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Behind the Scenes: My Bible Study Tools and Process

July 22, 2019 By Ryan Higginbottom

Studying the Bible is hard, holy work.

The tools we use for this work are not holy, but neither are they incidental. As we grow and mature we find different Bibles, different processes, and different translations that offer just the help we need at that time.

At the risk of navel gazing, my goal in this post is to let you into my Bible study workshop. I’ll describe the tools and process I use to prepare a small group Bible study.

This is one workshop among many. (My co-blogger Peter has written about this too.) My example is not meant for blind imitation, but I hope some readers may find some inspiration here. I should also note that my personal preferences are in flux. I have adopted some of my work flow within the past four months.

Tools

I use six main tools when studying the Bible and preparing for my small group.

An audio Bible. In my early exposure to the passage I’m studying, I like to listen to the Bible. A lot.
A markup Bible. My current markup Bible is a template of my own design. I copy the text from Bible Gateway into a Word document with fat margins (three inches on each side and two inches on the bottom). This gives me plenty of room for notes, arrows, and symbols.
Colored pencils. I use cheap colored pencils to mark up the Bible text. Color coordination helps me locate repetition and connections.
A Bible commentary. This one’s fairly self-explanatory.
A journal and pen. I need to write in order to understand a Bible passage. I grab a nearby notebook or journal.
Multiple Bible translations. I read the passage in multiple translations at Bible Gateway before my small group meets. (I make a point to consult the translations that my small group members prefer.)

My Process

With my tools in hand, these are the eight steps I take to prepare a small group Bible study lesson.

Before I do anything, I pray. I am weak and full of sin, and I am approaching God’s holy word. I need his help!
My first step is to print out my markup Bible. Simple enough.
Next, I listen to and read the Bible passage a bunch. My goal is to discover and understand the structure of the passage. (I recently wrote about how helpful it was to read a passage 25 times.) I listen to or read the Bible passage at least ten times before I make a single mark on the page.
Now it’s time for Bible study. Using the markup Bible, colored pencils, and a pen, I dive into the Observe-Interpret-Apply (OIA) Bible study method. I make a ton of observations on the paper, and these lead me to interpretive questions, which I also write next to the text. I use the right-hand margin of the paper for these notes.
At this point I try to answer the interpretive questions from the text. I outline the passage according to the central ideas of each paragraph and land on an overall main point. I force myself to make notes about the passage before reading any commentaries. I also write down the primary questions I’d like to learn from the commentary.
Next, I read the commentary. If I found the passage confusing, I’ll spend a lot of time interacting with the commentary. If it was an easier passage, I might skim the commentary or skip it altogether. I write notes from the commentary in the left-hand margin of my markup Bible.
It’s time for more writing. I try to identify the main point of each section of the passage and then the overall main point. (This will use my work from step 5 as well as what I learned in step 6.) I list how my interpretation of the passage connects to Jesus and I think through application. Finally, I write a launching question for my small group.
The last step is to create my leader’s notes for the small group meeting. This is a list of questions to help my friends discover the main point of the passage and discuss application. This is also when I read the passage in different translations, although I may do this earlier if the passage is especially thorny.

One Model Among Many

What I’ve outlined above is just one model among many. Some of it may work for you and some may not. And if what you’re doing already is working for you, you shouldn’t feel any need to change.

Don’t focus on the tools. Get and use the tools that will help you focus on the Bible.

Questions to Avoid in Small Group Discussions

September 20, 2017 By Peter Krol

Melissa Kruger has some helpful thoughts on the types of questions that tend to stifle conversation in small group settings:

Questions with an obvious answer
Questions with a one-word answer
Questions only researchers could answer
Application questions that get too personal too quickly

My co-blogger Ryan has written helpful posts on how to ask good observation, interpretation, and application questions—right along these lines Kruger hopes to avoid.

Kruger has some helpful explanation. Check it out!

HT: Jake Swink

A Crucial Question to Help You Find the Main Point of a Bible Passage

March 3, 2017 By Peter Krol

This is a guest post by Brian Stenson and Lincoln Fitch, who serve with DiscipleMakers in eastern Pennsylvania. They share a love for good coffee, good books, and good Bible study. Listen to their talk on Bible study from the DiscipleMakers Fall Conference here.

Why the Main Point Matters

Can you imagine pouring yourself into your study of a passage, only to discover you were missing the main idea?

I (Lincoln) had that experience a few months ago. After reviewing my notes for an upcoming sermon, my ministry supervisor asks me straight out: “What would you say is the main point of the passage?” And upon hearing my answer, he holds nothing back. “I don’t think that is the main point of the passage.” Though it is hard to hear this, I know he is right. I can’t even justify my proposed main point to myself. And now I feel like a total failure. Will I ever be able to understand or teach the Bible accurately?

While finding a text’s main point is not easy, it is crucial. Consider what happens if we teach the Scripture without grasping the main ideas. At the very least, the message (even if it has some real truth) doesn’t arise clearly from the page to stick in your listener’s hearts. At the worst, you could be working at cross-purposes with what God actually wants to communicate through the passage. But finding the main point empowers you to access the boundless power of God’s transformative word. Whether you lead Bible studies, teach and preach, or study the Bible on your own, finding the main point of a passage is foundational to understanding and communicating who God is.

A Crucial Question

If you’re familiar with OIA Bible study, you’ve probably experienced the challenge of finding the main point. After observing, you ask questions, especially “why” questions. You consider the context. You try to figure out the author’s intentions. But often, you feel stumped.

We find one particular question to be crucial when it’s time to identify the passage’s main point:

Why did the author write the passage this way?

ed_needs_a_bicycle (2012), Creative Commons

It’s not a flashy or revolutionary question, but it usually gets the job done. And it does so by causing us to examine a few more specific questions.

What gives the passage its shape?
What does the author emphasize?
How did the author get from beginning to end?
How does the structure of the larger section, and the book as a whole, help us see what the author is trying to get across in this passage?

For example, notice how the shape of John 6:60-71 reveals much about the author’s main point:

This relatively short passage concludes a long discourse between the Jews and Jesus. These final verses show the responses to Jesus’ teaching.
The passage begins with many disciples following Jesus but ends with few. John 6:66 says, “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” This statement serves as a turning point in the narrative.
This turning point raises the following questions: 1) “Why did so many people turn away?” and 2) “What was the difference between those who turned away and those who continued to follow Jesus?”
The disciples who turned away gave a reason: “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” (John 6:60). Jesus also knew they were grumbling and asked if they took offense at his words (John 6:61).
After many turned away, Jesus turns to the Twelve and asks if they want to go away as well (John 6:66). Peter explains their reason for staying: “You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:69-70).

Do you see how both groups of disciples comment on Jesus’ words? The first group turns away because they are challenged and offended by Jesus’ words. The second group keeps following because they hear Jesus’ words and receive them, knowing them to be the words of eternal life. This text reveals a lot about people by their response to Jesus’ words, and by the inherent contrast in the structure.

Here’s where we think John is going: People’s responses to Jesus’ words demonstrate whether they’ll follow him or fall away. There is our main point.

You could state the main point in many ways, but the passage clearly highlights both Jesus’ words and what we do with them. May the Lord help us to hear and love the words of eternal life found in the Scriptures!

Conclusion

Do you see why structure matters? The passage has a significant change (the number of people following Jesus) from beginning to end, which shows us the author’s intentions: to demonstrate the impact of our response to Jesus’ words. This insight arises from examining why the author wrote the passage this way.

Finding the main point of a passage is not easy, but it’s worth it. The main point is your front-row ticket to the revealed glory of God, and it will equip you to think and speak with clarity and power when you teach the word.

Ask Better Questions in Small Group Bible Study

September 28, 2016 By Peter Krol

This week, the Logos Talk blog published a guest post Ryan and I worked on together, called “How to Ask Excellent Bible Study Discussion Questions.” The post abridges some of the lengthier material from our series on how to lead a Bible study. If you’d like to lead a small group discussion well, we recommend you master these four kinds of questions:

Launching questions
Observation questions
Interpretation questions
Application questions

Check it out!

Teach Bible Study During Family Devotions

November 30, 2015 By Ryan Higginbottom

skeeze (2014), public domain

My daughters have gone dance crazy this fall. Everywhere I look, I see pointed toes, pliés, and skipping, twirling children.

My girls will join their dance studio’s production of The Nutcracker in a few weeks. You can imagine the preparation this requires—buying costumes, reserving a venue, and cramming gobs of detailed instructions inside little heads. What an undertaking!

Train Them Up

Just as my daughters need months of ballet lessons before they hit the stage, they also need training in the skills and habits of Christians. Following Jesus is the central calling of their lives, and I cannot send them off unprepared.

It is vital that we provide our children with a solid approach to Bible study. At this blog, we advocate the OIA method. While the terminology isn’t sacred, we think the skills of observation, interpretation, and application show up in all faithful descriptions of Bible study.

So how do we pass along these crucial skills to our children?

Gather as a Family

We have opportunities throughout each day to equip our kids to study the Bible. Chief among these chances are meals and times of family worship. It’s a privilege to engage all of your children at once about the most important things in the world!

But most parents know that family devotions can feel more like a chore than a privilege. The adults are exhausted, the baby is crying, and the older children are feeding spaghetti to the dog. It is difficult to steer a ship this large (especially with a mutinous crew).

Let me encourage you to stick with it. Family devotions can be a source of deep joy and they can prepare your children for a life of loving and obeying God. Family devotions are worth the effort.

Realistic Expectations

If you’re feeling guilt about family devotions, you may need to adjust your expectations. We must be both faithful and realistic. If we set the bar too high, we will frustrate everyone.

First, consider your weekly schedule. For most families, our weeks bear more resemblance to each other than do our days. Survey a typical week for your family and seize a pocket of time on each lightly-scheduled day for family worship. Don’t beat yourself up when you miss a few days.

Next, consider the content. I’ll advocate for the Bible below, but ponder what else you might do. Involve your children as much as possible and make it fun. Let them choose praise songs or hymns. Ask them about the best parts of recent days and join in a rousing prayer of thanksgiving. The elements of worship can vary. If you make family worship memorable and fun, your children will anticipate and remind you about it!

Study the Bible

Given my push for realistic expectations, it might seem strange to suggest Bible study. Doesn’t Bible study require long, private periods of concentration?

No! Since the Bible is for everyone, so is Bible study. Training children to study the Bible is as simple as asking three questions: What? Why? So what?

What? Children should observe the Bible. You may want your older children to help out with the Bible reading, but anyone can listen and observe! Ask your children to pick out the main characters, the actions, the commands, and so on. The younger your children, the more time you’ll probably spend on the “what” question.

Why? As children get older, they should move into interpretation. Follow their observations with “why” questions. Why did Jesus heal that blind man? Why did Joseph’s brothers sell him? Why does Paul say we should always pray? Ask questions like this to move your children toward the main point of the passage.

So what? With this question we enter the land of application. What difference does all of this make? Children usually need the most help with this question, but you might be surprised how eagerly they suggest applications once you get them started.

Final Remarks

Let me leave you with a few recommendations as you consider how family devotions might work in your home.

Don’t neglect the Bible. Story Bibles can be a blessing for young children, so feel free to incorporate them. (My youngest really loves the pictures.) But don’t let them replace God’s word. Your children can handle more than you think.
Involve the whole family. Ask questions of all the children—and all the adults! Children should see the adults in their lives modeling good Bible study habits.
Revisit Bible passages. If your family devotions bog down, return to the same passage the next time. You might also consider studying the same passage with the family that you (or your children) are reading in personal devotions.

We have several articles on teaching Bible study to age-specific children, along with devotional guides for readers and non-readers, at our children’s Bible study page.

How to Apply the Bible in Community

March 23, 2015 By Ryan Higginbottom

Perhaps you nodded at the suggestion that Christians should apply the Bible in community. Agreement might fire the engines, but it doesn’t get you off the runway. How can our friendships grow so that Bible application is natural? How can we get this plane in the air?

Cliff Muller (2009), Creative Commons License

When talking about community, many Christians focus on accountability. But Christian friendship doesn’t start (or stop) there. Let me offer four resolutions toward developing helpful, God-glorifying relationships.

Resolve to Spend Time with People

To apply the Bible in community, you must be in community. This goes beyond becoming a member of a good church. You need to know other Christians and you need to be known by others. When Paul writes about the church using the metaphor of a human body (1 Cor 12:12–27), he emphasizes how the parts of the body need each another (1 Cor 12:21–22).

This need is more than a physical or social dependence. We are to bear each other’s burdens (Gal 6:2), forgive one another (Col 3:13), confess our sins to one another (James 5:16), love one another (Rom 12:10), and speak truth to one another (Eph 4:25).

These commands point us well beyond handshakes and saccharine smiles on Sunday mornings. We need to pursue deep, honest friendships with other Christians. Relationships with other sinners—though messy—are worth pursuing because God commands them and they are designed for our benefit.

Resolve to Ask Questions

My treasured friends, the ones who have had the greatest spiritual impact on me, are the ones who excel at asking questions. When they see me caught in a sinful pattern or spiraling downward in my thoughts, they adopt a holy refusal to leave me alone. They ask me questions to help me think through my behaviors, thoughts, and relationships in the light of the gospel. Such questions are uncomfortable, but they help uncover my sin and point me toward Jesus. Don’t you want to be this type of friend? I sure do!

The good news is that we can all become friends like this. Start with a tiny question: why? Why was that disappointing? Why did you enjoy that? Why did you respond to her that way? It seems like you’ve been withdrawing recently; why is that?

Answering why questions can reveal your true hopes, fears, joy, and motivation. Even if you are not a verbal processor, you may get powerful clarity by speaking some thought you’ve been storing in your head. Friends can expose wrong thinking, a bent character, and errant behavior by asking these simple questions.

Why questions are not the only questions to ask, of course. As your relationship grows and you see the your friends’ struggles and tendencies, you’ll learn additional questions. You will notice the parts of their lives they don’t like to discuss. You will see how they respond to disappointment and criticism. Soaked in the gospel, your questions may be just the signpost toward hope that your friends need.

Resolve to Talk About God

I’ve seen too many Christians leave faith as an assumed-but-not-discussed topic between them. We can do better.

As you grow closer to other believers, you should care deeply about their walk with God. Their Christian discipleship is one of the most important qualities about them. So ask!

Here are some helpful questions to ask your friends: What has God been teaching you lately? How have you seen God work in your life over the past month? What are you reading in the Bible? What are you learning? What fruit of the Spirit have you seen God growing in you? How are you different from the person you were a year ago? These questions are like salt in your relationships. Don’t empty the whole shaker at once! But if you sprinkle them into your conversations, your friendships will have a richer flavor.

Though conversations like these might not feel natural at first, press through the awkwardness. You might even take the opportunity to discuss what sort of friends you want to be.

Putting it Together

So talk about the Bible with your friends. Tell them what God has been teaching you and how you’ve been trying to apply it. Ask them the same.

And talk with your friends about your sin and areas of frequent discouragement. Tell them the ways you are struggling to trust God. Ask them the same.

Soon you will find that these discussions overlap. You’ll talk with someone about a passage of the Bible, and later in the month that same person will notice an area of your life that is begging for application of the same text. Applying the Bible in community isn’t one extra step to put at the end of your small group Bible study. It will happen naturally as you develop close, Christian friendships.

Resolve to Pray

Since our sin nature is opposed to these ideas of exposure, humility, and vulnerability, we need to pray! We must ask for God’s provision of good friends and for his help to be a good friend. By his Spirit, he needs to change us into people who embrace the faithful wounds of those who love us (Prov 27:6).

Did Jesus Offend the Canaanite Woman?

January 14, 2015 By Peter Krol

In Matthew 15:21-28, Jesus responds to a needy woman in a manner most of us would consider offensive. He ignores her. He calls her a dog. He denies her request for healing.

How are we to understand Jesus’ words?

At the Gospel Coalition, Jimmy Agan has an excellent article addressing this question and more. Agan models good observation of the text, tracing the flow of thought from one episode to the next, considering the context, and answering interpretive questions from the text.

Check it out!

Answering Kids’ Questions About the Bible

October 22, 2014 By Peter Krol

Desiring God posted an article from Jon Bloom called “Be Ready to Answer Your Kids’ Questions About the Bible.”

Christianity stands or falls on the reliability, inspiration, and authority of the Bible. Children pick up on that early. We tell them that they should trust the Bible. At some point they will (and should) ask why (if they feel it’s okay to ask).

He goes on to answer the following questions in language suitable to a 9-year-old.

How do we know the Bible is reliable?
Who decided what should be in the Bible?
How do we know the Bible has no errors in it?
Who can understand the Bible?
Why do we need the Bible to know God?
Does the Bible tell us everything we need to know?

Are you ready to answer these questions? Check it out!

Six Bad Habits in Leading Bible Study

October 17, 2014 By Peter Krol

This is a guest post by Andy Cimbala. Andy has a passion for college students to become committed disciples of Jesus Christ, and he loves seeing them lead great Bible studies! Andy & his wife Melissa are the lead campus staff for the DiscipleMakers ministry at Shippensburg University, and he blogs for The Relentless Fight. If you’d like to write a guest post for Knowable Word, please see the guidelines page.

Dennis Larson (2012), Creative Commons

If God can use a silly donkey to speak his word (2 Peter 2:16), he can use anybody. But the wise of heart will use sweetness of speech to increase persuasiveness (Prov 16:21).

Thus, even when truth is present, a bad Bible study can leave participants confused, wondering if they’ll ever understand what the Bible says. But as leaders we can prevent Bible studies from being dull by learning how to study well and how to lead well—and by avoiding at least six bad habits.

1. Winging It

The Spirit of God works as we lead Bible study, and he also works as we prepare for it. Before you lead, spend time in prayer and preparation to discern the main point of the text and to generate some helpful questions to guide the time.

2. Being Vague

When God speaks, he means to communicate something knowable and specific, and what he means is not a matter of one’s own interpretation. Your job as leader is to direct people to the text to discern what the author is saying. Clarity is a rare but precious commodity. Strive for it as you frame the time and ask good questions. Feel free to guide the group by taking tangential discussions offline.

3. Talking a Lot

The answers are in the text and not your brain. Direct the group back into the Bible, and ask questions to help them seek and find the truth there. Be quick to listen and slow to speak. By all means, draw the group out, and dominate the time with God’s voice, not yours.

4. Keeping it Academic

What good is it to understand the point of a passage but never have it change our lives? James says this is like looking in the bathroom mirror but having to pull down the car visor 15 minutes later because you forgot what you looked like (James 1:23-24). When you lead a Bible study, reserve time for application and push folks to grapple with the text’s connection to their lives. Don’t be satisfied with purely cognitive but apparently spiritual answers.

5. Sputtering to the Finish

Leaders are servants, and a great way to serve people is to communicate start and end times—and hold yourself to them. Also, a strong way to end the study might be to restate the main point, summarize a few applications, and close with prayer. You may want to sneak any announcements in before the closing prayer. What you don’t want is for people, who sacrificed time to attend, to wonder whether it was worth it.

6. Neglecting Prayer

Since the Holy Spirit wrote the Scripture, sensible leaders ask his help to understand it. While prayer might not fit your goals for the discussion time itself (particularly if the group’s purpose is outreach to unbelievers), prayer during your preparation expresses dependence on the Lord and gives him the honor he deserves.

May God strengthen you to be an excellent Bible study leader! May you lead with consideration, clarity, and confidence in the author and perfecter of faith. And if your study doesn’t go well, remember that our gracious God can still speak through anyone.

Matthias Media Home Group Leader’s Digest

October 15, 2014 By Peter Krol

I recently subscribed to the Home Group Leaders digest from Matthias Media. This digest is a free monthly email with practical tips and encouragement to those who lead small group Bible studies.

The September edition was quite helpful on a number of topics:

How to follow up with people whose attendance has been spotty.
How to develop closeness in the group outside of the Bible study meeting.
Why it’s important not to ask questions that leave people feeling like they have to read your mind.

You can check out the newsletter online, or—even better—subscribe! In the subscription options, just check “The Home Group Leader’s Monthly Digest.”

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