Bible Study Tips

Why Should I Study the Bible? 
The Bible is no ordinary book. The words within its pages are like medicine to your soul. It has the power to change your life because there is life in the Word! (See Hebrews 4:12.) And when you discover the power and truth of God’s Word, you will begin to see changes in your life that only this truth can bring. You will even learn how to recognize what the enemy tries to bring against you. The good news is, it won’t take you 30 years to know what you need to know. Just begin where you are right now and determine to stick with it! Every time you study the Bible and pay attention to what you’re reading, you’re learning something. Proverbs 4:20-22 says, “My son attend to my words…for they are life to those who find them…” The word “attend” means to pay attention to, give some time to something. To attend to the Word of God is a lot more than just reading; it’s meditating on it. We need to get into agreement with what God wants us to do because, as the writer of Proverbs says, these words are life! When you need an encouraging word, or you’re in a negative environment, it’s good to know that you can find life (plus healing and health) in God’s Word.

What Do I Study?
There’s really no wrong place to start.  You can study anything that’s going to help you. If you’re dealing with anger or fear, flip to the back of your Bible’s concordance and locate those words to see which scriptures talk about those things.If you can’t think of anything right away, thumb through the concordance in the back of your Bible and pick one of the words. Begin looking at all scriptures referenced with this word and read them. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you, and He’ll lead you and reveal things to you. When I first started studying the Word, I didn’t have very good relationships. I didn’t really understand what love was. As I studied the subject of love, I learned that it’s more than a gooey feeling. It’s a decision on how you’re supposed to trust people. I didn’t know how to love people, or myself. By studying what the Bible says about love, I learned how to love. Then my life began to change. Being able to apply what you study to your life, like I did on the subject of love, is just one picture of what studying the Bible looks like.  Hopefully you understand why you should study with some ideas on what to study.

Four Effective Steps to Studying the Bible
1. Purposely set aside time. I make an appointment with God in the mornings, but if that doesn’t work for you, find a time that does…even if it’s not every day. Whatever you can do, that’s what you need to do. Just start somewhere and you’ll see the fruit that this time brings to your life!
2. Make preparation for your Bible study. Have a place that you enjoy being—a room in your house where you can be alone. Somewhere you are comfortable and like to be.
3. Have all your materials available. You’ll want of course your Bible, but also get a good Bible dictionary, concordance, a pen and paper. That way, you don’t have to stop every few minutes to reference something or write something down.
4. Prepare your heart. Talk to God about things you may need to confess, and enter your study time peacefully and without anything that may block you from receiving revelation during your study.
Make the time in your life to study because there is power in it to change your life and become the person God wants you to be. Once you do, you’ll experience the peace and joy to enjoy every day of your life!

Recommended Study Tools
•Thompson Chain Reference Bible – cross references about different topics throughout the Bible
•Webster's Dictionary
•Strong's Exhaustive Concordance – listing of scriptures organized by category/topic
•Vine's Expository Dictionary – Greek and Hebrew definitions
•BibleGateway.com

Verse Mapping

Ask God to share with you a verse He would like you to focus on for the day. You can find one in a variety of ways.

Bible Study: Use whatever verse provided in your Bible study.
Bible Cracking: Close your Bible, open it to a random page, and point to a verse.
Concordance {Index}: In the back of your Bible, look up a specific word or topic that God is laying on your heart. Perhaps you’ve been struggling with patience, anger, faith, trust, unkind words, etc. Look up the Bible references pertaining to that topic and choose that verse. If your Bible does not have a Concordance or Index, visit BibleGateway and you can do a word search with any translation.
Ask a Friend: Ask someone whom you know to be close with God, perhaps your spouse, sibling, or even one of your children. See if they have a verse to recommend for you.
Devotion: Perhaps in the devotion you read in the morning, a verse jumps out at you, use it for the day!


With that verse, you can do verse mapping….
1. Personalize it…cross out words like “you”, “we”, “whoever”, “them” and write your name above it.
2. Highlight parts that jump out at you.
3. Read the verse in context – the whole chapter or passage.
4. Read the verse in at least two other translations. Note on the card words or phrases from other translations that help you understand or apply the verse.  If you don’t have other translations laying around the house a couple of good resources for several translations are BibleGateway and YouVersion.
5. Find cross references and note anything brings new meaning. Cross references are verses that have similar words or phrases. My Bible has them listed in the center column.  Other’s have them in footnotes at the bottom. Bible Gateway and YouVersion both can help you find some.
6. Circle a word or two and do a word study on it.
● Look up the word in your dictionary and see if the definition gives you any insight.
● Use a topical index and/or concordance in the back of your Bible to find other verses where the word appears.
● Look up synonyms (same meaning) and antonyms (opposite meaning) in a concordance or online Bible tools site to find other verses.
Write a little prayer sharing with God what you’ve learned.

Source: www.heatherbleier.com

Bible Study Tips
1. Are you studying the Bible or just reading it? God doesn’t want us to just comprehend His Word…He wants us to meditate on it. Make regular time for God. Remember: you don't have to go far to find Him. Just close your eyes for a moment, and in the quietness of your own heart you will discover Him. His Holy Spirit is always there, waiting for you. Don't leave Him alone without any attention from you. Make Him glad that He is living in you. Make Him feel welcome and at home. Make Him comfortable. Share everything with Him, because He has come to share everything with you. 1b. Have you had your spiritual meal today? Just as our physical body must be fed, our spirit man must also be fed. But somehow we seem to think we can have a great relationship with God without feeding ourselves with His Word and filling ourselves with His presence. I pray this challenge is helping bring you closer to Him and bringing you the spiritual nourishment you crave.

 2a. Reading/studying the Bible and praying is the best way to start the day. As the day goes on, I can reflect on what I read and see God using it to help me or using me to help others with what I have learned. 2b. I think it is interesting that to meditate means to spend time in quiet thought for religious purposes or relaxation, because when I spend time in His word and meditate on it throughout the day, I can relax, knowing He is in control, that He loves me, that He has a good plan for me, all things that help me to take a deep breath and relax.

3. When you spend time with God, everybody else knows it. You become calmer, you're easier to get along with, and you don't lose control of your emotions as quickly. Your patience increases, and your heart soon understands what God likes and what offends Him. As with any friend, the more time you spend with God, the more like Him you become.

4. If you are diligent to seek God, you will know Him in a deeper, more intimate way. God will reveal Himself to you; He will be found of you. When God wants to manifest Himself, He will, so don't get frustrated trying to find God. Just learn to wait on Him and pray, "God, reveal Yourself to me. Manifest Your presence to me."

5. Before you hear, read or study the word make a decision that with God’s help you will do what the word says to do or not to do. Think about what you are studying – go over it several times! Think about how what you are studying applies to you.

6. Studying the Word of God is just one way we express our obedience to God.

7. When we study the Word, inevitably we find the Spirit leading us in a particular direction. This teaching guide will help you learn to follow the Spirit’s lead toward a life of greater joy and satisfaction.

8. If one thing stands out to you, or you are quickened in your heart that you really need more in that area, look up other scriptures on the same subject.

9. Studying the Word of God is just one way we express our obedience to God.

10. Fight the good fight of faith with the Word. For example, if you are worried look up and meditate on scriptures that tell us not to worry.

11. “I had set out with a set of questions I was praying God would answer during this time, but through this month, he taught me to let my agenda go and just learn to rest in Him. Let Him have control. So, while I don’t have specific answers to the questions I had, I have an even better answer: knowing that God is good, God is in control, and His plan is way better than my own. As I continue to spend time with Him, He will reveal things to me when the time is right. He is so good!” -  Erin

12. Just as our physical bodies must be fed, our spirit man must also be fed. But somehow we seem to think we can have a great relationship with God without feeding ourselves with His Word and filling ourselves with His presence. Keep making regular time for God and let Him fill you with His strength and power. - Joyce

13. The one thing that is needed to study the word of God is time! If you are willing to put time into it and be diligent to be committed to keep at it, you will know truth and truth will make you free!

14. “Make the same commitment I did years ago: to devote yourself to hearing from God every day! More than anything else, I want to clearly hear God's voice and be aware of His abiding presence all the time. I know what God has called me to do, and I know that I cannot do it without knowing God is with me. I am desperate for the manifest presence of God in my life.” - Joyce