How I Study the Bible for Myself

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Everybody knows that Christians ought to read the Word.  That's a given. How you read it is another matter.

Three Ways to Study

In my experiences there are three approaches:

1. Bulk reading
   
2. Word analyzing
   
3. Topical reading
   

My husband falls into the second category.  He will start reading a book, get interested in a specific word, and start hunting the spiritual and practical applications of that particular word.  I, on the other hand, like category one.

For me, if I do not start at Genesis and read through to Revelation, I find it hard to see "big picture" God is painting.  When I got saved fresh out of college, I knew nothing about the Word. Starting with zero knowledge it made sense to pick it up and read it just like any other book.  What I found reading the Bible this way is that while you miss a lot of in-depth analysis and revelations, you're able to absorb the Word a lot quicker.  

Another advantage to bulk reading is that you see the context of each verse.  The Bible was not written by chapter and verse.  This headings were added later so we could easily reference Scripture.  If you spend all of your time hopping from verse to verse, you run the risk of misinterpreting what you have read.  For example, you might think a particular promise is referring to the Church when the context points to a promise to Israel only.

I believe that in-depth and topical studying are great, but only after you already have a foundation in the Word.  The more familiar I am with Scripture, the more I see how verses and events in the Old-Testament relate to verses in the New-Testament and the more I am able to research what I am reading by similar instances in other books.

Therefore, I suggest reading one book at a time, straight through, until you feel comfortable doing detailed studies.  If you have never read the Bible from cover to cover, begin there.  Books like Leviticus only make sense if you have followed God's plan of salvation that begins in Genesis.

I have also found that if you spend all of your time in the Old Testament, your soul will hunger for the personhood of Christ. If you spend all of your time in the New Testament, your soul will hunger for the personhood of the Father.  You need both, and supplementing my reading is the way I do it.

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A Step by Step Walkthrough

1. I put reading the Word first.  
   
   If I get too far into my morning routine, I'm too caught up in cleaning the kitchen, doing laundry, or picking out an outfit for work to concentrate on God.  If I put Him first, I can stay focused on Him even while doing these other things.
   
   
2. I Pray.
   
   I am human.  How can I possibly understand God without His help?  People will drive me nuts when they say that Scripture is too difficult to understand.  Yes, some of it is very difficult to accept, but not to understand.  God will confuse me with His claims, but His writings are pretty straightforward (unless your in the prophetic visions!)  Things like all the laws of Leviticus are not confusing; they just don't fit the current American culture.
   
   Therefore, what I need is to be able to set aside my views and to read the Bible from the perspective God intended it to be read.  I can do this when I pray for it.  Simply asking the Holy Spirit to give me understanding of the Scriptures goes a long way.  The prayer I actually say before reading is:  "Lord, please help me to understand, retain, and perform your Holy Word."  
   
   If I catch myself feeling like I can just read it on my own because I've got this thing down, I add, "Holy Ghost, please help me, because without You I cannot understand anything."  It's important to realize that I am dependent on God to teach me about Himself.  We are the children; He is the parent.  If i put myself in the position to listen, He will speak.
   
   
3. I Read a Planned Study.
   
   If I do not have a plan, whatever I intend to do will never happen.  That's just me.  Having a dedicated time and goal keeps me accountable and on course.  For me, this means setting aside my morning time for bulk reading.
   
   This is when I read straight through the Bible.  I have found that if I read three chapters a day (three pages when I get to Psalms), I make it through the Bible in just under a year. This is merely twenty to thirty minutes a day.
   
   
4. I Don't Get Hung Up on What I Read
   
   Just sitting own and reading like this is more about listening to a conversation.  I just read it, let it sink in, and try not to question what I read too much.  If I am having difficulty understanding what a verse means, I ask God to show me the meaning and then move on. I have found that God will always reveal the meaning of a verse in His own time, so I don't even try to rush Him anymore.
   
   
5. I Glean One Thing
   
   When I get done, I ask myself the question, "What did that mean?"  I try to find one lesson to take away from the reading and think on that all day.  I don't try to understand everything all at once.  I have found that patience with God will have far better results than trying to cram in every interpretation possible.
   
   
6. I Meditate on and Use the Word
   
   As I said before, I try to think of that one lesson all day.  I had a breakthrough when I realized that the command to mediate on God's Word day and night (Josh 1:8) does not mean to read it every second of my waking; instead, it means to chew on what I have learned all day long.  If I contemplate that one thought I learned over and over I will embed it in my subconscious and then be able to apply it when the situations calls for that wisdom.
   
   Another useful effect of meditating on the Word is that it keeps me focused.  When I'm at work and catch myself getting caught up in my environment, I try to remember what I read and what the main lesson was.  That way I remember to include God in all of my decisions and especially in my responses to other people.  After all, I am renewing my mind daily with the Word not for myself but so that I can serve God and my neighbor.  It does me and God no good to study like crazy only to leave it at home.  As James said, be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only (Jm 1:22).
   
   
7. I Thank God.
   
   When I see how a verse I read that morning or in a previous study instructs me on how to respond to a situation, I thank the Lord.  The Bible says that I should acknowledge God in all of my ways (Prov 3:6).  To me, that includes when I see the fruit of studies in my life. After all, God is a lot more willing to give me more understanding if I respond to a little understanding with a thankful heart.
   
   
8. I Supplement My Study.
   
   After all that, you mean to tell me you do more!  Yes, I do.
   
   No matter how much I read, I need more than a casual consumption of the Word.  When a sermon raises a question, I engage in a topical study to find out how I should respond what was preached.  I also keep a prayer journal where I just talk to the Lord as if I am writing Him a letter.  When I go to bed I either listen to or read from a different book than the one I am studying.  If I am in the Old-Testament, I read from the New-Testament and vice versa.
   
   Again, I don't make this a long, drawn-out process.  Like the twenty or thirty minutes I take in the morning, I take twenty or thirty minutes at night to come back to the Lord with what has happened that day.  That's how I compare notes with God to see how I did, where I could have improved, and often where I receive correction for things I need to make right.

Conclusion

Now that you have read how I study His Word, I want to make one thing clear:  what works for me may not work for you.  God made everybody a unique individual.  As such, each of us has a specific way to talk to and listen to God.  My husband has a very different study pattern than myself.  He prays very differently than I do.  That's not bad; it's just different.

Whether you do in-depth studying, topical studies, or bulk reading, find the method that keeps you interested and engaged in God's Word.  If you become stale in your reading, switch it up.  I recently became burnt out with Proverbs and jumped ahead to the Minor Prophets because I was curious to remember what those prophets preached.  After reading some of the prophets, I then was ready to resume my study at Ecclesiastes.

In conclusion, no matter how you study, DON'T STOP.  Reading the Word is like exercising everyday; it takes discipline, you don't want to do it every day, but when all is said and done, the rewards are outstanding.