Adult Education: Bible Study Methods

Devotional Journal

Some may want to develop a more disciplined study of scripture. One way to do this is to keep a devotional journal. There are many ways to do this. Here is one suggestion.

1. Look inside your heart. Begin by going inside and reflecting on your current state of mind. Are you anxious, worried, angry, stressed, serene, etc? Write briefly about yourself as God's beloved.

2. Look across the room. Next, think about social context of your life. What is going on in the life of your family, friends, work and church? Write briefly about the people God loves.

3. Look out the window. Now, think about your historic moment. What is happening in the world? Your mind may be drawn to a local issue or an international crisis. Write briefly about God's world.

4. Look into the book. After getting in touch yourself, read a passage from God's word. You may want to follow a discipline using the Book of Common Prayer as a guide. The daily lectionary provides a structure for biblical reading. Read the passage with an open heart. Ask God to speak to you through the text. Write briefly about what you think about as you read. You may want to follow this simple pattern.
   1. What does the passage say about who God is and about who I am?
   2. What does the passage mean today, for me, in this moment?
   3. What difference does the passage make in me?
5. Look up to heaven. After you have thought about the text. Pray. Sit silently with an open heart. Try not to be critical of yourself or others. Rest and receive God's blessing.

Imaginative Encounter

You may try reading the bible less as a scholar or student, and more as an artist. Allow the words and images and narrative to live in your imagination.

For example, if you are reading of Jesus' baptism by John in the River Jordan, hear the water as it flows by. Enter the story. Become, yourself a character. You may be a bystander observing the event and feel the crowd pressing in around you. Allow yourself to experience a certain emotional response to John's difficult words: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" In the midst of the story, listen for God's Word rising up in your heart. What is God telling you? Is God comforting you? Challenging you? Calling you to action?

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