Bible Study… More Methods?
I have mentioned in Bible Study (A foundation) – Part 1 that a Bible study method is important. And this is the second Bible study method I will be looking at.
Reading the Bible aloud is always a positive. But what if you are doing a group study in a coffee shop or any other public area? Then this is not as much needed, you can let everyone read, yet reading on one’s own in silence is also good.
But first, let me start with a recap…
A Quick Recap
What is Bible study? You can find the answers in Bible Study (A foundation) – Part 1
In the part “How do we do bible study?“, I mentioned these steps (go to Bible Study (A foundation) – Part 1 to get more detail)…
1st step: Get a METHOD
2nd step: Get a TIME
3rd step: Get a PLACE
4th step: THIS is now an APPOINTMENT
5th step: Get the EQUIPMENT READY
6th step: READ THE BIBLE ALOUD
7th step: NEVER GIVE UP
8th step: It is dealt with on the CROSS
Let’s Recap the first Method, Discovery Bible Study (DBS), on how to do Bible study.
And the Steps are as follows (see Bible Study (Method 1) – Part 2 for more detail):
1st step: Pray
2nd step: Get the scripture we want to read
3rd step: Read the Scripture
4th step: Write Scripture in our own words
5th step: Interpretation, there are 3 questions linked to the interpretation
5.1. What does it say about Jesus?
5.2. What does it say about man?
5.3. What does it say about God’s plan?
6th step: Application
7th step: Pray, there are 2 part linked to this part of prayer
7.1. Ask for guidance
7.2. Give Thanks
8th step (only for group): Encourage everyone to go through study on their own
Now let’s get started with the next Bible study method…
Method 2 – S-O-A-P Bible study method
I just had to, now you are going to remember this method every time you see soap…
Bible study to your spiritual life is like SOAP is to your body… (P.S. just reading the Bible rarely has any effect on our spiritual growth… Application of what you read shows trust in Christ and brings forth growth…)
You may save this image and print it, or even recreate it… It is a template on what we are going to use for this Bible study method…
Lets look at the steps:
Step 1: Pray
You may think this is common knowledge, but it is VERY important… Ask God for wisdom as you read the Scripture… Ask His Spirit to break open what you read and give you revelation.
Step 2: Get the scripture we want to read
For the purpose of this I am going to use Psalm 23 again (You can use scriptures, chapters or even books)
Step 3: Read the Scripture
Reading the Scripture, gives us insight. Now we need to keep our mind at that scripture we are reading. Do not jump through the Bible for understanding… This is so we get the revelation of WHAT GOD IS SAYING IN THE SCRIPTURE we are currently reading. Remember that context around the scripture is important, thus we do not just read a single verse at a time… And reading a scripture multiple times opens it up even more…
Step 4: S – Scripture
In this section we write down the part of the scripture we read that stood out most to us. This could be a specific verse of a few verse in the scripture we read. Normally the reason something is jumping out at us is because Holy Spirit is trying to reveal something to us…
Step 5: O – Observation
What are the observations that we can deduct from the scripture we just read? Well, let me clarify this a little… What things caught our attention? Why did it? What do we feel God is saying to us? There are 5 types of questions that can help here, namely the Who, What , Why, Where and When… Examples of this are: Who does it apply to? Why is it written? When is it applicable for? what do we see in the passage? These are all observation type questions we can look at…
Step 6: A – Application
How can I apply that which I have read today in my life. Don’t think about adding all 500 possible things found, that can be applied. Keep it simple. If we say we want to apply something, start with something that we are willing to do. The application normally can start with “I will…”. This can be seen as the How question… How is this applicable to us? How can we apply this in our everyday live? Many of the scriptures have some sort of application to it, if we are willing to listen to Holy Spirit…
Step 7: P – Pray
I know it seems like a lot of prayer, but bear with me. Step 7 has two parts…
Step 7.1: Ask for guidance – In the application we said we will do something, here we ask God for Guidance in that pursuit
Step 7.2: Give Thanks – Now give thanks for the revelation that He gave us.
This is the second method, that can be used, to do Bible study. It works well in Groups and on your own. I have done it in both ways, and it is effective.
Notes for a group setting (It is necessary to know, especially if planning to use it):
Firstly, pray together.
With this if you have someone who takes lead or facilitates, let them guide. This does avoid having a mix up.
With reading the Scriptures, let everyone read a part aloud, even if it is multiple times that the same Scriptures get read in multiple translations.
Time may be of the essence, however where possible, instead of giving deadline, observe the group. You can see when everyone is coming to a close.
For groups I would add a Step 8: Encourage everyone to go through study on their own
This is the same as with the first, yet the way the Bible study flows is somewhat different.
If you need a cheat sheet on the SOAP Bible Study Method…. Here it is…
S.O.A.P. Bible study method – Example
Why do I add this? Nothing shows better on HOW something works, than actually doing it… So I am going to use this Bible study method to go through Psalm 23.
Just a note, this is an example, thus I am not going to go into it to deep… I will however do it step by step so you can see what I do.
Step 1: Pray
Father God, I ask for wisdom as I do my Bible study today. I ask that YOUR SPIRIT will show me what I miss and guide me and keep me focused on what YOU want to show me in what I read. Amen.
Step 2: Get the scripture we want to read
Psalm 23
Step 3: Read the Scripture
I will just put the scripture here I am using.
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23)
Step 4: S – Scripture
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me… You anoint my head with oil; … and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever
Step 5: O – Observation
What I observed is that the whole of Psalm 23 happens outside… Shepherds normally guard sheep outside. Inside they are normally safe. Also, I saw that the flow is all for GOD’s Name sake… NOT FOR MINE. The only I’s in here is.. “I shall not be in want”, I will fear no evil,…” and “I will dwell in the house of the Lord”. The totality of the Psalm is centered around God… The Lord is my shepherd… HE takes care of me… God makes me rest… HE restores me… HE guides me… Holy Spirit is with me… HE prepares the table… HE anoints me….
More interesting to me is that in verse 5 HE prepares a table in the midst of my enemies… Why? Everything before that is about a shepherd, thus being outside… So this shows to me that it might actually be outside… and the last verse ends with “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”… Still this seems to be outside in the context of the verse… And this makes me realize something… I normally find it easier to CONNECT TO GOD while in nature… I feel closer in nature…
Step 6: A – Application
I will connect with God in the place where it is easier to do, thus time with God for me will have to be outside… So I can connect better with God.
Step 7: P – Pray
Father God, I ask for YOUR guidance as I attempt to spend more time with YOU. Also, show me where it is way to much about me, and to little about YOU. Show me where I can sacrifice my time, and rather spend it with you. I thank YOU for the revelation that YOU have gave me. Amen
– END OF BIBLE STUDY EXAMPLE –
As you can see, there is a different revelation in this study, from that which I got in the last post, which was also on Psalm 23. This is a fairly normal occurrence when doing bible study, because God reveals more and sometimes deeper truths, as we grow in Christ. Sometimes we also get different revelations from the same piece of scripture… This was a very good, and very unplanned, example of how this does occur…
I hope that this helps you in your pursuit to growing closer to God. But if you have any questions about this method, comment and ask. Then I will do everything to answer you. Be ready to dig a bit deeper into the scripture in the 4th and final part of the Bible study series.
On a side note, if you have a Bible study method that you follow and you find that it works well, comment below. In this way we can also give some more Bible study methods for those who do not have a Bible study method or that struggles to use those that I blogged about…
God bless.