4 Tips to Refresh Your Bible Study Routine
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, please check out our disclosure policy for more details.
The heart of any relationship is communication. One of the ways that God communicates with us is through the Bible. It’s like His Love Letter to us.
The practice and habit of reading and studying the Bible is the key to a flourishing relationship with Christ and a vibrant spiritual life.
Paul exalts the Bible and encourages us to read it in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 when he says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Knowing that we can’t go wrong!
The difficulty in reading scripture and thus cultivating your personal relationship with God is the shear size and volume of it. It can leave you feeling overwhelmed and you may not know where to start but I have listed some tips below to help you get started or switch up your routine.
1. Begin with God in Mind.
It should go without saying that when reading the Bible, you’re going to automatically have God on your mind. However, if you are spiritually numb and depleted, you are likely looking for answers to questions about your life and your current circumstance – in essence beginning with yourself first.
And though God no doubt wants you to use scriptures to answer your life’s questions, He doesn’t want that to be the only time you engage with His Word. To establish a deep relationship with Him, use the Bible to find out more about Him – His Love, His Ways, His Will, His Sacrifice.
2. Read a Chapter A Day.
Though I do enjoy reading devotionals, using the Bible App and reading books about faith, there is nothing like experiencing the real thing. I started reading one chapter each day this year when I needed to refresh my own routine by reading a book of the Bible that I wanted to learn more about.
Since I still use a paperback Bible (yes, I’m old school!), I use sticky notes to write thoughts or questions about a particular verse that stood out to me. Sometimes I would carry it around with me during the day but most of the time I would leave it there and revisit it at a later time. You can also do this with a smartphone by saving it in your a notes app.
3. Use Bible Study Tools.
Another way to refresh your Bible Study routine is to use Bible Study tools. These tools have helped me experience God at a much deeper level than I ever previously had. Some of the tools that I have used include: Bible Dictionaries, Bible Commentaries, Bible Concordance, Bible Encyclopedias, etc.
You can buy the book versions or you can have access to them right at your fingertips through your smartphone. I like to use the Blue Letter Bible App. For each scripture it leads you to all of the tools I mentioned above and more… and it’s totally free!
4. Choose a Bible Study Method.
Although I enjoy books, devotionals and bible study books written by great people of God, I like to incorporate an Inductive Bible Study method that requires me to thoughtfully engage in God’s Word.
Inductive Bible Study allows the scriptures to speak to you. I used to read the Bible with preconceived ideas of what I wanted it to say.
Inductive Study says that you maintain a mind free of your own wishes and see what the Lord has to say. Most of these kinds of studies involve Observation, Interpretation and Application. One resource that really helped me get started was Bible Study Methods by Rick Warren.
Some methods that you can try are:
Devotional Method
Chapter Summary Method
Character Quality
Thematic Method
Biographical Method
Topical Method
Word Study Method
Book Background Method
Book Survey Method
Chapter Analysis Method
Book Synthesis Method
Verse Analysis Method
Don’t overwhelm yourself, just pick one to try and get started!
Studying and reading God’s word with the intention to become closer to Him glorifies God more than you can imagine. When you decide to incorporate this into your life as a necessity, you will experience the GreatBIG Life that God has in store for you!
In what ways have you changed or refreshed your Bible Study routine?
Have you ever started a Bible Study routine and stopped? How can you start again?
I’d love to know your thoughts and if there are any of the tips you read that you’d like for me to dive deeper into in another post.
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
