The Bible serves as God’s word for us to better connect with Him. Sometimes though, we don’t know where to start, or how to exactly study. This post will give tangible tips and strategies to better study what we’re reading.
Our first step is deciding what exactly we should be reading. If you’re brand new to reading the Bible, there are certainly no right answers, but there are certainly wrong answers (looking at you Revelations and Song of Solomon). The Bible is telling one BIG story, but it’s also comprised of smaller stories in 66 total Bible books by over 40 human authors. Think of the Bible like a river–all flowing in one direction. You don’t want to drop in completely midstream where the water is flowing fast and you have no idea what’s going on, but there are also a lot of easy places where the water slows and it’s a great time to hop in! Some great options include the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John), Romans, Psalms and Genesis! Another idea is using a Bible reading plan found at bible.com.
So now that we have where we’re gonna be reading, we gotta figure out how to study it. That is where we introduce a nice acronym called SOIAP. This acronym walks us through how to study a passage in that way.
Number 1 is S, which stands for Scripture. This is where you read the package. Now, I would actually recommend saying it aloud, it helps to truly process each word, but you could even use an audio bible to have it read to you too, it all depends on how you learn. Another cool thing that I’ve found is that writing an important verse or two helps me focus on each word individually and on the passage as a whole. It also helps me soak it in and meditate on it. And for those who have short attention spans […squirrel!] this really helps hone our focus on the task of studying Scripture instead of looking at the cobwebs in our bedrooms.
Next we have O, which represents observation. This is where you examine the text and write down what you notice. This means asking yourself questions like – what do you see in the verses that you’re reading? Who is the audience? Is there a repetition of words? Who is it written by? What seems interesting or unusual? These observations may start with the obvious (i.e., Jesus spent time with his disciples), but will gradually become deeper. This is also where you may write down questions that you have about the passage that you’re reading.
Number 3 is I for interpretation.Interpretation is super important, because Interpretation helps us get “unstuck” when we read a hard part of Scripture. Interpretation is asking: what does this Bible passage mean, particularly to the first audience? Although we can understand some of that by simply reading the passage, the correct interpretation won’t always come naturally. There are historical, cultural, and language barriers to us understanding what Bible passages meant to the first audience. We are not experts in Jewish or Roman or Greek history or culture. We are also not experts in the Bible’s original languages: Hebrew and Greek. Because of our lack of knowledge that we have as readers, we need to spend time on interpretation to figure out what the words we read in the Bible actually mean. How do we interpret? First we can look at the immediate Bible passage context. The verses or chapters before or after may give us more understanding. The Bible book as a whole will, too. But there are times where we will simply not know enough to understand and interpret properly. Bible dictionaries, Bible encyclopedias, and commentaries are key to interpreting correctly. This does not mean “an article that you saw on Facebook,” but a studied, learned scholar of the languages and history. We also need to interpret the Bible passages based on the type of literature that particular passage is from. The Bible is made up of poetry, letter, narratives, and more. Just like you don’t interpret Shakespeare’s poetry the same way you interpret a text from your friend, you aren’t going to interpret Psalms the same way you interpret Galatians. This Bible Project video gives some excellent information about types of literature in the Bible.
The A stands for Application- this is when God’s Word becomes personal. We try here to apply God’s Word to our life in a practical way. What is God saying to me today? How can I apply what I just read to my own personal life? What changes do I need to make? Is there an action that I need to take? If it’s an action, try to make it SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound. This allows us to actually pull what’s going to help us change our lives for the better, or just be encouraged through our situation.
Finally, we have P for prayer. This is where we have the opportunity to pray about what we’ve learned from the passage and what God has put on our hearts. This could be praying for help to do what we’ve committed to apply to our lives, or thanking God for bringing something to our attention.
As you study the Bible further, you will learn your best way to study. Our prayer is that you would seek Christ and learn more about Him, studying the Word of God.
