the world. Learning about Jesus helps us as Christians know what example to follow.
How To Study The Bible Step 4
Study Method
I didn’t have a study method when I first started reading the Bible. Even though I was glad to be in the word, I wish I had a method from the beginning.
There are many methods you can choose from. It all depends on how you learn and what works best for you.
I will first explain my method and what I found works for me, and then I will explain other ways that may work for you.
1.Choose A Chapter
My method is when I am reading, I have to read a little at a time so that I can focus on a small passage and go in-depth with it. I choose to read 1 chapter every time I read. So far, reading 1 chapter has worked well for me. Some chapters may be short, and others may be long, but this method has been working for me.
2.Underline
I have a pen in my hand the whole time when I read. I get confused about who is talking to whom in the passage, so something that has helped me is to identify who is speaking to whom.
For example, when I read the Gospels, the books Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I underline every time I see Jesus’s name. If someone is talking to Jesus or about him, I underline it to know who the passage is speaking to. It helps me stay engaged and focused when reading.
I found that giving myself something to do while reading has helped tremendously with my focus and comprehension. I learned this method from an author of study bibles named Kay Arthur. She is known for her many study bible books you can purchase and learn some of her study tools.
3.Highlight
As I read the chapter, I have a highlighter nearby that is the same color as my pen. I am a big fan of color coding. It keeps everything organized in this brain.
When I am reading, I keep a highlighter next to me for when I see something that stands out. If I feel like God is calling me to a verse, I highlight it and keep reading.
As I am reading, I like to highlight words that I need to look up and get a definition for. This is a big part of comprehending the passage for me. I don’t have the best vocabulary, so some things are hard for me to understand, so when I see a word or a phrase I don’t understand, I highlight it and look it up after I am done reading.
When all that is said and done, I should have a couple of words highlighted, some characters underlined, and maybe some verses that stood out to me.
4.Go Back And Study It
I go back and study it in depth by looking up those words and writing their definitions inside my side margin or a notebook I have designated for my Bible. Then I read the verses that I highlighted, and I write down what they mean to me.
The next thing I like to do is think about applying this passage I just read to my life. If you need help, pray and ask God to help you apply this passage to your life.
I like to pray before and after reading. Before I read, I pray for discernment and ask God to help me take something away from the passage. After reading, I like to pray and ask for help to apply the passage to my life, as I mentioned above.
Other Study Methods
For other methods, I have not tried, so I will link the pictures below to show you the different techniques that are all over Pinterest. For more Tips on Studying the Bible, go check out my Pinterest Bible Study Board linked here.
Every once in a while, I like to look up videos or sermons on YouTube about the passage that I am reading. This can be helpful when studying a passage because you are getting an in-depth explanation of the passage. A YouTube channel I like is my church’s online sermons. They post all of their sermons for us to go back and take notes or study.
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I like how my church is bold and not afraid to offend. That may seem harsh, but it’s what we Christians need. We need to be taught the whole Bible and talk about the subjects no one else is going to discuss. My churches pastor does a great job of teaching scripture and making it relatable.
I will link the YouTube channel here.
Another pastor I like to watch is John Brevere. He does a great job of teaching the Bible. Click Here for his channel.
How To Study The Bible Step 5
Study Tools
I mentioned above that I love to color code when studying the Bible. I have tried numerous brands as someone who uses highlighters and pens in their Bible. My favorites are the zebra midliner highlighters and the paper mate flare felt tip pens. They come in all sorts of colors, bright, pastels, neutrals. These I found to be the best on the thin Bible pages. It has minimum bleed-through when using them correctly.
I like to use sticky notes, journals, and bookmarks. Sticky notes are helpful in writing scripture I want to remember. Journals are useful if you don’t have a Bible with a side margin for notes.
A Bible commentary is something you can purchase or look up online. A Bible commentary is an in-depth explanation of verse by verse. I usually look up bible verses in different bible translations to see other ways that the verse may be worded, to get more of an understating of the verse.
A website that I typically use is BibleStudyTools.Com when looking up bible verse meanings.
How To Study The Bible Step 6
Study Group
Studying the Bible alone is essential, but you can also have Bible study groups. Studying the Bible in a group can tremendously help you grow in your faith. First of all, you are surrounded by others with the same beliefs.
Secondly, everyone has a different outtake from reading a passage. It is fascinating to see all the other views on the same passage. Some could point out something that you may not have ever thought about.
Studying in groups also allows you to see how others study the Bible. To see how other people may study the Bible and what methods they use can help you when it comes to studying the Bible.
How To Study The Bible Step 7
Verse Memorization
Remembering scripture is a command from God. Memorizing scripture is putting on the helmet of truth as a Christian. When we put on the helmet of truth, we can fight the battles in our minds by combating our sinful thoughts with scripture.
Not only can we use verse memorization for ourselves, but we can use them to help others in need when they are fighting their battles. We can remind them of the truth. God’s words are the truth.
One way you can memorize verses is by using sticky notes. I love this method because I can write down any verse on a sticky note and stick it somewhere for me to see every day.
When choosing a bible verse to memorize, it may be beneficial to pick a verse in a passage you are reading or select one that correlates with a season you are going through. Choose a verse that will help you fight those negative thoughts.
Starting with a Bible verse every month is an excellent way to start. This way, you can focus on the verse and take time to memorize it. If that seems lightweight, then, of course, add some more verses to the list to remember.
How To Study The Bible Step 8
Consistency
When studying the Bible, consistency is most important. At first, it may feel like a chore. But there is a saying that says, “Discipline turns into devotion.”
This means that you first have to have discipline when reading the Bible. You have to be consistent and read every day. Being consistent takes discipline.
After you create the habit of reading daily, it turns into devotion. It turns into devotion when you stop thinking about creating the habit of reading. When you are focused on creating the habit of reading every day, it can be hard to feel devoted to the word because it feels like a chore at first to sit down and read, even when you don’t feel like it.
But once a habit is created, you won’t have to think twice because it will eventually be a part of your daily routine. That’s when you genuinely feel like you are devoted to reading the word daily.
I read that it takes 59 – 70 days to create a habit. That is about two months. It seems super simple and achievable when it’s broken down like that. If you mark each day for 2 months, it will become a habit, and you won’t have to think about it.
Conclusion
Today we broke down how to study the Bible in 8 easy steps. After reading this, you should be able to know where to start when reading the Bible and how to study it in your unique way. I have listed multiple Bible study options, so now it’s your turn to figure out which method works best for you!
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