How Do You All Study The Bible

[Cassielaven]

The reason I ask this question is because when I do read the bible I do not obtain most of the information that I have read, and I get bored reading it (unless I am reading the books of Proverbs, Psalms, or Revelation). So, I just want some tips or advice on how can I study my bible? Thanks.

 

[DYOLF]

It's not so much about the study methods in this case,it's about the Spirit.Jesus said 'the words I speak are spirit and they are life.'Paul also said the natural man can not understand the things of the spirit for they are spiritually discerned.Your understanding will have to be from a spiritual perspective.You are in a good position because you have the hunger & thirst for the word and Jesus said any man thirst let him come and drink.

If you notice Ephesians 1:17 Paul is writing to the saints in Ephesus.He says ever since I heard of your faith in the Lord I cease not to pray for you unto the Lord that he may grant unto you the spirit of wisdom,knowledge and understanding unto him.He continues praying for these people to understand the things of God.In another book he says I travail until Christ is formed in you.Remember the natural man can not understand the things of God and for the Ephesians to understand Paul prayed for them to get this understanding.In another place he talks about the god of this world blinding people that they might not understand.What you therefore need to do is pray those prayers in Ephesians 1:17 to the end of Eph 1 for you,your friends and family everyday,that the Lord of glory will give unto you wisdom,knowledge,revelation and understanding.......It will not be long and you will be able to read that bible for a long time,you will be able to understand it as well because the eyes of your understanding will be illuminated.Excuse my spelling mistakes I'm using an iPhone and have not edited my post.

 

[Tim Myers]

I do not understand what you mean by "study"......

 

[Vimi]

I pray and ask the Lord and Holy Spirit to bring wisdom and understanding as I study his word. I study one passage (chapter) per bible study. For instance, Daniel and his visions or The three men in the fiery furnace, Elijah and the widow woman, etc. Read the passage and highlight the interesting parts and write down the words, terms, or proverbs that I don't understand. I then search in bible dictionaries and concordances for the meanings of those words and then read the passage again with understanding. When I am done, I pray as I did when I started.

 

[tragico]

dont force yourself reading all in oneday. most important part is you gotta understand the concept.

 

[Cassielaven]

Thanks everybody for your ideas and replies. Sorry I responded so late. I forgot that I have two study bibles here already, but I can't really grasp much understanding from them. I was thinking about getting an ESV study bible along with a Reference bible and Greek dictionary. Do you all have any other recommendations? Also, how do you all take notes when studying the bible? To Tim, what I mean about "studying" the bible is how do everyone memorize and understand what the scriptures mean in the bible instead of just reading the bible and not learning or understanding what they have read. I have a habit reading the bible at home like I am reading a regular book and not learning much from it. So I was actually asking for some advice and tips on other people learn and memorize scriptures from the bible. Again thanks to everyone.

 

[Vimi]

Thanks everybody for your ideas and replies. Sorry I responded so late. I forgot that I have two study bibles here already, but I can't really grasp much understanding from them. I was thinking about getting an ESV study bible along with a Reference bible and Greek dictionary. Do you all have any other recommendations? Also, how do you all take notes when studying the bible?

Hi Cassie, yes it sounds like you may have to get a translation that is easier for you to understand. Personally, I use the Amplified version along with the NKJV to help me study. I also use online bible sites like biblegateway, zondervan.com, and recently TheWord bible software -but this is a heavy duty tool (as in feature rich) and in my opinion great for intense studies. Bible Software theWord!

For memorization of scriptures - I download audio file or mp3's of bible scripture passages and replay them on my ipod/mp3 player until I have them recited. Try here LibriVox: Search Results

 

[Cassielaven]

Thanks a lot Faithgirl37. I really like "The Word" software. That is amazing. I already downloaded the software on my computer. It is going to take me some time to get adapted to it, but that will not be a problem.

 

[msortwell]

The reason I ask this question is because when I do read the bible I do not obtain most of the information that I have read, and I get bored reading it (unless I am reading the books of Proverbs, Psalms, or Revelation). So, I just want some tips or advice on how can I study my bible? Thanks.

I sympathize when you say you "get bored." While I do not get bored reading the Scriptures, I am easily distracted, and I find reading itself tiring - Scriptures, secular writings, whatever. Therefore, I have benefited greatly from audio versions of the Bible. By audio versions, I mean recordings of someone reading the text, NOT a dramatized version. I find it BEST to read along with the audio version.

Most Bible teachers encourage us, as a first step in studying a book of the Bible, to read the entire book first - to obtain the broad context of what is being said, followed by analyzing the text. Getting this broad context is the purpose for which I have found the audio version most useful.

Getting this broader context helps me make sure that I consider that context when I get involved in the more detailed analysis.

Blessings

 

[Vimi]

Thanks a lot Faithgirl37. I really like "The Word" software. That is amazing. I already downloaded the software on my computer. It is going to take me some time to get adapted to it, but that will not be a problem.

No prob, it was recommended in another post. Glad you like it too.

 

[NvxiaLee]

The reason I ask this question is because when I do read the bible I do not obtain most of the information that I have read, and I get bored reading it (unless I am reading the books of Proverbs, Psalms, or Revelation). So, I just want some tips or advice on how can I study my bible? Thanks.

Studying anything that's pointless is boring and unproductive. "It's not pointless, it's God's word!" Studying for the sake of studying is pointless.

To make studying exciting, you have to have a goal, something specific that you're trying to learn. This is where the Christian forums come in, to provide debate points to give you something to figure out.

 

[Biblicist]

I agree with the remark by NvxiaLee in that it can help to have something specific to study up on and there are certainly many specifics to study up on.

One thing that I have found over the years is that people often have a preference for either the OT or the NT and their are various reasons for this but it goes way beyond your question.

As you appear to have an interest in the OT there are not many academic texts out there that support the OT which can make advanced study, or at least serious study short of learning Hebrew a bit difficult. Even with this shortcoming there are still books out there that will address various topics but other than with Creationism I can't really recommend any non academic books as the OT is not what I spend much time in and probably to my own detriment I suppose.

When it comes to the NT there are about as many academic and near academic Greek texts as you wish to find and many of them are geared for the serious student of Scripture who does not speak Greek. This is one of the advantages of the NIV in that it undoubtedly has the best academic and near academic support of any translation and I feel that the NIV Study Bible is probably about the best for Bible study though the ESV is gaining a lot of support from academic sources though off hand I can't recommend any ESV study Bible as I have not checked them out - other than using online sources.

One of the advantages of the NT is that there are literally thousands of books written on every subject that the Scriptures address and beyond. I am currently reading a book by DA Carson that deals with suffering and evil and why the world is what it is; Carson who is a highly respected academic provides not only many scriptures but also spends some time discussing them - this book of 264 pages was written in 1990 will keep you hopping for a while as he addresses many contentious and painful issues.

Another good book was written by Dr. Gordon Fee titled, How to read the Bible for all its worth; this book has been a standard for about 25 years and is highly recommended by many. There are other books that are similar to Fee's but I would highly recommend that you obtain a copy. If you go to my link at books.google.com you will find many books with samples such as with Fee's.

Of course the best method to learn how to study the Bible is if you are in a congregation that can teach you how to study; unfortunately it seems that not many congregations are well suited to this.