OT: adult Bible study

I really loved (and still do) my Precepts Inductive Study Bible.  This teaches you to study scripture and find understanding in the context of what you are reading.  Before each book, there is an introduction to the book and a guide to studying it, along with a list of key words to look for.  From these exercises, the import of each section is brought more clearly into focus.  It also can include doing a word study to further understand the original translation’s meaning.  I also have used and greatly benefits from reading the MacArthur Study Bible, which has extensive commentaries and clarifications throughout the text.

HTH!  So grateful to hear of another soul claimed for His kingdom!

Kristina 

I don’t believe any book or study is necessary to go deeper in your studies of the Bible. I don’t actually “study” the Bible. Holy Spirit is the best Teacher you’ll ever have, and He is able to teach you and interpret passages for you that you may not understand. I would rather have God’s interpretation of His own Word that the interpretations of other preachers, authors, or teachers. Not that God hasn’t gifted men and women to understand His Word and share with others, but I find that five different people can interpret one scripture in five different ways…who’s right? Well, none or all! I don’t know! 

I love to journal. It’s basically a letter I write to God. I tell Him my feelings, struggles, dreams, hopes, and thoughts. Then I stop and listen for Holy Spirit to respond. It’s like a conversation between the two of us that I write down. It may sound weird, but I promise, you can hear God too! It’s that still, small voice that speaks straight to your heart. 

You can do the same thing with His Word. Write down a scripture and ask Him how it applies to your life or a certain situation you or someone you know might be going through.

For example, The Lord showed me something out of the story of Jonah yesterday, a story I have known since childhood. Even in Jonah’s disobedience (running from God and refusing to go to Ninevah), God still provided a safe place for Jonah (the fish). Although the fish’s belly probably wasn’t a very pleasant place, it was still God’s way of providing for and protecting Jonah while Jonah’s heart came to a place of repentance and surrender. This applies to my life right now because I’m in a place I don’t want to be, but God showed me that He has provided this place for me for a temporary time and it’s a place of provision and safety, even though it’s not pleasant. And, I’ve been needing to come to a place of repentance and surrender in this situation in my life. He’s been protecting me and providing for me all along, even when my heart was hardened, as He drew me to Himself and my heart softenend to give Him control back.

I didn’t get that from a book or a Bible study. It was just Holy Spirit meeting me with the truth He had for me yesterday. And it has encouraged me so much in my current situation. 

My final word of advice would be to not put God in a “quiet time” or “devotional” box. I made this mistake for years of my walk with Him, and it only ever brought feelings of guilt and inadequacy. If I didn’t have my “quiet time” that day, I felt like a bad Christian with heaps of guilt on my conscience. The Lord just reminded me of a blog post I wrote several years ago. I hope you find it encouraging. http://todayindietzville.blogspot.com/2010/09/priority-no-1.html

Blessings,

Lindsey

I can’t give you a clear answer on how I “know” where to read. I love to read Proverbs over and over. Sometimes I’ll just open up the Bible and just read. Some days it’s life-changing or speaks to a specific issue in my life; other times it’s just me reading and journaling and nothing profound happens. I mean, its God’s Word. There’s no “wrong way” to read it or pray or journal or anything. There have been times where I’ve read and read and gotten nothing, and then other times when I have woken up in the middle of the night with God speaking to my heart a specific chapter and verse. It’s not always the same, but that’s how God works! I talk to God in my heart and mind all day. Sometimes I have to ask Him to get me through a science lesson that I really don’t like or strength to finish a project that I’ve procrastinated. I don’t pray elaborate, fancy prayers. I just talk to Him like I would talk to my dad. He wakes me up a lot in the middle of the night (probably because that’s when my mind is finally empty!), and I’ll imagine he’s sitting on the end of my bed, just wanting to talk. So I’ll talk to Him.

Legalism says that you have to say certain things or spend a certain amount of time during a devotional or do it at a certain time of day. Grace says that God loves you and blesses you no matter what you do or don’t do. God doesn’t have us on a points system. We don’t rack up points based upon what we do or lose points when we don’t do something. Your walk with Christ isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. You’ll have seasons of amazing fruitfulness and seasons of no fruit, seasons of hearing His voice all the time and seasons of longing to hear it. None of it is right or wrong. Just keep going, don’t let guilt come in, and you develop your own relationship with your Savior. Your relationship with Him is going to look different than mine, and that’s because He created us differently!

Remember, Jesus is a person. Talk to Him that way. He’s a friend, father, brother, talk to Him like that. He doesn’t need formalities; he just wants your heart.

Ask God to help you understand His word before you start reading. Before you start reading your Bible, say a prayer thanking the Lord for His word, ask Him to reveal Himself to you by it and show you how to apply the Word to yourself. While we use our minds for the act of reading, we understand His truth in our hearts. Lindsey talked about the Holy Spirit being our Teacher, so do not be afraid to pray and ASK Him to teach you. It can be a short easy prayer, “Lord, thank you for Your Word, I ask that you teach me, help to me to understand and show me how to apply Your Word to my life today.” Or however you’d like to word it and you don’t need to pray the exact same prayer verbatim every time either. Just ask for God for understanding every time you read the Bible. He wants to be known and we can know Him! 

The epistles (letters to the churches) are where I read the most as a new believer, I didn’t really why, I just sort of hung out in the New Testament and read the epistles especially over and over again. (My favorite is Ephesians) Years later I heard that much of the instructions for living as a Christian are in the epistles. 

You can also pray Ephesians 1:17-19 for yourself. Pray the Word. Put “me” where is says “you”. Paul is praying for the church that they would be given a spirit of knowledge and revelation of God. Some other verses in Ephesians you pray for yourself are Eph. 3:16-19. I want to know the love of Christ which passes all knowledge and be filled with the fullness of God! God’s word works and it never returns void. 

And when you come across something you don’t understand, ask Him! “What does this mean?” Look to the Bible to back up the Bible. Often I have found clarity or an explanation to something that I didn’t previously understand later in my reading. Not always the same chapter or book of the Bible, but always in the Bible. Sometimes another verse will come to my mind later it the day, and I’ll go look it up (using a concordance if needed). There’s nothing wrong with Bible studies, commentaries etc. As believers we are to encourage one another. Just measure everything against God’s word. Even what preachers may say, it is their calling to teach God’s word and lead His people, but teaching should line up with what God has said. 

And have fun! It’s exciting to get to know God more and more every day! It’s amazing that we can know the Creator of the universe personally. Oh, how He cares for us and desires us to know Him.

I am going to echo the ladies that recommend Precept Inductive Bible Study and Kay Arthur.  I can’t tell you how much more alive the Bible is when you learn to study it inductively.  Kay recommends doing your own study of the Word itself before going to commentary.  How do you know if a commentary is accurate if you haven’t studied the text for yourself?  Precept teaches you how to observe the text, how to interpret it, and finally how to apply it.  The questions are open ended leaving you to discover what the Word says.

There are many studies by Precept Ministries that you can do.  40-minute studies are intended to be done during group time (no homework).  In and Out studies have daily homework (which serves as your quiet time with the Lord), and Precept Upon Precept has more in depth homework.  There are also the “Lord” series which are books like “Lord, Teach Me to Pray” and include Bible study in the book, but it is not as much as a full book of the Bible study.  I have done at least one of each, and they are all great!  And this summer I am teaching my kids how to study the Bible using the Discover 4 Yourself series (for kids 12 and under).

If you can find a group in your area that is leading a Precept study I would definitely recommend it!  Being in a group allows you to discuss what you have studied, and when you have questions a leader can help you find the answers.

http://precept.org/

I like to approach the Bible in two ways: (1) reading for personal application in a devotional way and (2) systematic studying for historical and contextual understanding and literacy. I think both are important.

If we read only for personal application, we might not see the big pictures of to whom the various books were written, in what circumstances, the reasons behind why they were written, and how that passage fits into the Biblical structure as a whole. Without that information, sometimes we can misinterpret. 

However, if we only study the Bible as a collection of historical writings, we might miss opportunities for personal spiritual growth that comes from meditating and applying God’s Word to our attitudes, thoughts, and actions. 

Both are necessary—studying and devotional reading—and I want to make sure my children learn how to do both and see the benefits of both.

mrsmccardell, I’m sure there are many good study tools out there. Just to give you one starting point, the commentary I used with my students is called The Bible Knowledge Commentary by Walvoord and Zuck. There is an Old Testament volume and a New Testament volume. You can get commentaries on individual books of the Bible, but these are nice concise ones that might not feel too overwhelming to begin with. I have the print versions, but that’s because I got them before e-books had even been thought of.