The Art of Bible study: 3 tips on Revolutionizing your Walk with God though intentional Acts of Studying God’s word

Pastor Art Snow • April 5, 2022

Is the Bible worth studying?

The Bible, 783,137 words and every one of them inspired by the Holy Spirit, and every one of them belong to you and I. Each and every word is “God Breathed” and every day you and I have the opportunity to inhale them into our spirit, then exhale them into our world. 

Every now and then I hear someone say, “Man the Bible is so boring”, or “I really don’t get much out of the scriptures when I read them, but I know I am supposed to read, so I do.” If this sounds like you, allow me to put life back into your Bible reading. According to Rabbinic tradition, every word of scripture has 70 faces and 600,000 meanings, like a kaleidoscope with hundreds of shapes, colors and hues. 

Isaac the Syrian a seventh century saint, said, “Do not approach the mysterious words in the scriptures without prayer and without asking help from God, saying Lord grant me to perceive the power that is in them. Today if you are holding your Bible in your hand, you are holding POWER. 

Allow me to offer 3 simple keys to help you bring life back into your Bible reading and study. 

First, put yourself in the text…

Never allow yourself to be  a casual by-stander, but instead an active participant in the passage. For instance if I am reading Luke 19:45 where Jesus is cleansing the Temple, I put myself in the middle of the scene. I read it out loud, I imagine hearing the snap of the whip that he is using to chase out the money changers. I imagine the smell of the sheep the priests were selling for inflated prices. I listen for the screaming coming from the people in shock of what they were witnessing. I watch the tables being flung in every direction, and coins flying through the air like golden raindrops. The Rabbis were right. 70 faces and 600,000 meanings. 

If I am reading a text like Philippians 2:1-3 where Paul is instructing the church to make his joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit and intent on one purpose, I begin to pray for unity in the Body of Christ. I lift up particular people, churches, situations I know need the spirit of unity in them. If you are thinking this approach will slow you down you are correct, but it is not about how many verses you read each day but instead how much you get out of the verses you do read, in fact it is actually allowing the verses to read you, not you reading them. The sacred text is more than black words on white paper, it is “alive and active” (Hebrews 4:12), so go ahead and use your sanctified imaginations as you read your Bible and get so much more out of every verse. 

If you are thinking this approach will slow you down you are correct, but it is not about how many verses you read each day but instead how much you get out of the verses you do read, in fact it is actually allowing the verses to read you, not you reading them.

Second, Learn the art of “Cross-referencing”

It is actually one story told in 66 books.  Let me give you a couple of examples. We all know the John 3 passage particularly 3:16, but just prior to that verse it says; “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life.” Many Bible readers would just read on to get to the next “famous verse”. But if you cross-reference this verse back to the original story in Numbers 21 you understand what Jesus actually meant. 

The Hebrews had sinned and God disciplined them by sending deadly vipers among them. The people came to Moses and repented, then God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on the top of a pole and those who looked upon it would be healed (this is why the serpent on a pole is used on our ambulance today). Now it makes sense Jesus was saying just as they lifted up the serpent in the wilderness he was going to be lifted up (on the cross), and those who looked to him would be healed and have eternal life. (For the serious Bible student there is more to the story found in 2 Kings 18:4)

Maybe you are reading 2 Timothy where Paul is talking about what the world will be like in the last days, where men are always learning but never coming to the truth. Paul goes on to say just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men too would oppose the truth, he described them as depraved of mind and rejected in regard to the faith. Well who are these guys? The are the names of two magicians who opposed Moses during the time of the ten plagues in Exodus 7. The Old Testament does not actually give us their names but oral tradition handed down from generation to generation has preserved their identity for us. Needless to say very few verses stand on their own, they are always tied into other verses in the Bible. This method will add depth and color to your Bible reading, and will keep you turning back and forth until you get the full picture. 

Third, Listen as God speaks to you through Lectio Divina.

This is a really great way to get so much more out of your Bible reading. Lectio Divina is Latin for “Sacred Reading”. Ken Boa in his book entitled, Conformed to His Image explains it this way.

Lectio Divina The ancient art of lectio divina, or sacred reading, was introduced to the West by the Eastern desert father John Cassian early in the fifth century. It has been practiced for centuries by Cistercian monks (e.g., Michael Casey, Sacred Reading and Toward God) and is being rediscovered in wider parts of the Christian community. This extraordinarily beneficial approach combines the disciplines of study, prayer, and meditation into a powerful method that, when it is consistently applied, can revolutionize one’s spiritual life. Sacred reading consists of four elements.

 Lectio (reading).

Select a very short text and ingest it by reading it several times. I normally choose a verse or a brief passage from the chapters I read from the Old and New Testaments in my morning Bible reading.

 Meditatio (meditation).

Take a few minutes to reflect on the words and phrases in the text you have read. Ponder the passage by asking questions and using your imagination.

 Oratio (prayer).

Having internalized the passage, offer it back to God in the form of personalized prayer. 

Contemplatio (contemplation).

For most of us, this will be the most difficult part, since it consists of silence and yieldedness in the presence of God. Contemplation is the fruit of the dialogue of the first three elements; it is the communion that is born out of our reception of divine truth in our minds and hearts.

There you have it, 3 tools that will make time spent in your Bible much more rewarding. There is no time like the present to try it out….enjoy !

Pastor Art Snow | April 5, 2022

Edited and Adapted for Web Use by: Eric Muñoz Jr.