Bible Study How To: 8 Simple Tips for Studying the Bible
If we are seeking the Lord, we are positioned for success in studying the Bible.
Many of Jesus’ disciples had no formal training in academic study of the Scriptures, yet they had great revelations of the things of God because they were simply devoted to Jesus.
Here are 8 tips for studying the Bible.
1. Start with worship
Before opening up the Bible, start by spending time in worship. This helps us get into God’s presence and connect with Him. We enter God’s presence through praise (Psalm 100:4). By starting off our time with God with praise and worship, we are inviting Him to speak to us personally and through His Word. We are creating space to be led by the Spirit in our Bible study so we are not led by our fleshly intellect.
2. Pray and wait
After a time of worship to help us enter His presence, it’s helpful to then begin a time of prayer and waiting on Him. Prayer helps our hearts open up to Him as we bring Him our requests, questions and honest thoughts. Then, our prayer time can turn into simply focusing on the Lord in silence.
This is all helping to open our heart to Him in an authentic way instead of just rushing into Bible study. Worship, prayer and stillness help us connect with the Author before we begin reading His book.
3. Open the Word
Maybe during our worship and prayer time, we’ve felt led by the Spirit toward a certain Scriptural passage or concept, so go after that. Even if we don’t have a specific direction of where to begin reading, we can simply begin a new book of the Bible we haven’t read before or review a familiar passage or verse.
I personally don’t believe Bible study is a formula, because we are each in our own relationship with God and we have to let Him take us on a journey of knowing Him.
Our part is to simply position ourselves to receive from Him and He is faithful to give us our daily bread. That is why many of these steps are preparation for Bible study, because we need to authentically connect to God from our hearts before we ever jump into His Word.
4. Look up the original word meanings
The Bible was written in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic. So, we have to discover the original meaning of words based on these languages.
Once we’ve found a verse we want to learn more about, just google that verse with the word “lexicon.” For example, “John 3:16 lexicon.”
I like to then go on Bible Hub where I can click on each word from that verse. I then read the Strong’s Concordance from that word to discover how it was used in its original language. Then, I look at the root words if there are any to dig deeper into the meaning of that word. There’s so much richness in discovering the original meanings of the words in the Bible.
5. Research the concept
After we’ve found a word, verse or passage, we can dig deeper by letting Scripture interpret Scripture.
Research all the places where this word or concept appears to build on what we’ve already learned. The Strong’s Concordance will show every place where a particular Hebrew/Greek word appears.
We may also want to research the background of a passage. It can be helpful to understand the history and the context of what was taking place at that time. Further, we can research the cultural customs of the day or even look up general information about plants or animals if that applies to our study. God often used plants and animals to communicate deeper meanings, so discovering information about them will help us understand what He is saying.
6. Write it down
After we’ve researched the original definitions and discovered how our word or topic fits into the whole context of Scripture, we cand write down our findings. Keeping a journal of our relationship with God helps us keep track of what He is teaching us and can encourage us in the future when we re-read our writings.
7. Ask the big question
The reality is that knowledge makes us prideful, while love builds up and is greater than knowledge (1 Cor. 8:1).
I like to always ask myself the big question during my Bible study…
How does this apply to love?
Knowledge should be used for love. Everything we study should help us love God and others better. We have to check our motives for Bible study and ensure we are studying these concepts for the purpose of knowing God better, otherwise we are just accumulating vain knowledge.
If we are studying the Word with the heart to better love God and people, we’re on the right track.
8. Meditate
Throughout the day, meditate on what God revealed through His Word. Think about what it helped us realize about God, about ourselves and where we can grow.
Some things are only meant to be treasured in our heart between us and the Lord. However, if an opportunity comes along, we may want to encourage someone with what we’ve learned in our quiet time.
I hope these tips encourage and empower you for your own Bible study times with the Lord!