Ways To Study

There are some very easy ways to study God’s word. The most important thing to remember is that you pick up God’s word and just start! Grab yourself a Bible and open it up and start reading. The Holy Spirit will help you learn, grow, and understand. Trust him.

I am going to give you a few ideas that will aid you in creating a time of study. This is not just simply reading for content. It is going deeper and investigating for more knowledge and revelation. It is taking time to look more closely and understand what is being said.

It’s like the difference between knowing someone’s name, number, and address and knowing their hopes, dreams, and aspirations. It’s the difference between describing someone by their looks and describing them by their heart and what makes them tick. It is more than just being acquainted with, it’s the deeper, more intimate things. The Bible describes it as the difference between drinking milk and eating meat. (1 Corinthians 3:1-3, Hebrews 5:12.)

So are you read to start chewing on some meat? Want to dig deeper? Are you ready for more than just reading for content? Then here you go.

Before you begin remember to take your time. There is no rush. This can be a project you take weeks and months on. The goal is to learn and have fun while you are doing it.

Topical – One very easy way to study God’s word is topical. God’s word addresses so many issues about our lives. God covers topics like money, sex, parenting, friendship, marriage, business, prayer, morals, behaviors, and the list goes on. So it’s up to you. You pick a topic that you want more knowledge and understanding about. Pick a topic you are struggling with. Pick a topic that you want to grow and mature in. Pick a topic that piques your interest. Pick something that you want deep intimate knowledge about.

After you pick a topic, get a journal and begin writing down all the scriptures that deal with that topic. Depending on the topic this can take awhile. You can use a concordance or even the internet to find the locations in the Bible that address your topic. After you have written down all the Bible passages, go back and read each one of them and use your journal to write a description of what you read. Look up the original text and learn the definition and meaning behind it. Be careful in your study of the topic to look at it in its setting. How is it being used? What are the circumstance? What is the cultural setting? Ask yourself deep probing questions and make sure you journal your discoveries. Make sure you are writing down all the details as you gather evidence for what God has to say about your topic.

Attack your topic like an investigator and uncover everything there is to know. Don’t leave a stone un-turned. When you are done you will have a journal full of information and some insightful revelation from God’s word about your topic.

Pick a person – Do any of the men or women in the Bible intrigue you? Do you have great respect for or admire anyone in scripture? Is there someone you despise? Are you curious why they are in there? Well, study him or her. Find all the passages, sections of scripture, and books that talk about him or her. Journal these passages and write some notes specifically about what is said. Read and study each section separately. Then study their behaviors. What happened in their life? Why are they in the Bible? Did they make mistakes? Can I learn from them? Did they serve God? How? What does their life tell me about God? Is there an example for me to follow? What can I learn about their personality, character, or personal life? What life lesson can I learn from them? How can I know God better because of them? Did they encounter Jesus?

There are so many things we can learn from looking at the lives of men and women in the word of God. Through the study of other’s lives we can come to know God in a deeper more intimate way. The character of God is revealed in how he interacts with and engages his children as well as the lost broken people who reject him. When we study the lives of those who are written in the word we come to understand that we are not much different from them. We can see ourselves and realized God is a just and fair God and he will engage and meet me in the same way he did them. There is value in knowing the men and women in the word. God put them there for a reason. Learn from them, grow in knowledge because of them, and fall deeper in love with God as you study them.

Individual books – The Bible is 66 individual books put together as one text. Together they tell the whole story. It starts with the Eternal God creating and ends with the Eternal God creating anew. The Bible is a love story. It tells of the love of God who created us and wants a relationship with us. It speaks of our sin which separates us from him and his solution to bridge that gap through the blood and sacrifice of Jesus. It give us hope and a promise of Christ’s return and our reunion and eternal future with God.

The individual books of the Bible each explain a different part of that story. Even though each one is part of the bigger story, each and every book of the Bible stands alone. They are all a part of God’s word but they all have a different perspective, insight, and revelation.

It is important to study in depth and gain a deeper knowledge of the books themselves.

Pick a book of the Bible and focus for a season on learning all you can about it. Find out who wrote it. See when it was written. Learn about the culture and history of the people during that time. Journal your research.

Then take time to do a quick reading to see what the content and subject matter is. Familiarize yourself with the book. Then go back and do a slow and methodical study of what the text is saying. Journal your thought, ideas, questions, and assessment as you read. Stop and take time to find answers to your questions. Break down verses and chapters by asking who, what, where, why, and how questions. Simple questions lead to deeper understanding. Who is speaking? Who are they talking to? What is the subject matter? Why are they writing? What is their point? What is happening? Is there is lesson? Take time to find out the details of what is being taught.

When you chose to study a book of the Bible, it can take months and even years to grasp what is being taught and to learn all the back story and history that goes with it. When you are learning about the history and back story you will need to look at other writings from historians and religious documents. Be careful in your research. Make sure they are reputable and can be verified. How much time you spend and how deep you go depends on you. As long as you don’t put pressure on yourself you will enjoy the process and will have a deeper understanding and appreciation for God’s word.

Those are just three different ways you can tackle God’s word. As you spend time growing and learning you will find new way to study. Your personality and desires will play a role on what you choose to study and how you will do it. Again, the most important thing is for you to develop of time where you get alone and spend time in God’s word. You will never regret spending time with God!