3 Bible Study Tools

For all you Jesus lovers out there, this ones for you. Today I bring 3 helpful tools to the table (literally) to help you in your bible studies and private time with God. I'm so excited to share these in hopes of helping you grow your relationship with the Lord. Let's get started, shall we?

Tool #1: Prayer

I know it sounds cliche, but it's so incredibly important to start any time spend with the Lord in prayer. Recently, I've been reading Multiply by Francis Chan in a Bible study with some friends, and one of the chapters is how to study the bible. The entire chapter was focused on our intentions and our approach to the Bible. I'll give a brief summary, but I highly recommend you read this book for yourself. Chan's whole point is our heart posture. Do we really view the Bible as God's Word, or do we take it for granted and only believe what we want to believe by picking and choosing what we agree with. When we pray, we have the opportunity to let God remove any biases, selfishness, and/or distractions. With the right intentions, the Bible can drastically impact our lives.

My pastor recently said something along these lines: When we read the Bible, the Bible reads us. This is so true. When we pray and ask God to reveal himself to us though His Word, be prepared for Him to not only reveal himself, but ourselves. God will convict you and give you reasons to be uncomfortable, but I urge you (strong word, I know) to lean into that conviction and comfortability and give yourself the opportunity to learn and grow from it. God will transform your life. You must be willing to let him.

Tool #2: A Study Bible

This is so so so helpful for me when I'm reading my Bible and get confused or overwhelmed. A study Bible provides commentary and interpretations of the text at the side or bottom of the pages to help give you context, definitions and overall understanding. I personally use the Crossway ESV Study Bible. This Bible has maps, illustrations, introductions explaining history, culture, authorship and anything you can think of to help understand the text. If I read a verse and think, "What the heck did I just read?", I just find the commentary for that specific verse and-more often than not-I have a better understanding.

Tool #3: The Daily Grace Co. Products

This is not sponsored or affiliated with Daily Grace at all, I just love their Bible Study books, highlighter sets, Bible tabs and resources. I am currently reading through one of their Bible study books called Daughters of Grace and am loving it. It has a chunk of scripture for you to read and then has follow-up questions and an application. Super practical, just the way I like it.

Some convenient products Daily Grace has that I greatly appreciate are their bible tabs which help you find different books of the bible faster and their daily he leads me note pad which helps me organize my thoughts after reading my Bible.

Now it's Your Turn!

Let me know which of these tools is most helpful for you or your most excited to try and tag me on instagram @_forgoodnesssake._ so I can see what God is doing in your life! Seeing you inspired keeps me motivated to continue writing helpful and faithful blogs. God is always working and moving and I love seeing it happen. You are loved, blessed, and highly favored!

Much love,

Rachel Bethanie