Has there been a time in your life where you neglected to read the Bible daily? For a good part of my twenties, I only opened my Bible when I needed an answer to something I felt I could not figure out on my own. See that? I relied on my understanding initially and wondered what Jesus would do secondarily. That is no way for a follower of Christ to live.
A follower should constantly be seeking out God’s will.
Do you agree?
Let me give you four reasons why it is imperative to read the Bible daily.
Reason number one…
The Bible is Our Daily Spiritual Nourishment
Humans need food and water to survive and prosper. The same goes for a follower of Christ. Spiritually we need nourishment for different things. Two things that come to my mind are to fight spiritual attacks and second to prosper as a disciple in the kingdom of God.
There are several other reasons that we need nourishment. I invite you to think of your own reasons and write them down.
Matthew 4:4 AMP says,
But Jesus replied, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’”
Next Reason,
The Bible teaches us who God is
The phrase, “Who wouldn’t want to know a God like this?!” is absolutely true. Our God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is awesome! God is multifaceted. There is so much to learn about Him. I guarantee that not one of us will learn everything about God in our lifetime.
Deuteronomy 7:9 ESV says,
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,
John 14:6 ESV says,
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Revelation 22:13 ESV says,
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
Thirdly,
The Bible teaches us the truth
The Word is one of the ways that God speaks to us. It holds all truth and the promises of God toward us. God’s Word teaches us.
2 Timothy 3:16 NLT says,
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
Hebrews 4:12 ESV says,
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Lastly,
The Bible shows God’s love for us
Honestly, self-love is such a struggle for many, but we find some clarity about how much God loves us in His Word.
John 3:16 ESV says,
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Romans 5:8 ESV says,
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Wrap Up
These are just a few reasons why daily bible reading time is important. I encourage you my sisters, to commit as much time to read the Bible as possible. If you find yourself short on time, I have two ideas for you.
Prioritize your time in God’s Word to the top of your list of things to do.
If you find time to be an issue, consider using the Bible app or another resource to listen to God’s Word. You can do this while getting ready for your day, doing chores, or commuting to work.
Before you go, do you need prayer? If you feel led to, submit your prayer request here.
5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. Romans 8:5-6
Have you ever felt a sense of overwhelm around doing personal Bible study? Do you ever feel like you need Bible study made easy.
When I started working on my relationship with God, I experienced this. I felt like I didn’t know where to start and how to study. Let the truth be told, Bible study can be made easy. It doesn’t have to be this over-complicated and daunting task.
I believe personal Bible study should be about reading and examining the Word of God. I approach it with an expectancy that I will learn from God and apply it to how I live.
With that said, one can use various methods to study the Bible. I want to share with you the Bible study method that I use regularly.
bible study made easy with the S.O.A.P. Method
The S.O.A.P. Method provides a fun way to study scripture or passages with ease. I use this method frequently.
So let’s break down this acronym!
The S in the SOAP method stands for “Scripture.” In this step, slowly read the passage aloud or to yourself. Take your time reading. Use a journal to write out the scripture(s). Writing it out is great for repetition. Be sure to grab this free resource below. It has much more ideas to use on this step!
Secondly, the O in the SOAP Method stands for “Observation.” I use the observation step to exegete the passage of scripture. To exegete means to expound or interpret. Next is where my Bible study tools come into play. I begin by familiarizing myself with the book I am reading using the notes in my study Bible. Next, I consider the context of the scriptures I have read. Most times, I read through the entire chapter or section to understand the meaning of the text.
Thirdly, the A in the SOAP Method stands for “Application.” At this time, I like to consider what the passage is teaching me about God. I write out these details in my journal. More details are available here.
Lastly, the P in the SOAP Method stands for “Pray.” When I pray, I like to have a conversation with God. During this conversation, I tell God my intentions concerning what I have just studied. I also wait to hear anything the Holy Spirit has to say to me at that moment.
What’s next?
Now that you have some basic information about the S.O.A.P. method, please grab the free resource below. It goes deeper into this style of Bible study. I also include an example of the method from my personal Bible study notes.
Well, I hope that the S.O.A.P. method will prove to be valuable to you. If you try it out, please come back and share with me what you think of it.
Before you go, do you need prayer? If you feel led to, submit your prayer request here.
“Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.” Romans 12:12
In today’s post, I thought that it would be fun to share my powerful, quiet time with God routine and my favorite books.
First, I must share why daily quiet time with God is so important. It’s a necessity to fuel ourselves spiritually because it helps us to maintain strong faith. I do my best to pray, worship, and study the Word of God every day. I have found that when I neglect my time with God, my faith wavers, and doubt begins to bombard my mind.
Daily quiet time with God can be in different ways. Let’s dive into my routine. I hope it will give you some inspiration.
Worship
The first part of my routine is worship.
I have a plethora of Christian music that I have collected on Spotify. I like to utilize my Daily Mixes on the platform. I push play, sing along, meditate on the words and open my mouth in adoration to God.
If you need some song recommendations, I’ve included some of my favorite songs on a “God’s Girl” playlist I created just for the Her Faith Walk community. Please feel free to add this playlist to your account.
Powerful Quiet Time Prayers
Once I’ve spent some time in worship, I begin to pray. The way I pray depends on how I feel that day.
I love to prayer journal. The best way I can describe this is by writing a letter to God. I generally journal my prayers when I have a lot on my heart that I feel needs to be poured out on paper. Praying in this way also allows me to review my prayers over time.
I also enjoy praying out loud as I worship. I most often pray out loud when I am deep in spiritual warfare. There’s just something powerful about speaking out loud when I use my spiritual weapons in prayer. Believe it or not, when I’m dealing with bad anxiety and depression, crying out loud to God and declaring my healing by faith strengthens me.
Now sometimes, I feel more comfortable praying silently. I generally do this when there is something on my heart that I strictly want to be for God’s ears only.
I felt that I should address prayer length. I pray for as long as the spirit leads me. I conclude what I have to say and, I often sit in silence. This is my way of quieting myself so that I can hear from God. I also continue to pray throughout the day and before bed. I encourage you to not focus on the length of your prayers but to focus on opening yourself up to God and having a conversation with Him.
Lastly, I have a special freebie for you if you could use some help organizing your prayer list and keeping it manageable. I’m sharing my personal prayer list template with you and, it’s customizable! Grab yours at the bottom of the homepage and enjoy!
Read & Study The Bible
I save my reading and study time for the end of my quiet time. I use different resources to assist me in my Bible study time. Afterward, I always sit quietly before God for a few minutes to hear from Him and reflect.
I have staples that I use daily such as, The Bible App/Bible.com, a paper Bible, a commentary, a notebook for note-taking, pens, highlighters, and occasionally I have my concordance on hand.
My heart is always sensitive to pay attention to what God may have for me to study each day. When I feel like I need some structure, I often utilize the plans on The Bible App/Bible.com. I enjoy the studies on this platform because they include a theme to study, one, a couple, or sometimes several scriptures and supplementary readings written by the author of the study.
Here is a list of a few studies I have completed that were very beneficial to my spiritual growth.
I also like to look up passages that speak to specific topics that are on my heart. For instance, one month, I wanted to focus on wisdom, so I dove into the book of Proverbs. It was amazing to read and study each day.
Lastly, sometimes I enjoy a devotional or Christian book with scripture infused into the text. I love using these tools when I may not have much energy to do an in-depth study. Other times if I do a morning study, I will use a devotional or book to close my night before bedtime.
Click here to visit my tools page, where I share my favorite Bibles, devotionals, and books.
In Conclusion
I hope that you enjoyed this overview of my powerful, quiet time with God routine.
I want to encourage you to take these ideas and design your very own system. I’m praying that you find a routine that works for you and benefits your spiritual growth.
What are your thoughts? What may you include in your daily get together with God?
Let’s chat in the comments!
Continue to press on in building your relationship with God,
Before you go, do you need prayer? If you feel led to, submit your prayer request here.
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