Personal Bible Study

Most of us need some guidelines to help us to have fruitful personal bible study.

The approach for personal bible study differs from that for group bible study. This article is a small effort to help all of us to have a real meeting with God when we do bible study.

Psalm 119:33-40(The Message).

GOD, teach me lessons for living so I can stay the course.

Give me insight so I can do what you tell me-- my whole life one long, obedient response.

Guide me down the road of your commandments; I love traveling this freeway!

Give me a bent for your words of wisdom, and not for piling up loot.

Divert my eyes from toys and trinkets, invigorate me on the pilgrim way.

Affirm your promises to me-- promises made to all who fear you.

Deflect the harsh words of my critics-- but what you say is always so good.

See how hungry I am for your counsel; preserve my life through your righteous ways!

The over all approach to personal bible study is as follows:

• Pray before you start your bible study
• Read the passage you plan to do your bible study on
• Think about the passage you have read and have chosen for your bible study
• Consider the application of your bible study in your life
• End your bible study with prayer asking god to lead you through the Holy Spirit

This is the broad guidelines for your bible study. We shall now consider everything in more detail.

Pray before you start your bible study:

If bible study is not approaches prayerfully the presence of the Holy Spirit may not be felt completely. Remember you want God to really show you what He wants to teach you today. Ask for guidance and wisdom when you are thinking about these passages.

Read the passage you plan to do your bible study on:

The first and most important point to be stressed is not to read randomly in the bible and expect God to speak to you. God can speak to you in any way, that is true, but normally it is best to approach bible study systematically to be very sure in your mind that you are not reading something into a passage that is not really there. Spend enough time in reading the passage slowly a few times to make sure you are completely sure of exactly what is said in it. Allow the Holy Spirit to reveal everything to you during this part of your bible study.

Think about the passage you have read and have chosen for your bible study:

During your bible study there are a few principles to keep in mind:

1. Teach yourself to ask questions all the time. Questions like, who, why, what, when. When you do this you’ll discover things in the scripture you missed before. You’ll become aware of the richness of the scripture.

(Psa 119:18 MSG) Open my eyes so I can see what you show me of your miracle-wonders.

2. Write down everything you have discovered. This helps you to really make the scripture your own, to really understand what God is saying to you, in your particular circumstances. Always keep your notebook handy when you are doing bible study and refer to your previous notes regularly. In this way you will be able to see clearly the road God is leading you on.

Consider the application of your bible study in your life:

At this stage you have to consider the applications of your bible study to your life. Really try and think what it is God wants you to do. Without this vital last step you won’t get the full blessing from your bible study. Make it your own and go out there and do what God wants you to do. Keep it personal and do not try and find something in a piece of scripture nobody else has discovered yet. That is not your purpose; you need to find out what God has in store for YOU.

End your bible study with prayer asking god to lead you through the Holy Spirit:

In this final prayer ask God to lead you on your way as He has shown it to you. Ask for the continual awareness of the Holy Spirit as you apply this in your life.

Doing bible study in this way will make it a wonderful blessing and very precious time spent in the presence of our Lord.

Passages to consider:

Deuteronomy 30:1-32:28

St. Mark 5:1-10

Psalm 119:41-48

Proverbs 17:17