Some suggestions for Personal Bible Study
When you have a passage you want to study…
àThe 6 ‘wh’ and ‘h’ questions approach to Bible study
Where should I turn to for help? Pray for God’s direction.
What does it say? Read the verses carefully and figure out the MAIN POINT.
Why did he write it? Figure out for what problem or for what solution the writer wrote the passage.
Who is God in this passage? Most passages tell us something about God; what does this passage say about Him?
How should I change? Write down in your journal 1 action that you should take because of what this says.
When will I do it? Figure out when you will take this action
àThe PSALM approach to Bible study
P: Paraphrase: Paraphrase the Verses. Write the passage using different words (note: you need to do this without using ChatGPT or other websites. The purpose of paraphrasing is to force you to think about the meaning).
S: Sentence: Choose 1 sentence which seems to be the most important
A: Apply: Write how the main point applies to your life
L: Lay out: Lay out a plan of how you will apply this
M: Memorize: If there is a verse which especially speaks to you, memorize it and repeat it throughout the day.
àThe 6 C’s
Call: Call on God to guide your study
Consider: Read the passage and consider what it says
Context: Read the 5 verses before it and the 5 verses after it
Confess: Confess to God where you have NOT lived according what this passage says
Commit to God: Commit to God how you are going to live based on this passage.
Carry out: Carry out what you have committed to God
àReading Every Day for a Month
This is for a shorter book (like James or Philippians) or a section of a book (like the Sermon on the Mount)
Read through a book of the Bible every single chapter in 1 sitting for an entire month.
Write every day a journal of something you learned that day.
- How to do the journal. When you find the passage that really speaks to you, write down the reference and then continue to read through the whole book.
- When you have finished reading the entire book, (remember, you are reading the entire book every day) go back to that reference that you wrote down and read it again. Then write down what you learned from that section and how you’re going to change your life because of it.
àMemorize a Chapter
If there is a chapter of the Bible which is especially meaningful to you, decide to spend a few weeks memorizing that chapter.
- How to memorize a chapter or more.
- First, you need to make sure that your memorization is perfect. Don’t allow yourself to memorize incorrectly. Otherwise it will be harder to remember it in the future.
- Second, recite the chapter every day before you get to the new verse that you are going to add. When you recite, after you have done it, read through the chapter to make sure that you did it correctly. It is very easy for errors to sneak in.
- Look for clues that will help you to remember. The clues only need to make sense to you.
- Once you have completely memorized the passage, you need to go back over it every month. Put aside a Saturday or a Sunday for going through your memorization of a chapter or a book of the Bible.
- This should take about 15 minutes a day for this and perhaps 1/2 hour on the weekend to review all you have memorized.
- To get the most benefit out of your memorization, also include a journal entry every day of something you’re learning as you’re going through the chapter.
àFollow the STORY method of Bible study
This method of Bible Study JUST reads those chapters which include the STORY (beginning in Genesis 1 and finishing with Esther). That means you do not need to read the numbering of the tribes in Numbers, or the laws of clean and unclean in Leviticus (but you do read the STORIES in Leviticus and Numbers, which are very important!). Make it even more meaningful by keeping a daily journal of what you are learning. Write down any questions you have.
Bible Study Sources
5 minutes a day:
1) Listening to the Bible:
Google Play: Urdu ERV Bible
It is in an Easy Reading Version, which is fantastic for LISTENING to the Bible
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.fcbh.urdwtc.n2.urdubible.erv
2) Verse of the Day:
Google Play: Bible Verse of the Day Daily Verses
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dailyverses
3) Read through the Psalms, 5 or 6 verses a day. Ask 2 questions: What does this tell me about God? What does this tell me about myself and other believers?
20 minutes a day
1) Read the Bible in 2 or 3 years, using one of the reading plans listed at biblestudytools.com
2) Read a different section of the Bible each day, planning to finish in about 3 years.
- Monday—Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy)
- Tuesday—History (Joshua through Esther)
- Wednesday—Major Prophets (Isaiah through Daniel, plus Lamentations)
- Thursday—Minor Prophets, Wisdom books (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Job)
- Friday—The Gospels
- Saturday—The letters (including Revelation)
- Every day: 6 verses from the Psalms
Use the biblereadingplangenerator.com website to set up your reading plan.
An Hour a Day
A bunch of different reading plans you can adapt to Urdu Bible Reading
https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-reading-plan/
Try the chronological approach at biblestudytools.com. It is a great way to study.
If you like using your computer to generate a list, here is a great tool for creating a Bible reading plan exactly for your time needs…
https://biblereadingplangenerator.com
2 Hours a day
Read through the Bible in 1 year