In this video on the Bible study series, we’re going to dive into HOW do you actually study Scripture? This is one of my favorite topics to talk about because it’s the thing that allows you to hear the voice of God in your life. This is going to be the thing that helps you dive deep into Scripture and not be one big marathon of reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
We are going to be taking this one verse at a time and will be using my favorite Bible Study Collective Inductive Bible Study cards. This is going to be a 5 step process that will walk you through how to study one verse at a time.
1. Prayer
This should be your VERY first step when it comes to anything you do in your life, especially studying the Bible. We can’t do this without the Lord’s help. We are human, we are sinful people and we need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us. We need clarity and wisdom, and we need the ability to simply get quiet and focus on what the Holy Spirit has for us.
We are a generation of busy, a generation of chaos, and a generation of a lot of input and we are constantly listening and watching. What this first steps does is helps us to get quiet and slows us down.
2. Choose a Scripture and Observe
Secondly, when you’re doing your daily Bible reading, let’s say there is a passage that sticks out to you so you highlight it. Take that one verse or passage and write it down in your journal. Next, you will observe what the Scripture is saying. Obviously, you are not trying to instantly figure out everything the text says, even if you think you already know. You are going to write down what it is that you’re reading and ask yourself these 6 questions:Who wrote the text? Who was this text written for? Who was the passage about?
1. Where was the text written? Where did the events take place?
2. What is happening? What is the subject of the text? What doctrine is taught? What commands are given?
3. What is the purpose of this text? Why did the authors say this? Why are they acting this way?
4. What time period was the text written? And when did the event take place?
5. How is truth evident in the text? How is God’s character revealed in the passage?
6. How can you apply this to your life?
3. Interpretation
Next, is the interpretation of the text. It is your job now to investigate what the text actually means. Important to realize is that we must look at the context as a whole, which means you need to look at the chapters before and after the text you’re reading. This is where we often get it wrong. Too often we take one Scripture and don’t do the work for observation and consider what was taking place.
If you want to interpret the text correctly, this is where cross-referencing is crucial. Here are some questions you can ask yourself as you are interpreting:
1. What is the cultural and/or historical context of the passage?
2. What else do I know about the book?
3. What other Scripture passages might help me better interpret this passage?
4. Have I overlooked anything or made my own assumptions?
5. What is the clearest meaning of the text?
4. Application
In this step, we ask the question, “How does what I just read apply to my life?” What does what I’ve just learned teach me about God, the church, etc? Contemplate those questions to see how this can change your heart and life and then help someone else with it.
This is the step where you can take steps forward, repent of any sins going on, and more from what we just learned in our study.
5. Prayer
Yes, we start and end with prayer. We’ve applied everything to our hearts, we want to close out the time praying for the things we just learned. An example of this is, “Lord I ask for your forgiveness for _________ [fill in the blank]. Help me to apply this passage you’ve written into my life.” Therefore, we need to end this time by talking to Him every single time.
Again, we are human, we are sinful, and we need to ask the Lord for His help. And God will be gracious to those who ask.
There you have it – this is how we study Scripture. Two other tools I want to highlight for you are the Bible Study Collective Inductive Bible Study journal and the Daily Grace Co. Bible Handbook. You can complete this whole process in this journal and use the handbook to help provide clarity where needed. These are some of my favorites! Additionally, these tools not only help me understand Scripture more clearly but help me memorize it too.
All in all, it is so important for us to remember that the Lord has so much He wants to teach us through His Word, we just need to surrender our hearts and our time to learn from Him. With this in mind, if you’ve never studied the Word super in-depth before, start with these 5 steps – it will be life-changing! As you start getting deep into the Word it will radically change your life! Finally, if you have any questions leave a comment below. I would love to hear what you’re learning during your time in the Word.
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