Sunday School Blog

Study the Bible By Asking Yourself Questions

One of my favorite methods of Bible study is to ask myself the W questions - Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.  I've started using this method with every lesson that I prepare. 

The idea is to create questions out of the portion of Scripture that you're studying using the W words.  Sometimes you'll be able to answer yourself right away, and other times these questions will clue you in to something that you have to study more in-depth.

For example - I'm currently working on the next lesson in the Psalm 23 study I'm writing for this blog.  The focus for the next lesson is the first part of verse 3 - "He restores my soul."  Only four words.  How much could this question method actually help?  The following are some questions and answers in my notes:

• Who restores my soul?    My Shepherd (Jesus) restores my soul.  No one else is capable of the type of restoration that I need.  And I can't do it myself.  He is the only one that knows how to restore me or that has the power to do it.  Trying to get other people to restore me will only wear them out and lead to an even greater need for restoration.
• Who needs restoration?  I need restoration.  I'm not the only person in the world that doesn't need restoration.  There's no shame in needing Jesus to restore me.  It's part of the human condition.
• What needs to be restored?  My soul needs restoration.  Is this talking about my soul as separate from my spirit and body? If so, my soul is made up of my mind, will, and emotions.  So each of these aspects could need restoration.
• What is it to be restored?  Need to look for other places in Scripture that talk about soul restoration.  Also need to do a word study of the original Hebrew word.
• Why do people fight restoration? Could be that they don't trust Jesus with everything.  Maybe they've been disappointed in the past and are scared of being disappointed again.  Or maybe they just don't understand Jesus' true character, His kindness.

As you can see, this is a bit like having a little discussion group with me, myself, I, and the Holy Spirit.  Asking myself one question leads to surprising thoughts and other questions.  Call me a nerd (wouldn't be the first time), but it's downright fun. 

Notice that this step in the lesson preparation process happens before looking at commentaries, Bible dictionaries, or any other type of reference material. As a matter of fact, asking myself these questions pointed out to me some reference materials I need to better understand the topic.  Now I can look at those reference materials with focus.

Another benefit of asking myself questions is that I'm giving the Holy Spirit the opportunity to teach me and guide me to a focus for the particular lesson.  After asking myself a number of questions for this Psalm 23 verse, I started to focus on soul injuries.  It may be the focus on the lesson, but we'll see what happens as I continue to study.

    Would you like to read more like this?  Click here to subscribe.

Participate in a Small Group Study

In an interview with Darryl Wilson, he stated that something that contributed to his spiritual growth was participating in a small group of men that prayed and studied together.  I have also found personal growth by participating in small groups and learning from others.  No matter how much we feel we know about the Bible, no matter how spiritual we feel we are, we can always learn from something that God teaches another believer.  A small group is a perfect place to experience that.

There are a number of ways that we can grow by participating in a small group:

• Spiritually - God did not create us to function in isolation.  We are created for community, also known as the Body of Christ or the Church.  God teaches us wonderful things as we study Scripture, but we can also learn from what He teaches others. 
• Emotionally - seeing how others deal with struggles or trials can be a model for us when we encounter our own trials.  Trials have a way of sneaking up on us, not leaving time for preparation.  Consequently, our first response may not be one that we're proud of.  But if we've seen someone else go through a similar trial and handle it relatively well, we can rein in our emotions and proceed with caution.
• Intellectually - It's hard to walk away from a good Bible study and not learn something new.  While Bible study should not be solely an intellectual pursuit, learning facts and figures can open a door to spiritual lesson.
• Socially - I've made some of my best friends by participating in a Bible study.  It's good to be able to call someone that is like-minded when you need prayer, a shoulder to lean on, or just someone to hang out with. 

Here's an important point for Sunday School or Bible teachers - try to participate in a small group as a member and not a teacher.  We learn so much when we're preparing a lesson, but we can also learn by sitting quietly in a small group study or by actively participating in a discussion led by someone else.  When we're teaching there's the stress of getting the discussion going, wondering if we're communicating effectively, trying to end on time, etc.  When someone else teaches, we can relax and simply enjoy.  It's another experience entirely.

So check out your church website and ask around about a good small group.  You'll never know how much you can grow until you try.

Now it's your turn - how have you grown by participating in a small group?

Being Part of a Community of Believers

In an interview with Morris Horner, my ministry leader as I was teaching Sunday School, I asked him what factors contributed to his spiritual growth.  He responded that one of the factors contributing to his spiritual growth was Godly people that invested time into his life.  This made me think about the importance of being surrounded by a community of believers.

Besides immediate family, one of the first people to  invest time in my life was the mother of my best friend in junior high school.  She was the wife of a minister and knew the importance of God's Word.  When she learned that I didn't have a Bible, she found out my favorite color and made Bible covers for me and my sister.  She surprised us with Bibles complete with Bible cover.  I was touched by the time it took to make the beautiful cover, but had no idea at the time the impact that this simple act of love would have on my life.  I developed a love for Scripture and used that Bible until it fell apart.  I have a new Bible now, but keep that first Bible to remind me about those first years falling in love with Jesus.

Over the years I made many more believing friends and was the recipient of countless acts of love. 

There was the friend that met with me in college to do Bible study one-on-one.

And the friend that stayed at my apartment for hours as I cried through depression.

And the friend that met with me at the gym so that we could talk about what God was doing in our lives.

And the friends and family that have prayed for me over the years.  My life wouldn't be the same without their prayers.

As followers of Christ, we are called to have missional lives and to live out our faith in communities filled with people that do not know Him.  But in order to do that effectively, we must not neglect being both a receiving and contributing member of a community of believers.

Some ideas for investing time in the life of a friend and being an active member of a community of believers:

• Make dinner for a friend.
• Meet your friend for coffee.
• Take a walk with your friend.
• Make a weekly "date" to meet your friend at the gym.
• If you're crafty, make a little something for your friend, like a Bible cover, figurine, or framed piece of art.
• Put a reminder on your phone or calendar to pray for your friend.
• Call your friend and get up-to-date on their life.

Notice that these are one-on-one activities.  Getting together with a group is a lot of fun and a necessary part of being in a community of believers, but sometimes people are more willing to open up if they have only an audience of one.

Now it's your turn - what are some ideas for investing in the life of a friend?

In-depth Bible Study

When I was a little girl, I spent several months reading my way through the entire Nancy Drew series.  If memory serves (you know it's the first thing to go), there were over fifty books, so this was no small accomplishment.  As a matter of fact, it was a major time commitment. 

And what did I gain by investing all of my free time enjoying the life of a fictional strawberry-blonde amateur detective?

Well...not much.  I can't even remember a single story.  Not one.  It didn't make me a better person.  And I certainly can't say that it taught me anything about spirituality or life in general.

Other than I didn't know that anybody could have hair that color.

There are more productive ways to spend your time.  I've found that a time-worthy investment is in-depth Bible study.  Not to be confused with a quiet time.  While a quiet time is a special time set aside for reflection and prayer over Scripture, in-depth Bible study usually focuses on a specific text by:

• reading other portions of Scripture to understand it
• reading what others have to say on the text (books, commentaries, Bible study workbooks)
• maybe even doing some word study of the original language. 

In-depth Bible study should also include prayer and reflection, but while wearing our student cap.

Some of the benefits of in-depth Bible study are:

• Having "Aha!" moments.  I can't tell you how many times I've learned something in Bible study that I've wondered about for a long time.  It's great to have the question, "What does that mean?" answered.
• Gaining a fresh perspective.  One of the miracles of Scripture is that God communicates with us directly when we read His words.  But sometimes it's good to hear what someone else thinks about the same passage.  As members of the body of Christ, we learn from each other.
• Focused study time. Bible study workbooks are invaluable resources for helping us to study a particular topic or even an entire book of the Bible at length.  That can be difficult to do on our own.
• It's downright fun! This list is not complete without acknowledging the "fun" aspect.  Any student of Scripture gets a huge kick out of diving into the mysteries of Scripture and surfacing with a fresh revelation.

It's important to note that Bible teachers should be doing in-depth Bible study that is not specifically related to what we're teaching.  In other words, we should be studying our Bibles even when we're not studying for the next lesson.

So I thought that I would share with you some Bible studies that I've found to be well worth the time commitment:

• Experiencing God, by Henry Blackaby, Richard Blackaby, Claude V. King
  • There's also an online study!
• He Speaks to Me, by Priscilla Shirer
• A Woman's Heart, God's Dwelling Place, by Beth Moore
• Breaking Free, by Beth Moore

All of these authors also have other excellent studies.

Now it's your turn!

• Have you done one of the Bible studies mentioned above?  If yes, tell us what you think.
• What Bible studies would you recommend?

Person Henry Blackaby

Right click for SmartMenu shortcuts

Prayer Journal

I like to journal my prayers during my quiet time, otherwise my mind will drift from, "Father, thank you for blessing me in so many ways," to, "Should I wear heeled or flat sandals with that skirt?" Writing helps me stay focused.

I usually buy my own journals, but my former Sunday School class gave me my favorite journal of all time. We'd spent some time studying the names of God, so one of the class members pasted the names we covered, along with their meanings, into the inside cover of a journal. With this handy-dandy list, I started opening my prayers each day using one of the names of God. I began with the first name listed and rotated through the entire list. It's amazing how often the name for that day reminds me of the part of God's character that I need in that moment.  Jehovah Mekadesh reminds to ask God to sanctify my attitudes. Jehovah Jireh reminds me that God provides me of Himself. And saying "Jehovah Shalom" reminds me that He will give me peace if my soul clings to Him. 

What a great gift.  My prayers are forever changed!

    Would you like to read more like this?  Click here to subscribe.

How to Have a Quiet Time

In all the busyness of life, I've found that it's easy to neglect the one thing that will help me to live a busy life effectively: a growing relationship with God. I've struggled with this, so, as part of the Works For Me Wednesday blog carnival at Rocks in My Dryer, I'd like to share how I'm dealing with it.

What's a quiet time?

I define a "quiet time" as time spent reading and responding to God's Word while enjoying His Presence.

Using this definition, a quiet time is not:

• In-depth Bible study. This may be a touchy subject for some.  I'm all about Bible study. Standing in the Bible study aisle at Lifeway would cause me to drool if I were less concerned about my mental health reputation. As a matter of fact, I was just there yesterday and bought No Other Gods to participate in an online summer Bible study over at Beth Moore's blog.  (The study looks like it's going to be fantastic, by the way.)  And I have certainly heard God speak during in-depth Bible study.  But let me say from personal experience that in-depth Bible study is no replacement for simply reading Scripture and allowing the Holy Spirit to teach me.
• Reading a Christian book other than the Bible. I'm an avid reader and love to be surrounded by books. While other children played outside, I allowed my muscles to atrophy while making my way through the Nancy Drew series. I currently have a shelf and a half of books that I'm just itching to get to. But while those books may teach me a lot about God, they are no replacement for hearing directly from God through His Word.
• Listening to Christian music. I couldn't live without music. I'm a former band geek and current shower worship singer. I'm even married to a musician. But the point of a quiet time is to have God's words running around in my head and responding to them, and not to listen to someone else doing that.  Sometimes I enjoy having a little worship music going on in the background during my quiet time, but it could be a distraction.

In-depth Bible study, Christian literature, and good Christian music are wonderful and time-worthy investments. But they should be experienced in addition to and not in replacement of a quiet time.

Ok, I'm convinced.  So what do I need?

• Bible - I've found that The Daily Bible is perfect for a quiet time. It's separated out into chunks that you can read in a few minutes. If you use it every day, you'll read through the entire Bible in one year. This Bible has Scripture in chronological order, meaning that it's more like reading a story. It also has explanations throughout so that the reader has a better handle on what's going on. Another bonus is that chapter and verse references are kept in the margin rather than in the actual text, eliminating that distraction.
  
  My husband is using The One Year Bible, which has daily readings including passages from the Old and New Testaments, Psalms, and Proverbs.  This type of Bible may be good if you need a little change.
  
  The Message Bible is also good for a quiet time. It's more of a paraphrase of the Bible and is written in today's language. As I've done in-depth study of specific verses and compared them with the translation in The Message, I've been impressed with how well this paraphrase communicates the true meaning of the Scripture.
• Journal/notebook - I use a journal to write out my prayers. Any notebook will do. You may even just want to put notebook paper into a binder. I like to use a spiral-bound journal with a verse printed on each page. The verses chosen for these types of journals are usually encouraging and keep me in the right frame of mind. And, what can I say, I like a pretty cover. It's just the girl in me.  But there are manly journals, as well!
  
• Pen - It's best to use a pen rather than a pencil so that you don't get distracted by a lot of erasing. It's alright to just cross out a mistake and move on.
• Bookmark - You'll want to turn to your reading for the day quickly and easily. You'll not want to start out your quiet time with the frustration of wondering, "Where was I?" If you choose to use a daily Bible and start on January 1st, you can refer to the date. But there may come a time that you miss a day or decide to read a couple of readings in one day, so a bookmark will be handy.

What's a perfect quiet time place?

Somewhere quiet and free of distractions. Outside is always nice. In a previous residence I loved to sit on my second-story balcony and look at the sky. The moon, clouds, or birds in the sky always helped me to feel closer to God. I also love to sit at my kitchen table next to a window to be able to look outside.

You may have a comfortable chair in your living room or your private study at home that will become your special spot. The one place that I would avoid is the bed - that's just too comfortable. It doesn't take long to fall asleep while praying, which is akin to falling asleep at the dinner table during a date. Doesn't exactly promote open communication.

I've got my stuff, I've got my spot...now when is a good time?

I've experimented with the time of day - morning, noon, and night. People usually recommend the morning, and I have to agree with them despite my utter disdain for all things early. I'm not a morning person and am not interested in human interaction before 11am (except for my husband), but I've found that my mind and heart are at rest in the morning. At noon (lunchtime) I'm usually distracted by work, and by the time I get home in the evening I want to just eat and spend time with my husband. So the morning works best for me, although it all boils down to what works for you.

Ok, I'm ready.  Now what do I do?

1. Turn to a blank page in your journal and write the date at the top. Keeping track of dates in your journal is a great way to see how God is answering your prayers. Reviewing my prayers and seeing how God was moving in my life was a major reason that I decided to move into a more serious relationship with my husband when we were dating. Seeing how God answered such specific prayers makes me appreciate him more and know that he was the man God planned for me.
2. Pray for God to teach you.  Just like that.  Simple.
3. Turn in your Bible to the reading for the day. You should have this bookmarked.
4. Start reading and writing. Try to immerse yourself in what you're reading. As you're reading, write down any thoughts or questions that you have in your journal as if you're talking to God face-to-face. Treat it like a conversation. Nine times out of ten you'll come across a verse that seems to just jump out of the page and speak to you directly. Tell God what you're reading and why it stands out to you. And then just continue to talk to Him. You may have only a sentence or two to say, or this may open up the floodgates and have you writing for pages. Pour yourself out to Him. This is what it is to experience God.
5. Complete your reading. After I'm done reading, I'll usually end my prayer in my journal thanking God for speaking to me or just saying that I love Him. Or I may have other things that I want to pray about, so I continue journaling.
6. Leave your bookmark at the beginning of the reading for the next day.

And after?

After a good date with my now husband, I would come home glowing and more in love than ever. I feel the same way after a good quiet time. I end it convinced that God loves me and cares about what's going on in my life...and more in love with Him than ever. It's a great way to start the day.

    Would you like to read more like this?  Click here to subscribe.