Don’t Just Read the Bible–Study It!
Method: Q & A’s
1. Pick a passage of 1 or more verses. Note: Verses that contain questions are not the
best to use for this method.
2. Pray for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.
3. Write down as many who, what, when, where, why, and how questions that can
be answered from the text.
4. Answer the questions from the text.
5. In a different color, write down any impressions that come to you.
6. End by doing one or both of the following:
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Write down what you believe God is telling you in these verses.
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Write a personal application.
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Example: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
When were the heavens and the earth created? In the beginning.
Who created the heavens and the earth? God
*How different society would be if people believed the first 4 words of the
Bible.
What did God do in the beginning? Created the heavens and the
earth.
What did God do to the heavens and the earth? Created them
*Which heavens is this talking about?
What did God create? The heavens and the earth
*Why is it that in studying nature, some people are drawn to God, while others
believe in evolution?
Message for me: If God has the power to create the heavens &
earth, He can create a new heart in me.
Application: I need to give God control of my life every day.
Method: Relational
1. Pick a passage of 1 or more verses.
2. Pray for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.
3. As you read, put yourself into the picture, listening to the Bible writer recite his
words, being a character in a story, or imagining the scene created by the passage.
4. Verse by verse, ask yourself,
What does this passage tell me about God/Jesus?
Write down your answers.
5. Read through the whole passage again, this time asking yourself
What does this passage tell me about myself?
Write down your answers.
6. Using a different color, add any impressions that come to you.
7. End by doing one or both of the following:
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Write down what you believe God is telling you in these verses.
Write a personal application
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Example: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
What does this say/infer about God?
He was there at the beginning.
He is the Creator.
Understanding that God created the earth is the foundation of the rest of the
Bible.
Was Creation a united effort in which the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost all
took part?
What does this say/infer about me?
I am not the product of evolution.
Message for me: It takes faith to believe in Creation, since no
human was there to see it happen. But it makes more sense
than the other stories man has tried to come up with.
Application: I need to study my Bible every day so that I know what
truth is.
Method- DPQ’s
1. Choose a passage or chapter to analyze.
2. Pray for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.
3. Read one verse at a time, writing down-a. Discoveries- What thoughts come to your mind?
b. Problems- Does something seem unclear or contradictory?
c. Questions- What do you wonder about?
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Put a ? mark in front of each question to make it easy to locate.
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Leave a blank line after a question so you can write in the answer.
4. After you have finished DPQing the passage, find some of the answers to your questions.
Look in a commentary, concordance, orother reference books. (Use a different colored
pen to write down your answers.)
5. Do one or more of the following:
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Identify what you believe God is telling you in these verses.
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Write a personal application.
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Example: Genesis 37:2-3 (The beginning of the story of Joseph)
There’s tension between Joseph and the rest of the family and there’s no family unity.
37:2
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Was this because of the polygamy?
Yes
“These are the generations of Jacob.” The statement doesn’t make sense to me since
the only one specifically mentioned after that was Joseph.
37.3
Jacob added to the problem by being partial to Joseph.
? Joseph was not the youngest son. So why was he favored?
Jacob enjoyed the
companionship of Joseph, whose amiability and ideals made him so different from
his brothers-- BC 1-428).
Tattling on his brothers made Joseph part of the problem.
The brothers envied Joseph, but Joseph and Benjamin’s mother was dead.
Message for me: We shouldn’t envy others. We don’t know what pain and
problems they are going through.
Application: When I’m tempted to criticize someone, I will pray for them instead.
Method - Biographical Study
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Choose a person to study and decide on a complete or partial study.
Pray for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.
Using the concordance, write down all the texts that refer to him.
Write down your DPQs as you go along. If necessary, read the material before and after to
get the whole picture.
5. Answer the questions on the Analysis sheet.
6. Use the Character Qualities sheet to identify the good/bad qualities he exhibited.
A. In a short study, identify the qualities in each verse adding an explanation if you want.
For example:
Matt. 26:35
B.
Determined Peter said he’d never deny Jesus.
Arrogant
He overestimated his ability to stay strong.
Loving
He loved Jesus and wanted to be loyal to Him.
In a long study, you may want to pick out the top 10 qualities and explain how the
person illustrated each quality.
Note: Feel free to come up with additional character qualities that are not on the list.
7. Main Lessons. What are the main lessons you learned from this person’s life?
8. Personal Applications. How can you apply this information to your own life?
Further research. Use the concordance, Bible commentaries, and Spirit of Prophecy books to
go deeper in your study. You can do this research at any time–when a question comes up, after
a chapter, or at the conclusion of your study. Add the new information to your notebook–on the
blank lines after your questions or on the blank pages across from your study notes.
Biographical Study- Page 2
Analysis
Background
1. What can you discover about his family and ancestry?
2. What was the condition of his country politically and spiritually during his lifetime?
3. What was his occupation?
Significant Events
4. Was there any great crisis in his life? How did he handle it?
5. What is he remembered for? What is its significance?
6. What crucial decisions did he have to make? How did they affect him/others?
7. Did any particular problem keep recurring in his life?
8. Where did he succeed?
9. Where did he fail?
10. What part did he play in the history of God’s plan?
Tests of Character
11. What was he trying to do?
12. How did he respond to success?
13. How did he respond to difficulties?
14. What do you think he believed about life?
Relationships
15. How did he get along with others?
16. Who were his enemies?
17. What influence did he have on others? On his nation? On other nations?
18. Did his friends and family help or hinder him in serving the Lord?
Personality
19. What type of person was he?
20 Did his life show any positive growth over time?
21. In what area was his greatest battle: his appetite, coveting, or pride?
22. What were his particular sins and weaknesses?
23. What were the results of his sins and weaknesses?
24. Did he ever get victory over his sins and weaknesses?
25. Why do you think God wanted this person to be mentioned in the Bible?
Adapted from Rick Warren’s Bible Study Methods
Biographical Study- Page 3
Character Qualities
Positive
accepting
brave
calm
caring
cautious
cheerful
co-operative
compassionate
considerate
contented
courageous
creative
dedicated
dependable
determined
devoted
diligent
discerning
disciplined
encouraging
enduring
energetic
enthusiastic
fair
faithful
fearless
forgiving
friendly
generous
gentle
hard-working
helpful
honest
humble
impartial
industrious
kind
loving
loyal
meek
merciful
moral
obedient
observant
patient
peacemaking
persistent
positive
reliable
resolved
resourceful
respectful
reverent
self-controlled
self-sacrificing
sensitive
serving
sincere
submissive
sympathetic
thankful
thoughtful
trustworthy
uncomplaining
understanding
unwavering
upright
wise
arrogant
bitter
blasphemous
boastful
brutal
careless
coarse
cold
complaining
conceited
contriving
covetous
cowardly
crafty
cruel
deceitful
dishonest
disloyal
disobedient
disrespectful
doubting
envious
fearful
flattering
foolish
forgetful
gluttonous
greedy
harsh
hypocritical
idolatrous
immoral
impulsive
inattentive
Negative
angry
indifferent
insulting
jealous
lazy
legalistic
manipulative
mean
paranoid
power hungry
prejudice
proud
rebellious
resentful
revengeful
rude
sarcastic
self-righteous
self-sufficient
selfish
sly
stingy
stubborn
thoughtless
timid
undisciplined
unfair
unfaithful
unforgiving
unkind
unreliable
unthankful
untruthful
vain
violent
wavering
Method - Topical
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Pick a topic to study.
Pray for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.
Use a topical Bible or concordance to find verses to study.
Read the verses, using Q & A and/or DPQs. (Skip verses that don’t work)
If you’re writing DPQs, decide when you’ll do your research.
Reread your notes and then do one or more of the following:
Summarize the topic.
Identify what you believe God is telling you in these verses.
Write a personal application.
Method - 3 Questions
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Pick a passage (or topic) to study.
Pray for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.
Read verse by verse, asking 3 questions about each one. (Some questions you may not
be able to answer, but you can still ask them.)
Choose a number of questions to research and answer.
Reread your notes and then do one or more of the following:
Summarize the topic.
Identify what you believe God is telling you in these verses.
Write a personal application.
Adapted from Learn to Study the Bible by Andy Deane
www.LearntoStudytheBible.com
Method - 6 Searches
1. Pick a passage to study.
2. Pray for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.
3. Read the verses (or chapter) 6 times, doing a different search each time.
Search 1: What did I like about the passage?
Search 2: What did I not like?
Search 3: What was confusing?
Search 4: What did I learn about myself?
Search 5: What did I learn about God/Jesus?
Search 6: What should I do?
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Example: “Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, even the Most
High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come
near your dwelling, for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in
all your ways.” Psalm 91:9-11
What did I like?
God sends His angels to watch over me.
What did I not like?
It infers that bad things only happen to bad people.
What did I not understand?
How can the Bible say “No evil shall befall you,” when it does?
What did I learn about myself?
I get frustrated when I don’t understand the Bible.
What did I learn about God?
He wants me to put myself under His care.
He sends the angels to be with me.
What should I do?
Make the Lord my refuge.
Research the ideas I don’t understand.
Adapted from Learn to Study the Bible by Andy Deane.
Method - Focus on Jesus
1.
Pick a passage/chapter from the gospels where Jesus appears.
2. Pray for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.
3.
Answer the following questions:
a. Background-What has happened in the previous chapter and/or preceding verses?
b. Setting- Where is your chosen story taking place?
c. Characters- What individuals are part of the story?
d. Plot- Summarize briefly what happened.
e. Conflicts- List as many conflicts as you can. Remember, conflicts can be-man vs. man
man vs. nature
man vs. self
f. Responses- How does Jesus respond to people? How do people respond to Jesus?
g. Emotions- What emotions is Jesus feeling?
h. Resolution- For each conflict listed above, decide how each was resolved–or not.
i. Irony- What was ironic about the story? (Irony is the unexpected twist)
j. Theme- What lessons did you find in this story?
k. Insight- What new insight did you get concerning Jesus?
Adapted from Learn to Study the Bible by Andy Deane
Method - Short Story Study
1.
Pick a passage/chapter that contains a story.
2. Pray for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.
3.
Answer the following questions:
a. Background-What has happened in the previous chapter and/or preceding verses?
b. Setting- Where is your chosen story taking place?
c. Characters- What individuals are part of the story?
d. Plot- Summarize briefly what happened.
e. Conflicts- List as many conflicts as you can. Remember, conflicts can be-man vs. man
man vs. nature
man vs. self
f. Resolution- For each conflict listed above, decide how each was resolved–or not.
g. Irony- What was ironic about the story? (Irony is the unexpected twist)
h. Theme- What lessons did you find in this story?
Method - Parables
1. Pick a parable.
2. Pray for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.
3. Consider the time and the place where the parable was given–What would it mean to its
hearers?
4. Do not over-interpret the story.
5. Your conclusions should go along with the rest of the Bible.
6. Identify the following:
a. Plot- Write out the series of events that take place.
b. Background- What common practices of the day would apply to the story?
c. Audience- Who is listening to the story?
d. Clues- Are there any clues in the surrounding chapters/verses as to why Jesus gave
this parable?
e. Basic Lesson- What is the surface lesson Jesus was bringing out?
f.
Insight- What deeper truth does the Holy Spirit lead you to? (You may want to check
a commentary to see if your ideas are similar to what others have found.)
g. Application- What action is God calling you to take?
h. Illustration- Try illustrating the parable on a separate page- You may discover
some additional truth.
Adapted from Learn to Study the Bible by Andy Deane.