Finding Joy in Studying God’s Word

My favorite part of the day is spending time with God in His Word. I love to wake up before anyone else in the house and curl up on the couch with my favorite blanket, my coffee, and my Bible and journal. It’s just me and God. This is not only my favorite part of the day, but the most important part of my day.

I’ve always believed in God, but I didn’t really study my Bible. Truthfully, I found it intimidating and even boring at times. But that meant, I had to base what I knew about God only on what other people said about Him. You can’t really know someone without having a personal relationship with them. I can tell you what my friend is like, but you won’t really know them unless you spend time with them and get to know them for yourself. It’s this way with God too.

The Bible is God’s love letter to us and His Word reveals who He is, teaches us how to live and shows us what’s available to us through Jesus Christ. Because I didn’t have a personal relationship with God, I often struggled, feeling God was distant or even mad at me. I was also fearful and had a difficult time believing His promises were for me. Over time, my desire to know God more grew. I wanted to have a stronger relationship with Him, so I began to read my Bible and learn how to study it. It was life changing. I started to truly know for myself who God was and who He created me to be. I also discovered that reading God’s Word was anything but boring. A lot of what keeps so many away from reading the Bible, is just the enemy trying to keep us away from the most important relationship we’ll ever have. Discovering new truths about God, and receiving personal revelation from the Holy Spirit is one of the most exciting things we can ever experience. Now, something I once avoided, is the highlight of my day and brings me the greatest joy. This joy is available to us all! It doesn’t matter how long you may have walked with God, there is always so much more to learn and experience in our relationship with Him!

There are many different ways to study God’s Word, but today, I want to share one of my favorites. It’s pretty much a combination of study methods I’ve learned through the years and I love it. When I study this way, I gain so much revelations from my time in the Word. I probably use this study method most often. It wouldn’t be applicable for every passage of scripture, like an Old Testament story, but it can be used for much of the instructional passages in the New Testament and even the Psalms and Proverbs. Again, there are many ways to study the Word, but I wanted to share this particular way in hopes that you too will find joy in it. So let’s just jump into it then!

Let’s read James 1:1-8 (NKJV).

1 James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad:

Greetings.

² My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces ^[a]patience. ⁴ But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be ^[b]perfect and complete, lacking nothing. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

DAY ONE: Whenever I start my time with the Lord I pray and invite the Holy Spirit to come and guide me in my time. I know that He can give me the revelation and truth of God’s Word. Then I read through the passage of scripture I chose. After that I read through again and circle all personal pronouns. After that, I read again and underline all verbs, especially action words. Then I read it again and put a square around any adjectives. Finally, I read it again and highlight any words that stand out to me. These are words that I am going to research some more later. I may study a whole book of the Bible, or larger passage of scripture, but I break it down into smaller passages like I did above, so I can get the most out of each verse. As you can see, I read it over and over again and this is important. I have found that when I first read something, I am reading it with my mind. As I read it again and again, it starts to get into my spirit and this is when the real revelation starts to come. This may be all I do for that morning, or I may continue, depending on the time I have or if I feel led to continue. I am breaking it down into days just for you just as a guide. I always end my time with being still. I quiet my mind, push out all the distractions and just listen to hear what the Lord wants to say to me. This is an important discipline. It will teach you how to tune out the distractions of the world and listen for the small still voice of God. The more you practice this, the more attuned to the Lord’s voice you will become. I always end my time with the Lord journaling anything that has stood out to me or I feel I heard the Lord say.

DAY TWO: Pray and invite the Holy Spirit. Read through the passage again taking note of all you circled, underlined, put a square around and highlighted. Then write down any instruction that is being given. Also write down any of God’s promises contained in these verses. Then take some time to write about any specific instruction or promises that stand out to you personally. Finally, make a list of the words that stand out to you. You’ll be studying these words tomorrow. For this part, you’ll need a dictionary, bible dictionary and concordance. If you don’t own these, you can find these free tools online and even apps on your phone.

DAY THREE: Pray and invite the Holy Spirit. Read through the passage again. Start studying the words you wrote down yesterday with any of the tools you have. Write down your findings whether it be synonyms, definitions or any other truths about this word. Also include anything the Holy Spirit is speaking to you.

DAY FOUR: Pray and invite the Holy Spirit. Read through the passage again. Write down any verses that relate to the words you highlighted and write them down. Sometimes I’ll search the word in the concordance and look up the verses. Write out and verses that stand out to you.

DAY FIVE: Pray and invite the Holy Spirit. Read through the passage again. Read the passage once again. Look over your findings from the last several days. Take some time to just soak in what you’ve learned and listen to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying. Journal what you feel the Lord is saying to you. Write in prayer form what you have received, your requests, and anything else on your heart.

So that’s the basics of how I study a passage of scripture. Below is a printable you can download that will contain more details and even have a worksheet for you to write on during your own study time. I’ll also include my own personal study sheet so you can get a better idea of what using this method looks like. I’ve been doing this for so long, I usually just write all this in my journal and not on the sheet. I pray that if you were like me at one time, intimidated by studying the Word, you are now inspired to dig in…And if you’re already an avid studier of the Word, I pray you are inspired to dig in ever deeper! If you try this method of study, I’d love to hear how it went for you. As always, feel free to comment. I love hearing your feedback!

Click on the two links below 🙂 

HOW TO STUDY GOD’S WORD PRINTABLE

Jill’s Time With God Sample