Here are a number of tips to assist you in your Bible study. Whether you want to simply read a portion of Scripture, or you want to dig deeply to discover some grand truth, these guidelines will help you find the experience your soul seeks.
1. Pray:
This is the most powerful key to understanding the Bible. I have found that inviting God's Spirit to interpret for me, and clear my mind each time I read the Bible, tremendously increases the level of inspiration I receive from my reading. This especially applies to issues I am dealing with in my life at that time. When I pray and read I often have a better idea of how to deal with them. And beyond that, I don't feel so stressed about them any more. That's a great plus since I happen to have a weakness for worrying!
If you would like to experience that kind of inspiration, and get the Bible's full impact, you may do the same. If you aren't accustomed to praying, just imagine someone is sitting beside you, then ask that individual for what you need ( in this case a clear mind, and the interpretation of God's Spirit). In case you still feel tongue tied here's an example of what you might say, "God (Hi God, Dear God, Dear Jesus, Heavenly Father, etc...), Thank you for this opportunity to read the Bible. Please send your Spirit to interpret the words and clear my mind so I can understand your message. Thank you for doing that, Amen."
2. Have an objective:
a. Getting to know God
b. Seeking peace
c. Receiving comfort
d. Looking for direction on some issue in your life
e. Looking for inspiration
f. Looking for God's teaching on a certain topic
g. Etc...
3. Keep in mind that the Bible is about relationship:
It is a personal 'love letter' sent specifically from God to you. It is God's all out abandoned attempt to establish relationship with you. Read it in that context: God sharing Himself with you; God and you in relationship.
4. Keep in mind that God is love:
This is the Bible's number one message about Him (1 John 4:8; John 3:16) and everything in the Bible must be taken in that context. Expect to be dismayed and challenged by this. As finite beings our minds will constantly be stretched in their contact with the infinite God. His interpretation of love will be as different from ours as His nature and viewpoint are different from ours. However, expect too, to be amazed at the power and the passion, the steel and the tenderness in God's love.
5. Read/Study until your soul finds something that blesses it:
Sometimes this will happen within a few sentences, sometimes it will take a bit longer. However, it will happen. When I follow this guideline I always come away with my heart warmed by some special message from God.
6. Let the Bible speak for itself:
This is important for all Bible study. However, it is extremely important for those who wish to do deep study. For deep study, a proven six-step procedure, out-lined by Lee Gugliotto in his book, "Hand-Book for Bible Study", under the direction of the Holy Spirit, should help you to prepare Bible text with integrity for any practical application, whether it is for personal growth, or for sharing with others.
Note: For Bible Students who want to dig deep I recommend Lee Gugliottos' book: "Hand-Book for Bible Study" There is no more helpful study tool on the market today. (Thank you Lee.) It can be purchased at your nearest Christian book store or ordered online. To order on-line click here: Lees' book
The six-steps of Inductive Bible Study:
1. Contextual Analysis: CONTEXT ALWAYS RULES in Bible study
View the passage you are looking at within the context of all the text that surrounds it. First in the context of the whole Bible, then in the context of the whole book in which it appears, then in the context of the whole thought section in which the passage appears within that book. Finally view it within the context of its immediately related passages.
2. Structural Analysis:
Every author has a system for developing ideas. To capture the Biblical writers overall pattern, analyze the literary style. Identify the type of literature, then trace the way the writer organized their message into a series of connected thoughts. Mark the starting and ending points of the topics and themes as you find them. Once you pinpoint them all in their overall context they are individually ready for study.
3. Verbal Analysis:
Next, explore the writer's language. Focus on the individual words and identify and decipher figures of speech to uncover what the writer meant to say. Acquaint yourself with unfamiliar words. Word forms also offer invaluable insights, so consider them carefully. Examine and explain symbols, and try to define key terms in their context. Get specific.
4. Cultural Analysis:
Investigate the historical-cultural background to your text. Enrich your findings with insights from history, anthropology, geography, and the environment. If you allow the ancient world to speak for itself, you can recover the original setting and enter into the writer's or speaker's world. Obscure terms will clarify themselves, difficult texts will yield their secrets, and you will move about the Bible's world with enough familiarity to give your study real authenticity.
5. Theological Analysis:
Now is the time to tie things together. This is accomplished by relating your text to the rest of the Bible. Place the biblical passage in the broader context of the plan of Salvation. Trace it along the path from promise to fulfillment in order to see where it is coming from and going to. Consider its Old Testament roots and/or New Testament developments. Use earlier passages to understand later ones and later ones to capture the fuller sense of earlier ones.
6. Homiletical Analysis:
At this point you are ready to share with others what you have learned. Enjoy! Whether you do this in a privat or public setting, make sure you take the opportunity. Presentation to others, done in a beautiful and simple way, not only is a great gift to them but it also serves to set our new discovries into our own minds.
