7 Tips to Help Improve Your Bible Study Time
Share
If you are going to grow in your Christian life then you need to spend time reading the Bible. There cannot be any real growth in your life if you don’t do this. However, when it comes to reading the Bible, people tend to fall into different categories.
The Faithful Reader – These are the people that are very disciplined and read the Bible every day. These people tend to not miss any days and if they do they get right back into reading.
The Frequent Reader – These are the people that read on a frequent basis. They may not read everyday, but they will read. In a typical week of 7 days, they may read 3 or 4.
The Forget About It Reader – These are the people that will read the Bible when they are in church because they are following the message. However, during the week when it comes to reading the Bible they tend to forget about it. Often people in this category either simply choose not to read, find themselves too busy to read or feel overwhelmed because they are intimidated by reading the Bible.
I don’t know what category you may fall in and I am not here to judge you. I am here to help you. There is only one requirement necessary for you to access this help. You must have a desire to want to read more and get more from the time you spend reading your Bible. If that is your desire, then keep reading. If that is not you then this may not be of great value to you. What I want to do is share with you are seven tips you can use to improve your Bible reading and study time.
Photo credit: ©SparrowStock
1. Set Your Goal
I want to define this goal in two different ways. Are you trying to read the Bible or are you trying to study the Bible? Those are two different things and I want to address each of them separately.
For those who want to read the Bible:
If your goal is to read through the Bible than I would simply suggest that you follow a Bible reading plan. This will allow you to navigate through the Bible in a systematic manner. I want you to be mindful that one of the challenges with these plans is that they can be challenging to keep up with. This is especially true if you are trying to read the Bible in one year.
Just so you understand, there are 1,189 chapters in the Bible. If you are going to read through the Bible in one year that means you have to read a little more than three chapters per day. If you miss a day, you then have to read more than six chapters just to catch up. Not only does this require a lot of discipline, but this can be frustrating for many people because you feel like you have failed if you can’t keep up.
Here is the simple solution. If you want to follow the reading plan, do it. Just take the time requirement off it. If you miss a day for whatever reason just pick up where you left off and keep going. Isn’t that how life works anyway? You run. You fall down. You get up and dust yourself off. You keep running from where you fell down. Do the same if your goal is to read through the Bible. This takes the pressure off and keeps you engaged so you can make it through your goal.
For those who want to study the Bible:
If your goal is to study the Bible than you must do something completely different. You must read less. Study involves asking questions. Gathering information. Looking closely at the characters in the story. Thinking and meditating on the verses and what they mean.
In other words, studying takes more time. If you are going to do this properly you will read less but think more. The purpose of studying is not just to read. The purpose of studying is to discover the truth that is in God’s word, and most importantly to apply it to your life. This takes time and it is something that you can’t rush through.
So if you want to study the Bible, read less but understand more. This means you might spend a day or two or more in one chapter. That is ok as long as you are learning and applying what you learn to your life.
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/syahrir maulana
2. Find the Right Version
If you are going to read or study, then you need to find a version that you can actually understand. I have friends who love reading the King James Version. That is fine except for one thing; this version was translated in the 1600’s and the language in some instances can be harder to understand.
There are some more modern translations, and while I am not a fan of all of them, there are some that I would recommend. Two of my personal favorites are the New International Version (NIV) and the New Living Translation (NLT). These may work for you or they may not, but there are many good translations or versions available that you can refer to. Make sure you find one that you can understand and that will keep you motivated to read. (By the way if you have a question about a particular version please reach out to me for an opinion.)
3. Set Aside the Right Amount of Time
Everyone is pressed for time these days and if you are going to be consistent in reading your Bible the truth is you simply have to just do it. I would encourage you to create a time in your day simply for reading.
I recently made a decision to set aside a specific time each day just for reading and studying. After all this is a discipline and if you are going to become a frequent to faithful reader it will take some effort and commitment on your part.
4. Learn to Ask Good Questions
This is important as you are studying. Learn to ask questions about the passage. By doing this it will help you dig into the passage. Good questions to ask are the W questions.
Who is speaking?
Where is this taking place?
What is happening at this time?
When is this going on?
I think you get the point; just begin to examine the passage. I also would recommend three questions that I first heard from Chuck Swindoll. I don’t know if he said it first, but that is where I heard it first. Here are the three questions to ask.
What does it say?
What does it mean?
What does it mean for me?
These types of questions will help you get the truth from the passage and also help you apply it to your life, which is the most important part.
Photo credit: ©SparrowStock
5. Use Additional Tools to Help
There are a wide range of resources at your disposal to help you improve your Bible study time. The best part is that many of them are online. This website, Bible Study Tools, has a wealth of resources you can use to help you with your study. Take advantage of them and they will help you understand more of what you read and help you to apply it to your life.
6. Don’t Forget You Have the Greatest Help of All
Aside from all the additional tools and resources at your disposal as a Christian, you have access to the greatest helper of all, the Holy Spirit. There are three things you need to understand.
The Bible was written by the inspiration of God through the Holy Spirit.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).
The men who wrote the Bible did so as guided by the Holy Spirit.
“For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (1 Peter 1:21).
You have the same Holy Spirit living in you.
“He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you” (John 14:17).
Why does all this matter?
This matters because since you have the Holy Spirit living inside you, the one who wrote the Bible in the first place, he can help you understand what it says, what it means, and what it means to you.
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13).
“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26).
You have the distinct advantage of asking the author what he means. Most people who read books never get to speak to the author. You don’t have that problem. If you are reading and studying and if there is something you don’t understand, it’s nice to use the tools, but make sure you don’t forget to ask the author.
Photo credit: Unsplash/Ben White
7. Just Get Started
This is the simplest directive and many times the hardest. The only way you are going to read and study the Bible is by reading and studying. There is no other way around this. You simply must get started.
Don’t think there is going to be some lightning bolt that is going to hit you to motivate you – that probably won’t happen. Chances are what will happen is that as you read and study and you keep reading and studying, God has a way of giving you a hunger and thirst to read and study more. But this tends to come once you just get started. So go do it.
Final Thought
I hope these tips have helped you and that you can start using them right away. I will also encourage you to reach out to me if you have questions about reading or studying the Bible. I never have a problem helping and encouraging you any way I can. Now that you have finished my article now it’s time to go read your Bible.
More from this author
When Fear Attacks, Do These 4 Things First
3 Truths about How God Sees Prayer from Hebrews 4
Seeing the Word of God Come to Life, Even in Painful Situations
Photo credit: Unsplash/Joel Muniz
