How To Study The Bible - Sunday

How To Study The Bible

Learning To Study The Bible (And Understanding The Importance Behind It)

One of the biggest problems in the church today is biblical illiteracy. There are 2.18 billion Christians around the world.

In America, 65% of people identify as Christian.

But for some reason only 55% of those Christians read the Bible more than twice a month and for Gen Z only 25% read the Bible more than twice a month. Those are low numbers!

But I get it. The Bible is overwhelming, it’s a huge book that probably doesn’t make sense to you at all.

You may think it’s boring and hard to understand, because I know I did before I learned how to study it and the importance behind it. But real growth doesn’t just come from Church, it’s also from developing a personal relationship with God and studying Scripture.

SO I’m going to share my top 5 tips on how to study the Bible.

Before you begin, you need to get yourself prepared.

How To Study The Bible Effectively

Start by picking the right translation for you.

When studying deep, I tend to use the ESV or NASB translations, but when I’m just reading casually I love The Passion Translation or the NLT. Maybe you prefer the King James version or the NIV version? Or another version? No Problem!

Some people may disagree, but as long as you are getting into the Word and growing closer to God I’m not picky on which translation you should or shouldn’t use.

So, pick the right translation, bring a notebook, and always pray before you read. Ask God to open your eyes to Him and to hear clearly on what He wants to teach you today.

All right, so now that you have your desired translation and tools in hand you are ready to get started, here’s how you can get the most from your Bible reading and subsequent studying of the Bible verses and letters.

5 Tips on How to Get Started with Studying the Bible

#1 Understand the Bible from a big picture perspective so the details make sense. I think more people should do a quick read through the whole Bible over 90 days just to get the basics down before diving deeper.
 
 
#2 Once you have an understanding of the storyline, pick a book to study deeper. I’d suggest starting with Gospel, maybe Luke or John at first. And read that book 5 times through. If it’s a bigger book it doesn’t have to be in one sitting, but don’t just read a few verses a day. A lot of the books of the Bible were written as letters without chapters or verses so we need to get a feel for the letter as a whole before digging into the verses.
 
 
#3 Learn as much as you can about the background of the book. See who wrote it, who did they write it to, when was it written, where was it written from. Knowing the context of the letter is going to play a major part in what the letter says and how it influences you.
 
 
#4 Go through the book slower now. Studying verse by verse. Word by word. Taking your time with it. Take note to why it was written and how it plays into the big picture of the Bible as a whole.
 
 
#5 Ask yourself the question, how does this apply to me and my life? I believe that we can pull a life lesson from every book of the Bible today even though it was written a long time ago. So find what that truth is and journal about it.
 
 

Those are my top 5 tips on how to study the Bible. Once you’ve completed those 5, repeat steps 2-5 with another book of your choice. Maybe it’s one of Paul’s letters this time, like Ephesians or Romans. Have fun with it. The key is to not get overwhelmed. Studying the Bible is a marathon, not a sprint. The more time you spend in God’s presence and studying Scripture, the more you will see God moving in the midst of your life.  

Praising Him,

Z

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