I am at a frustrating point in my Bible studies. I have tried study guides, the inductive study method, reading/highlighting/note-taking...I just cannot seem to find a way to study it that makes me feel like I am getting the most out of my readings (yes I have just simply and prayerfully read through the Bible many times).
What study method do you find most enriching for you?
(Sorry that this is a rather disjointed post. I didn't take time to edit and organize it.)
The big question I'd ask is this. Who did God make you to be? I believe that this is the starting point for what study methods work best for each person. My current pastor studied business and accounting before becoming a pastor. As could be expected, he is a very disciplined and detail oriented person who has been using the same version of the 1-year Bible for probably close to 25 years. I'm a top-down abstract thinker that needs to see the big picture to function. I see the forest; my pastor sees the trees. Neither is right or wrong. It's that God has made us all individuals. I'm a person that needs to take in a huge stream of input from various sources to better see the big picture. I spent years trying to "memorize" bible verses but never really got anywhere. I memorized a couple of the smaller epistles (about 30 to 40 years ago) and can still rattle off parts of them. But I found for me that recall via familiarity was much better than via rote work. Having read the same book in the Bible dozens of times in different versions and languages has left the basic thought and idea and structure in my memory (and available for me when I am talking, writing, or meditating). I can usually recall what I need to know and where it is and give a reasonable "quotation" of it. I know others for whom rote memorization of verses in particular versions has been a blessing.
What were your favorite subjects in school? What were your least favorite? What are your hobbies? I think that those are some things that might point you in a direction that would be more fruitful. If you are an accountant, it's likely a more organized set of methods will help more. If you are an artist, it's likely a different set of methods will help more.
As a comment, I'm a physics/math person with a strong artistic/creative streak. I have a low threshold for boredom. Once I've done something a few times, I find I need to change to a new method or something else to keep interest and enthusiasm. For me, it's also sort of the Pareto principle (or 80/20 or 90/10 rule or however someone chooses to say it). The first few times I do something one way, I gain a lot more benefit faster than the 10th time. The first time I read the Bible through, it was like a whole new world opened up to me. The 10th time through, not so much. I've found I have definite seasons in my life where something just flows freely. I've learned to go with those ebbs and flows and embrace them rather than fighting to try to discipline myself to do it the same way all the time. That's me. I know others that have been blessed by the same routine for decades.
I've got an old NIV pictorial Bible and a 1901 ASV that I've probably read close to a dozen times each. At one point, I started reading through the Bible (NIV and ASV) in about a month. I did that 4 times. That gives an amazing sense of unity. For example, reading Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles in 2 days gives an amazing sense of the overview of Israel's history compared to reading those over the course of a year. However, I started burning out when I was on the 4th time through like that and the 5th "month" turned into about a year. Other times I've read through the Bible in perhaps 2 years doing a lot of peripheral study and reading from other references. Other times, I've spent a month or two on a particular book doing a lot of reading of various reference materials (Bible dictionaries, atlases, etc.) about it. Other times, barely finishing a random chapter or so before I fell asleep was what I was doing for a length of time.
I've read through the Bible in several English versions (though the NIV and 1901 ASV are the ones I've read the most). I've also been through the NT perhaps 8 to 10 times in Greek and am on my 4th time through the OT (Septuagint) right now. In about another month, I'll have finished the NVI in Spanish. I've just started learning Hebrew so I'd expect in a year or two to start my first time through the OT in Hebrew. I now do the majority of my devotional and study reading in Greek and Spanish (with recourses to English when I hit my language limits).
One very big help for me was reading the book "How to Study the Bible for All It's Worth" by Gordon Fee and Douglass Stuart. It was my first introduction to the idea that different parts of the Bible are different types of literature. Psalms is poetic whereas Acts is historical whereas Titus is a personal letter. The basic idea is that we read a hymnbook or prayerbook differently than a history book differently than a letter in the mail. Combining this with reading a lot of reference books for the surrounding history, culture, geography, etc. of the Bible was very helpful for me.
I also have a number of Bible dictionaries and other reference books I've read and used. Though with the Internet, many of the older books are online. There are also a lot more images from museums and archaeological sites online as well. Over the years, I spent a lot of time reading through Bible dictionaries, various history books, and historical atlases. There is a wealth of information in books about biblical history, customs, agriculture, industry, etc. These give a lot of insight into various books and passages in the Bible. In the past, I read a lot of commentaries. I found that it was absolutely essential to read commentaries from a wide range of opinions or you run the real risk of tunnel vision and being indoctrinated rather than educated.
If you have any particular questions about what I do or anything, please feel free to ask.
