Lesson 1.

    In this lesson, I want to talk about things that will prepare you to study your Bible. The best way to grow spiritually is to study the Bible. You cannot rely entirely on the studies and teachings of other people, but you do need them to help you along. The reason behind this is that you need to be better prepared to recognize and reject false teachings. The Apostle Paul warned the young churches and his friend Timothy to be aware of false teachers, they would try to lead Christians away from the truth by making them obey rules that are not biblical. (Ephesians 4:14) The study of God’s word is an individual task, probably the most personal task you will ever become involved in. This task will affect your whole being…who you are and what you do.

Only 3 tools are needed for Bible study;

1. Your own Bible, of course. It’s helpful to have more than 1 version of the Bible so you can compare the wording of difficult passages of scriptures, but it isn’t necessary.
2. Read and Think. Physical sight is closely connected to spiritual sight. This means knowledge or insights into the hidden truths of God. In fact, the scriptures use the word "seeing" to mean "knowing spiritual truths". The goal of your study is to have spiritual sight by allowing the Holy Spirit to make the Word clear to you.
3. A pen and notebook. To write something, (notes) helps you to remember because you "see" it in a different way. As you write repeated words or special things that are said, you will actually "see" more of what the writer wrote. Make notes to references that are to other passages so that you can compare them. Also, write any questions that come to your mind as you read, or any thoughts you have so that later when you read over your notes, you will begin to understand the Bible better and can answer some of your own questions.

Other tools nice to have but not necessary are a Bible concordance, dictionary and commentary. The concordance lists in alphabetical order all the words of the Bible and their Scripture references. If, for an example, you wanted to read several Scriptures about "faith", you could easily find them by referring to the word "faith" in the concordance.

The dictionary provides definitions of difficult words and information about Biblical times, places, cultures, and people. Commentaries are books written by various Bible scholars who share their own understanding of the Scriptures based on their long and intense study.

If none of these tools are available to you, don’t worry, the Holy Spirit will reveal the meaning of the Word to you even if you have no study helps. Ask for divine guidance as you study your Bible.