3 Simple Bible Study Starters

You’ve got your Bible out and you may even have read a chapter or two – now what? How do we go about digging deeper into the Bible? Bible study does not need to be complicated. The heart of good Bible study is simply reading carefully, and thinking about what you have read. Here are three simple ways to get started.

The first is to have a key question in mind when reading, such as, what does this chapter tell me about God? Or about his plan and purpose? Or about whatever topic is most on your mind. Why have you picked up the Bible? What is it that you want to understand better? Having a specific question in mind can help you to read with purpose and notice details you might otherwise miss.

However, you don’t need to find answers every time you read. In fact, if you are reading carefully, you might end up with more questions than answers – this is actually a good thing. You can write these questions down and think about them as you continue reading. Sometimes, it is thinking about what you have read over several days (or years!) that brings out new insights. This is why good study starts with good reading. Use a reading plan and make Bible reading a regular part of your day, just like eating and exercise and it is surprising how much progress you can make a little bit at a time.

The second approach is to gather information to become more familiar with the passage you are reading. Read the surrounding verses or chapters to get the full context and think about what it would have been like for those in the story – what was going on and why? Are there particular details included, or excluded – why might that be? You can also:

·         Highlight repeated words or phrases

·         Find places on a map

·         Draw a family tree, diagram or table

·         Add key events to a timeline as you read.

·         Look up historic or cultural customs

Any of this sort of information is helpful for becoming more familiar with and understanding the fuller context of what was happening.

Finally, the most important part of any Bible study is: What does it mean for me? God invites us to be transformed by his word and to become part of the story. Most of us are not facing the same, or even similar situations to those in the Bible – but we can still find the bigger principles. A principle is the bigger message that remains relevant because it can be applied in different ways. It might be as simple as, trust God, or it might be as profound as Jesus’ insight to give “to God what is God’s” (Mark 12:17). How these principles specifically apply in each of our lives right now will differ for each person. The important, and hard, part is putting them into practise.

These are just three ways to start thinking more deeply on God’s word. If you are keen to get into it, download the free printable starter plan on our study kit page which is a great way to get a good overview of the bigger Bible story while putting some of these strategies into action along the way. 

For more strategies and tools to go deeper, check out the Better Bible Reading series. This is an email series that is completely within your control – just sign up for the first one and then click the link within each email when you are ready for the next part. Get a week of daily encouragement, or binge read them all at once.

We’d love to hear your study strategies – what is your go to tip to get more out of your reading?