If you’ve ever treated your Bible like a Magic 8 Ball, raise your hand. Flip your Bible open at random, point to a verse, read it. Make some sort of connection to your life. Close Bible. Walk away.
Let’s all agree this is NOT the way the Bible was meant to be read. No shame here— I’ve done it, too. You wouldn’t pick up a book off the shelf or open a letter from the mail and pick a sentence at random and try to make sense of it. That’s not how books or letters were meant to be read, and that’s not how the Bible should be read either.
Now, let’s talk about some ways that ARE helpful for reading the Bible, and as we talk about it, hopefully you’ll see why the Magic 8 Ball approach is faulty.
There are several different ways you can study the Bible, but this series would NEVER END if I explored more than just a couple of them. What I’m going to give you today are the two methods I use.
Keep in mind, prayer is your bracket and your bookmark. Begin and end with prayer, and pray while you’re studying. The Holy Spirit is the One who gives us understanding when we read. Pray that the eyes of your heart will be enlightened, opened to the truth you are going to read. Pray that it will sink heavily into your heart, exposing your sin and exalting Christ. Seek wisdom, repentance, and understanding. Pray the words you read back to the Lord. We could study all day every day, but without the Holy Spirit to aid us, it is vanity.
Method #1: The Bible in a Year
If you’ve never read the entire Bible in a given amount of time, I would suggest doing this once every few years. You don’t get to camp out in any one area of the Bible, but over the course of one year, you will be exposed to the whole council of God. I believe it’s good for us to do this every so often because it reminds us that the Bible is not composed of 66 little books independent of one another. The books overlap, draw from one another, and give us different perspectives of the history of God’s people and His gift of redemption. In some passages of Scripture we’re standing close up to the events unfolding, and in others we’re standing back and seeing the big story as a whole. It’s like studying one tree up close, and then stepping way back and looking at that tree in relation to the forest. Reading the Bible in a year gives you a broad, sweeping look at redemptive history, and it serves as a good measure for accountability if you’re just starting to develop a Bible reading routine.
There are many plans out there for 1 year readings, but I’d go for one that has you reading multiple books at one time. This way, you don’t get bogged down in Leviticus or 1 Chronicles which can be difficult to move through if you’re new to regular Bible reading. There are apps available on your phone or iPad, but to be frank, I’d recommend picking up your Bible and physically opening it for your daily reading. I’m not saying this just to be snobby about electronics. I use the Bible on my iPad every Sunday because my study Bible weighs nearly as much as my one year old son, and it would be frowned upon if I carried the Bible to church and left the kid at home. I am a big proponent for writing in my Bible, too, so that’s part of my reason I don’t use a device for my daily reading, but I think you’ll find yourself less distracted if there are no screens involved.
My husband (whom we already discovered is all for morning reading) loves the 5 day reading plan. This is helpful if your weekend schedule is a lot different from your weekday routine and you might miss a day here and there. You won’t fall behind on a 5 day plan. William also uses his iPad for daily reading, but he studies the Word for his job, so he gets to the pen and paper + actual Bible part more than most of us, so I guess I can let him slide.
Chronological reading plans are helpful if you struggle with the Biblical time line (who doesn’t?) and will help you put things in the order of their place in history.
Look here for some of these reading plans.
Method #2 One Book Study
This is my most common method of study, and this is where I’ll spend the most time today. “One Book Study” is not something I’ve carefully planned or strategically drawn out, but rather something that has developed organically during my personal Bible study time over the last couple of years. It works for me so I’ll share it with you in a few steps that I’ll explain.
1.) Pick a book of the Bible.
I usually pray and think first about what I’m going to read over the next few months (because with this method, it usually takes a couple of months depending on the book). You could even chose a couple of books for the whole year if you want to be more structured. With a plan, even a loosely designed one, I’m more likely to show up for my study time and less likely to abandon the habit. I switch back and forth between Old and New Testament books. As you know from recent posts, I’ve been in Psalms for most of this year. I hope to finish in August, and then I’ll move to a New Testament book.
2)Establish authorship and historical context.
Do not skip this step! There is so much poor interpretation of the Bible out there because people skip this part of study. The text means what it meant when the author wrote it. It is dangerous to pull a verse out of a chapter and take it as a promise for yourself when it was only meant for Israel after returning home from Babylonian exile. Claiming things that were never meant for us can wildly skew our view of God. Yes, there are foundational truths and promises that will be for us, but we need to see them in context. We need to know who wrote the book, who the recipients were, what the overall point of the book is, and what genre the book falls into. You won’t examine the Psalms the same way that you’ll examine Luke. Narrative is meant to tell story while Psalms are poetry.
Most study Bibles will have this kind of information in the opening notes of a book. I use the HCSB Study Bible which includes a lot of historical context given at the beginning of each book. One feature I love is that the Biblical events are shown in the general world history time line.
A commentary can be helpful here as well. Leave a comment if you would like a specific commentary recommendation on the book you’re studying (or planning to study). Not all commentaries are created equal, and using one series for the entire Bible isn’t always wise.
These videos from The Bible Project are SO GOOD and helpful. If you’re a visual learner, definitely give these some time. Scroll down on their main YouTube page to find videos for specific books of the Bible.
Most good study Bibles will have this kind of information at the beginning of each book. I recommend the HCSB Study Bible, the ESV Study Bible, and the NIV Zondervan Study Bible.
3) Read the whole book.
Okay, so you may not be able to read the entire book of Isaiah or Matthew in one sitting, but try to read all of it before you start diving into deeper study. This may mean that your first week or two of Bible study time is devoted to just reading and absorbing. If you’re in a shorter book, you can probably read it in a morning or two. (For Psalms and Proverbs, I skip this step because most of the chapters stand independently from one another.)
4)Designate an amount of Scripture to read each day.
After your initial read-through you’ll want to start over by going back to the beginning of the book and reading shorter passages each day. For me, a chapter a day works well as that fits into the amount of time I’ve set aside in the mornings. It’s not always a full chapter, though. If I’m in a New Testament epistle, I might only take a couple of paragraphs. Currently, I’m in Psalm 107 which is long and full of things to look at deeply, so I’m spending a week on one chapter. I look for any notes under the chapter heading, but I avoid the study notes in my Bible until after I’ve finished my synopsis. I read the chapter, sometimes twice.
5)Take the text apart.
After I’m done reading, I try to break the passage apart in a loose outline and group themes together, depending on what type of book I’m studying. Psalms will fall into a pattern of poetry in a way that the narrative in 1 Samuel or Mark will not. Historical narrative will tell a lot of story while Paul will lay theological foundations for the faith in his epistles. Again, this is where knowing your genre will help you as you try to take the text apart and examine it more closely. Genre is important! Don’t look at the Hebrew poetry found in Isaiah the same way you look at Paul’s foundational doctrine in Romans. Different genre calls for different lenses. However, you can still break down any passage of Scripture for closer examination.
I’m not fancy or techie in this approach. I use a spiral notebook and a pen. Since I’m in the Psalms, I’ll show you how I’ve broken down Psalm 95 recently.
After outlining and making notes—it’s never very pretty. I recopied the above picture out of my original notes because they were so messy only I could read them. Usually, there are little bubbles of notes all around the “outline.” I will often transfer some of the most important notes over into my Bible in case I want to remember something next time I come to this passage.
6) Ask specific questions.
One of the most helpful practices I’ve picked up over the past few years is to ask myself questions about what I’ve read. These are the questions I use the most:
*What do I learn about God?
*What do I learn about man?
*How does this text point to Jesus?
*What can I apply?
Answering those questions will help you take the passage as it was meant to be taken. The Bible is about God, remember. Yes, it’s about us too, but we can see what’s true about ourselves so much better when we see it in light of what is true about God first. Seeing who God is, in His own words, can lead us to the right response (praise, thanksgiving, worship, repentance, faith, etc.) So write the questions down or come up with a symbol for each one and work through them with each passage that you study. Here are the symbols I use:
Here are the symbols I use:
7) Make summary statements.
As I’m finishing up each morning, I write 1-2 summary statement. This forces me to think holistically about what I’ve just taken apart and examined close up. My summary statements are for me—I don’t have to stand in a pulpit and read them to anyone, so it’s okay if they’re not theologically groundbreaking. Formulating them helps me to step back again and look at how everything fits together. (Context, context, context!) Your initial reading gives you a broad, sweeping look at the passage. The intricate studying gives you a microscopic, compartmentalized examination of the text as you take it apart in pieces. Don’t stop there, though. I find it most helpful to then step back again and view everything I’ve just learned as one cohesive passage. Summarize what you’ve read and studied as concisely as you can.
8) Study to teach.
This isn’t a step as much as it is a tool. You may never teach a Bible study class–and that’s fine. But, some of the best advice my husband has ever given me is to study as though you’re going to teach. If you read your Bible with the intent of explaining it to someone else, you’re more apt to study well and with purpose. Even if you never stand in front of a group of people to teach the Bible (most of us won’t), you’ll still be able to explain the Word of God to others. If you are a follower of Christ, then Matthew 28 means that you and I are both called to make disciples. And that will mean that we share the Word with those who don’t know it.
I know you’re thinking, This is a LOT. I don’t have time to do this every day. And that’s okay. You don’t have to fit all of this into one day! Spend a week going through some of these steps and see if you find a rhythm of study that helps you. Pick one chapter and do one step per day. I used to spend about 15 minutes reading and making general notes about what I’ve read. That was a good starting place, I stayed in that amount of time for a long time. As the Lord grew my hunger for Him and His Word, the more time I began spending in the Word each day. And the more I study, the quicker I move through some of these steps (because I do some of them every day). When it becomes second nature to look at the Scriptures with questions in your mind or with the forethought to look for themes, then it doesn’t take as much effort as it does at first. You’re training your mind to read in a certain way and to soak in the Word from several different angles. As I’ve spent the last few days studying Psalm 107, I’ve realized that a few years ago I would have read through it, underlined a verse or two, and moved on. But as the habit of study has deepened into hunger to know the Lord more intimately, the truth that comes bursting off the pages of my Bible stays with me a lot longer and pierces my heart more forcefully. And I think that is the goal. It’s not for acquiring knowledge. It’s for knowing this wonderful, astounding, faithful-loving God. And in knowing Him better, we are changed.
I’ve put together a 10 minute VLOG for you in case this seems overcomplicated.
If you’re scrambling for what method to use or still need a gentle nudge to get going, pray first and ask for the Lord’s guidance. If your pastor preaches expositionally (through books of the Bible, verse by verse), then maybe you could start studying the book he’s currently preaching. (And tell him you’re doing this—he’ll love it, I promise.)
This is post #5 in the series “Knowing God in His Own Words”
Post #1 “Knowing God in His Own Words”
Post #2 “Do I Need the Bible Every Day?”
Post #3 “Know Him Because We Need Him”
Post #4 “The Morning Person Myth VLOG”
Glenna Marshall is married to her pastor, William, and lives in rural Southeast Missouri where she tries and fails to keep up with her two energetic sons. She is the author of The Promise is His Presence (P&R) and Everyday Faithfulness (Crossway), and Memorizing Scripture (Moody). Connect with her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.