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I want to let you in on how I spend time with God in the Bible. Of course, it doesn’t always look exactly the same each day or in every season of life, and it won’t for you either. And this is just once approach of many you could try, so do what works best for you! But I want to share some simple practices and tips that will help you connect with God in your daily time alone with Him in Scripture and prayer (quiet time), especially if you’re new to reading the Bible or trying to develop a regular Bible reading rhythm.

This is my adaptation of the Swedish Bible Study Method, which uses symbols to represent key information to pay attention to as you read a Bible passage. My heart is this: I want a system that is devotional and helps me (and others) connect relationally with God, use good Bible study skills so we are interpreting and applying God’s Word accurately, and gives us practical application all at the same time. 

I pulled key questions from inductive Bible study methods (like the COMA method I teach in the blog How to Study the Bible) and some personal questions I ask to make sure all three of those things are happening even in my times of devotional reading and meditation on Scripture, not only in my moments of more in-depth Bible study.

My Version of the Swedish Bible Study Method

I suggest choosing a book the Bible and reading it a chapter at a time or small portion of a chapter at a time until you finish it so you can grasp the full context and key themes of the book. This approach is better for truly learning the Bible than reading a random passage each day.

As you read a passage of Scripture, prayerfully ask questions like these of God and about the passage:

• HEART – What’s happening in the passage and what is the main idea/main message? (Sum up what the passage is about and the author’s main point(s).)
• LIGHTBULB – Does anything stand out to me from the passage? What does this passage teach us? *(Something about God’s nature? Something about what we should believe? Something about how to live?) 
• ARROW – What is God speaking to me personally today through this passage? How is God calling me to apply this passage to my life? (It could be a key takeaway thought to meditate on or a practical action to take.)
• QUESTION MARK – What is a question(s) I have about this passage or something I want to follow up on later in study?
• PRAYER – Pray for myself and/or for others based on the passage, or pray the passage back to God. (tips on praying the Bible)

*God’s Nature (God’s character, emotions, or actions), a Truth To Believe (teachings/doctrines on a topic or promises from God), How to Live (commands to obey, sins to avoid, examples to follow or not follow)

Tips

• Read the Bible prayerfully. I pray before I read for God to give me a word from Him as I read His written word. I pray for God to speak to me and teach me and help me understand His Word. I pray as I read too, asking God to draw my attention to the answers to the questions above in His Word. I’ll talk to Him about the passage as I read–making comments, asking Him questions, talking to Him about what comes to mind as I read. And I pray after I read. I ask God to help me remember and apply what I read, and turn the truths in the passage into conversation with Him.
  
  
  
• Never skip the “heart.” Even when reading for more personal devotion, you can’t interpret and apply a Scripture passage correctly to your life today unless you understand the context and meaning to the original author and audience first. As you find principles in the passage and think about personal application, keep in mind any significant cultural similarities and differences between you and the original hearers of the passage, so you can identify the eternal biblical principles in the passage that are relevant to both the biblical audience and to us today. (Learn more about that here and in the books below.)
  
  

• I love to highlight verses with the themes of God’s Nature, Truth to Believe, or How to Live in my Bible as I read with colored pencils (because they don’t bleed through pages), using one color for each theme. It’s fun and helpful to be able to flip through your Bible and easily reference them later. You won’t find all of these in every Bible passage you read (and that’s not necessarily the point anyway), but this tool will give you prompts that help you know what to look for and give you specific questions to ask the Holy Spirit so He can highlight things to you from Scripture.
  
  
• Keep in mind that application can look a variety of ways in different situations. In Read The Bible for Life, George Guthries says: “Application can take the form of tangible action (like avoiding/confessing sin or obeying a command), worship (praising and trusting God for His attributes), meditation (slow, repetitive, thoughtful reflection), or adjusting our theology (changing our beliefs to align with Scripture’s teaching on a topic).” *Parenthetical comments are my own. Make your applications specific, personal, and practical.
  
  
• For the Lightbulb and Arrow: Especially if you’re reading a full chapter or larger portion of Scripture, multiple things might stand out to you, or you might observe multiple truths/principles we can learn from the passage or multiple applications to your life. You don’t want to get overwhelmed, so I suggest you focus on just 1-2 things that you learned and/or feel led by God to apply. You can always briefly write down the rest of the principles as you read each day, if it would help you to do so, and come back to them at another time.
  
  For application to your life, I’d suggest you just focus on the one or two things per week God is causing to stand out to you most and work on putting those into practice as He leads you. And remember you don’t have to have a practical, tangible action step from every passage you read every time. Simply learning Scripture and meditating on God’s Word and connecting with Him are still powerful means of meeting with God in His Word and being transformed.
  
  
• If I don’t have time to look up answers to my questions and follow-up study points during my devotional time that day, I’ll do it in my time with God the next day or take time on the weekends to go back through my notes from the week and dig deeper into my questions with study resources.

Have fun meeting with God in His Word!

Resources:

• Filament Bible App (a study Bible app with resources and notes)
• One-to-One Bible Reading by David Helm
• A Short Guide To Reading The Bible Better by George Guthrie
• Read The Bible For Life by George Guthrie
• Journey Into God’s Word by J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays

Let’s Talk: How do you think this method will help you in your time with God? Discuss this post in the comments below.