How Do I Read the Bible?

It is not unusual for churches to run ‘new Christian classes’. These classes are often based on 3 habits which are key to spiritual growth and spiritual maturity. Those habits were:

Habit 1: Daily time with God
Habit 2: Regular time with other Christians
Habit 3: Giving of yourself

The foundational habit for all spiritual maturity is having a daily time with God. Nobody can do this for you, it is a habit you must cultivate for yourself.

A huge part of daily time with God is time spent reading the Bible. With that in mind, let’s look a how to read the Bible and apply it to your life.

A core conviction of effective faith-sharing Christians is that the Bible matters and that a life on mission is one solidified in the Bible.

To help assimilate what you read in the Bible, it helps to have a journal handy to write out what you’re learning. There are many effective ways to read and journal the Bible, one particularly helpful method uses the acronym S.O.A.P.

S — Scripture

Choose a verse or verses from your daily reading and write them out in full.

O — Observation

Note down all the observations you can make about these verses of scripture. Ask and answer questions like:

• Who is writing/speaking?
• Why are they writing/speaking?
• Who are they speaking to?
• What’s the big idea that they’re communicating?
• How are people responding?
• Are there any other parts of scripture that say a similar thing?

You might also note down things you don’t understand; questions you want to ask somebody about.

A—Application

Write down how you can apply what you’ve read in your personal life. Ask and answer questions like:

• Does what I’ve read change the way I perceive God, or others, or myself?
• Are there attitudes I need to adjust; something I need to do, or stop doing?
• Are there people I need to forgive or relationships I need to approach differently?
• Is there a promise from God that I need to believe and put confidence in?

Write down what you need to apply.

P — Prayer

It’s impossible to live the Christian life except that God helps us. Take a moment to ask God to help you apply what you have read.

If you are new to prayer, or prayer is a space you want t get better at, Here is another blog we have written called: How Do I Pray?

Having daily time with God can be really simple, as simple reading your Bible and praying.

These two habits are not really separate from one another; they work best when they flow together. As you read the Bible, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you. Then as you read the truths in the Bible, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you how to apply the truth in your life.

As you live on mission why not use this model of Bible reading to disciple others in the early steps of their newfound relationship with Jesus!