Spiritual growth is a need in every Christian’s life. But it doesn’t just happen. It is a process but not automated in nature. It requires time and spiritual work sponsored by the grace of God, which is actively working in God’s child.
One of the ways to grow spiritually is by practising personal Bible study. Even though it’s very significant, many Christians, especially the new converts, aren’t taught how to build this spiritual pattern in their lives. Discipling people is good, but they must also grow to disciple others. Therefore it’s necessary for every servant of God to teach the sheep of God about building consistency in their personal Bible study.
In this article, we’ll learn how to do that. However, I’d recommend that to put this wisdom to its maximum use, take your time to print, bookmark, or save this article webpage as a PDF so that you can carefully work out the things written here with the strength of God.
Develop the heart desire to know God
Before a person launches a pursuit after something, he (or she) develops the desire to get it. In the same way, if you want to know God’s Word, you must cultivate a sincere heart desire to know God for yourself. 1 Peter 2:2 (NIV) says, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,”
Here in this scripture is an illustration of the kind of desire God wants us to develop towards the pursuit of spiritual growth. When newborn babies cry to their mothers, breastfeeding them is one of the easiest ways to stop them from crying. Now, these babies don’t cry just because they feel like doing it. They do so because they are hungry and want to be fed by their parents.
If you want to know God’s Word, you must cultivate a sincere heart desire to know God for yourself.
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Every Christian is spiritually hungry. However, not all discern it. That’s why the scripture says, “crave” pure spiritual milk. God won’t do that for you. You have to develop that desire to know God for yourself. If you do this, the longing to study the Bible will be conceived in your spirit.
Get the necessary tools
After developing the desire to know God through His Word, the next thing to consider is the tools (both physical and online) that will help you study the Bible. Some of these tools are physical Bible(s) in your preferred version (recommend NIV, KJV, or NKJV), a notebook to write what you receive from the Lord through the study, Bible apps such as YouVersion and Olive Tree Bible apps (recommended for Bible Study), document apps such as Google Docs, Microsoft Word or Apple Pages. Ensure that you’ll get these tools because their presence will make the study easier for you.
For those who like using online tools to study the Bible, I’d recommend that you’d turn off your data or WiFi when studying the Bible with your device, and also put your phone on “Do Not Disturb” mode to prevent distractions from various forms of notifications.
Take your mornings seriously
How you spend your morning each day has a lot of impact on your day. I once heard Pastor Vladimir Savchuk of Hungry Generation say, “Start your day with God, not with work.”
If you start your morning with a work mentality, you’ll have less time for God within your day. But when you start your day fellowshipping with God through prayer and a short Bible study/reading, He will empower you to spend your day in His presence. For me, I don’t really do in-depth Bible study in the morning, but I read at least one chapter of the Bible before I set out for school/work.
Start your day with God, not with work.
Pastor Vladimir Savchuk
You may not be able to read an entire chapter at the moment. Start with one verse, and by the grace of God, He’ll cause you to improve. While doing this, always make provisions to write down what He tells you. It might come in the form of a quote based on Him giving you insight into one of the verses you read. Don’t open your spiritual ear to God only in the morning. Keep it open all day because God can speak to you anytime.
Before I move on to the next point, I’d like you to note this. When you miss your scheduled Bible Study one day, don’t skip it another day. Such an act is harmful when building consistency in practising personal Bible Study. Also, if you can’t make it in the morning, allocate some time for yourself each week to study. Nobody ever has enough time to spare. Instead, we make time. If knowing God is your top priority, you’ll make time to study His Word no matter how busy you are.
Don’t open your spiritual ear to God only in the morning. Keep it open all day because God can speak to you anytime.
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Verse study or topical study
I believe the Bible can be studied in two principal ways: verse by verse or topic by topic. Verse study is much easier to do, especially if you’re beginning your journey in studying the Bible for yourself. However, it’s a slow method of understanding doctrines.
If you’re just starting up, begin your study by doing a verse study. How? By staying on one verse when reading the Bible until God gives you its spiritual understanding. Remember that the Bible isn’t a psychological book to be understood by the human mind. It’s a spiritual book, and only the Holy Spirit can give you a spiritual understanding of the verses. Even if others teach you the Word, recognize that they also get insight from the same Holy Spirit.
But if you’re a little advanced in studying the Bible, go for topical Bible Study. Prayerfully choose a topic to study such as faith, baptism, repentance, remission of sins, divine wisdom, etc. If they are many on your mind, take on one at a time.
Now, when you’re done choosing the study topic, search the scriptures to note all related verses down. Then read them one by one, grouping them into various subtopics as God gives you insight (because it’ll make your study organised).
Taking and documenting notes
Notes-taking is an essential part of Bible Study. It enables you to capture spiritual insights from the Lord and becomes accessible to reread another time since it’s possible to forget them. There are various tools to help you do this. And the good news is, most of them are free. For example, you can use Google Docs or Apple Notes to take your Bible Study notes. You can also buy a physical notebook to write them. It depends on which ones work best for you. For me, I use Google Docs more than my physical notebooks because I can save the files to my Google Drive since my physical notebook can get missing anytime.
Using what you’ve studied to pray
After studying and knowing the Word, it would be of little benefit to only know without using them to pray with understanding. Therefore, as you study the Word, derive prayer topics from the insights God gives you during your study, and then use them to pray.
I pray this article helps you build consistency in practising personal Bible study for yourself.
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