How to study the Bible

There are four basic steps to studying the Bible:

1. Praise God and ask for God’s help (Prayer)

• Pray before and after you study the Bible
• Thank God for what you have learnt
• Confess your sins and trust that Jesus has forgiven you
• Ask for God’s help to change to follow His way

2. What does it say? (Observation)

• Ask questions about the passage like: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?
• Write down any questions that you have.
• Is there a main idea?
• What does it say about God? Jesus? Humans?

3. What does it mean? (Understanding)

• How does this fit into the Bible’s overall story?
• How does the immediate context explain the meaning?
• Does another part of the Bible help explain this?
• Look up any cross-references listed in your Bible
• Use a concordance or search to see how a word is used in another part of the Bible
• Use a Bible Dictionary to look up meanings of words

4. What does it mean for me? (Application)

• What is the general principle or truth of this passage?
• Does this principle apply to me the same way as for the original readers or is it different?
• Should I change what I say, do or think?

If you still have questions about how to study the Bible, ask your FOCUS staffworker and they will be happy to help!