By Lauren Makenzie
Ever wonder how you should be doing your Bible study?
People left and right try to tell you that you need to read a certain word count, pray for thirty minutes, and follow a set of rules for your time with God.
While I’ll be talking about what works for me, I know this won’t work for every one. If taking a few tips but not all of them work for you, do what’s best for you!
My Current Bible Study Template
Worship music
Read
Journal
Memorization
Prayer
Worship music
Music is a great way for me to personally get my heart in the right spot to truly focus on the fact that I’m spending time with the Lord and why I’m doing it. It helps me to get out of the motions of life for a minute.
With songs, this part of my Bible study is constantly varying depending on my mood that day.
Play whatever Christian song you sincerely want to listen to at the moments you want. It can be as little or as many as you want as long as it has helped you get in the Lord’s presence and praise him.
Honestly, when did we put so many rules and strict regulations on worship music?
The Bible uses music mainly as two things: celebration and peace.
I like to use my Christian music to increase joy and awareness as well as having a peaceful ambience to start, end, or continue through my whole Bible study!!
Reading the Bible
The most obvious one yet the one with the most rules.
Reading and meditating on one verse a day >>> reading two chapters a day and forgetting the material
We have to do what works for us individually. Some of us like to read more than others, and that doesn’t make us better or worse Christians.
Yes, we should try to focus on the word of God and definitely read it. It is God’s heart, his thoughts, his love letter. But we shouldn’t place so many rules on this that we forget that we’re choosing to grow a relationship with the Lord of the universe, not attending a dreaded classroom and marking off weekly assignments.
Your friends aren’t listing the number of times you see them each week, but each time you sincerely spend time with them with love and attention.
I also love devotionals and bible study plans and think they can help us out a lot. As a baby Christian in middle school, my daily devotional book was my biggest guide in my faith. It doesn’t make you less of a Christian needing a guide!
This is how I’ve learned I need to view my time in the word of God. I range in my amounts of daily reading. Some days I forget because I’m human. Other days I read a few chapters. I just try to reach the goal of reading at least one verse and remembering it throughout the day, allowing God to shape me with it.
Reading the Bible and listening to it are the same thing. Try listening to the Bible if you are having trouble with consistently reading it!
Going book by book has been my favorite thing, but I have found that I like to pick random books of the Bible currently over reading Genesis to Revelation.
That might sound controversial, but it works more for me right now. I’ve always wanted to meet that goal of reading it start to finish, but I go with what I feel God wants to show me that day.
He is so intentional to place flowers of wisdom and encouragement along his children’s path of faith dedicated to what needs to be heard in that specific moment. (And if God is calling you to read the Bible start to finish in this season, go for it!)
Journalling
Everyone has their own learning style. For some, it’s listening to something, and for others, it’s applying a hands-on experience to learn. For me, I write to learn. I’m a visual learner, so personally, I love to have journals sitting with my Bibles 24/7.
Some fun things you can add in a notebook or journal (or notes app) are comments, questions, verse references + memorization, feelings, realizations, checklists, and prayers.
I use lists in my journals pretty frequently, but my time with Jesus isn’t determined by a checked off box.
I struggled with lists and checking off boxes for years, but currently I feel like this works for me. It’s about celebrating what I did do and giving me motivation for the next day to spend time with God, not make myself look better by a streak on a page.
Some people say checklists are great, others toxic- it might change how you journal in your life, and that’s ok!
Journal to remember more about God, and remember more about yourself
Memorize the word of God. Memorize his teachings. And memorize yourself. Because a good way to train for a race is to log each and every day’s progress.
Prayer
The last part of my time with Jesus is prayer, but that isn’t to say I don’t say a little prayer at the beginning.
When I pray, I sincerely talk to Jesus depending on how I’m feeling. Like I’m talking to my best friend. But I always make sure I recognize Him and thank and praise Him as well. He is deserving of thanks and praise always and I never regret that.
The duration, word count, and speech style are never calculated when I pray. I just sincerely pray to my God, and I try my best to appreciate and value Him.
When praying, I also make sure I’m praying by faith and not just allowing fear to take control!
The Lord’s Prayer guideline
Give praise to the Lord
Pray for his will to be done
Ask for forgiveness from Him and ask to forgive others
Pray against temptation and for deliverance
Affirm his glory and presence
Conclude in Jesus name
As long as you follow this you’re good! Pray if you’re mad, if you’re crying, if you’re confused, if you’re guilty, and anything else.
Conclusion
Again, none of these on my list are a strict guideline of the only way to spend time with God.
A lady once told me that my quiet time with God won’t always look the same every day and it shouldn’t.
This is one of the biggest tips I have for you today. Getting to know someone as perfect, complex, precious, and loving as God means walking on a complex and vivid path with him!
Thank you for reading this blog post!
If you’re a visitor:
If you're a visitor to my blog, thank you for reading! I'm grateful for every person that reads my blog posts! I hope that this encouraged you, and if you would like to read more content about Jesus and the Bible, you can subscribe to my website at the top inbox section of the home page! Subscribers will get notifications the moment I post a blog post every Friday morning.
To my members!
Thank you for reading this week's post! I would love to hear your feedback! Feel free to drop any comments, preferences, or questions if you have any!
Just became a Christian?
If you're new to the whole "Christian" thing, I'd love to help you out with that! If you click here, you can receive a downloadable eBook with some of my tips on how to navigate being a Christian! I share some of the habits, resources, and bible verses that helped me grow as a Christian when I was newly saved!
I don't know who God is, but would like to know! Other posts on my Blog
Stay connected!
- My Pinterest account
- My Instagram account
- My Twitter account
Thank you for being here! May the Lord's peace be with you today! :)
Comments