How I Study the Bible

How I Study the Bible

We all go through dry periods where we struggle getting into God’s word. I recently got out of one and wanted to share with y’all how I study in the hopes that it will help you get into the word. I try to set aside 20 minutes a day for personal study, and that small amount of time has totally changed my relationship with the Lord. I hope that this helps you! :)

The first thing I do is decide where I want to study. Right now, I am working my way through Romans, but earlier this year I went through Genesis. I personally like to jump around, but you can go through chronologically or study sections, like Paul's letters or the books of prophecy.

Once I know where I want to study, I break it up into sections. Depending on the chapter length, I may study a chapter a day or I might break it up into even smaller sections than that. I then read the section I selected for that day at least twice, sometimes three times. I always read it aloud once because it helps me to understand it better.

As I am reading, I will mark any words that I do not know. I then go in and write the definitions in next to that word. I typically do this after the second reading and then reread it a third time, replacing the words I did not know with their definitions.

Then, I look up the Blue Letter Bible commentary on the section I am reading. I read the commentary and write down any notes that stand out to me. I might write down definitions, historical context, or a statement that explains what is going on. For example, Romans 1:1-7 was hard for me to understand, but the Blue Letter Bible compared it to a 60 second gospel, which is something I do understand. I wrote that down in the margins and reread those verses in that context and it made so much more sense.

From each section, I pick out two verses to highlight. The first is the “main verse”, the thesis if you will. This is the verse that encompasses the idea of the section. The second verse I will highlight is my favorite verse from the section. For example, in Romans 2, the “thesis” is Romans 2:13  and my favorite verse is Romans 2:29.

The last thing I do is write down my “what now?”. I just read this whole thing, but what is the point? How am I going to change how I live based on this? What have I learned that will change how I see things? You will never read the word of God and leave unchanged. The point of this step is to what inside of you is changed.

What is your favorite book of the bible to study? Mine is Romans! This is my fourth time reading it and I am still discovering so many layers within each verse! Please comment down below, I would love to hear from you!