How to read the Bible for Yourself
The Goal is Knowing God
Remember the goal of reading the Bible is to know God personally, not to know things about God. Sure, you’re going to learn things about God in Scripture, but it can’t stop there. Information doesn't transform. God's Word needs to be received with humility, trusted in completely and then acted on in love in order to bring something new in your soul.
What you will find as you continue to engage in the spiritual practice of reading Scripture is that God will speak directly to your heart and mind, showing you things that are pertinent to your life. He knows you. He loves you. He wants to speak to you and lead you and He will through His living word.
How to meditate on God's word using SOAP
There are many ways to read the Scripture so that you actually engage with God. We are going to share with you the acronym SOAP as a way that many of our people have found helpful.
The first and very important thing you need to do before you read the Scripture is to take a moment to pray and ask God to speak to you directly and to reveal to you what He wants to say through these verses. Remember, He can speak to you through His Spirit while you read His living Word. Humble yourself and prepare your heart to be receptive and to be ready to act on what He reveals. Now you are ready for SOAP.
S - Scripture
After you pray read a section of Scripture. It does not need to be very long. A chapter at most. It is not about the volume you read, but about hearing from Him and putting into practice what He says. (Matthew 7:24)
While you read, pay attention to your heart and the thoughts that come to you. Is there a verse that is standing out for some reason, that is intriguing, or that causes you to question? Choose one verse and write it at the top of your page.
O-Observation
Now take some time and begin to write down your thoughts on that verse. You can simply just start writing. Truthfully, what you are doing is meditating on that Scripture. As you write, you will often be putting down your own thoughts, but you will also begin to realize that some of the thoughts coming into your mind are not from you. God is speaking to you, revealing things to you. Showing you how this Scripture relates to your life.
If you need some help initially you can use 2 Timothy 3:16 as a format to help get your thoughts going. The verse says there are four ways in which God may speak to you through Scripture. You can ask yourself these questions as you think deeply about the verse you have chosen.
A – Application
It can be pretty invigorating to learn things about God and life in the Scripture, but the rubber hits the road when we have to decide what we are going to do with what we just heard. Write down your step of faith that you are going to take so that you actually follow Him, hold to His teaching, put it into practice. Then you will actually “live” on every word that comes from the mouth of God. This is how we experience God and truly know Him, which is eternal life.
P – Prayer
You may find that this entire process is a prayer with God. Writing out your thoughts, writing down His thoughts. It really is a conversation and an exchange of ideas, which is prayer. But it can also be helpful at the end to simply be open and honest with God about this interaction with His living word. Ask for grace to help you live it out. Ask questions. Give Him thanks and praise. Just connect your heart with His in complete honesty and go into your day knowing you just knit your heart together with His.
Give it a try
Whether on a piece of paper or in a note app on your phone, write a verse down that struck you during your devotional today, meditate on it and write it out through the SOAP acronym.
Here is a way for you to SOAP directly through the app. Your Notes will be saved and sent to your email:
What you will find as you continue to engage in the spiritual practice of reading Scripture is that God will speak directly to your heart and mind, showing you things that are pertinent to your life. He knows you. He loves you. He wants to speak to you and lead you and He will through His living word.
How to meditate on God's word using SOAP
There are many ways to read the Scripture so that you actually engage with God. We are going to share with you the acronym SOAP as a way that many of our people have found helpful.
The first and very important thing you need to do before you read the Scripture is to take a moment to pray and ask God to speak to you directly and to reveal to you what He wants to say through these verses. Remember, He can speak to you through His Spirit while you read His living Word. Humble yourself and prepare your heart to be receptive and to be ready to act on what He reveals. Now you are ready for SOAP.
S - Scripture
After you pray read a section of Scripture. It does not need to be very long. A chapter at most. It is not about the volume you read, but about hearing from Him and putting into practice what He says. (Matthew 7:24)
While you read, pay attention to your heart and the thoughts that come to you. Is there a verse that is standing out for some reason, that is intriguing, or that causes you to question? Choose one verse and write it at the top of your page.
O-Observation
Now take some time and begin to write down your thoughts on that verse. You can simply just start writing. Truthfully, what you are doing is meditating on that Scripture. As you write, you will often be putting down your own thoughts, but you will also begin to realize that some of the thoughts coming into your mind are not from you. God is speaking to you, revealing things to you. Showing you how this Scripture relates to your life.
If you need some help initially you can use 2 Timothy 3:16 as a format to help get your thoughts going. The verse says there are four ways in which God may speak to you through Scripture. You can ask yourself these questions as you think deeply about the verse you have chosen.
- TEACH - What am I learning about God, humanity or our relationship with Him and each other? How does this passage help me to know how to love God or love one another?
- REBUKE - Is there anything I need to stop doing because of what I learned?
- CORRECT - Is there anything I need to change, either in the way I think or in how I am doing something?
- TRAIN - Is there anything I need to start doing or continue to do better?
A – Application
It can be pretty invigorating to learn things about God and life in the Scripture, but the rubber hits the road when we have to decide what we are going to do with what we just heard. Write down your step of faith that you are going to take so that you actually follow Him, hold to His teaching, put it into practice. Then you will actually “live” on every word that comes from the mouth of God. This is how we experience God and truly know Him, which is eternal life.
P – Prayer
You may find that this entire process is a prayer with God. Writing out your thoughts, writing down His thoughts. It really is a conversation and an exchange of ideas, which is prayer. But it can also be helpful at the end to simply be open and honest with God about this interaction with His living word. Ask for grace to help you live it out. Ask questions. Give Him thanks and praise. Just connect your heart with His in complete honesty and go into your day knowing you just knit your heart together with His.
Give it a try
Whether on a piece of paper or in a note app on your phone, write a verse down that struck you during your devotional today, meditate on it and write it out through the SOAP acronym.
Here is a way for you to SOAP directly through the app. Your Notes will be saved and sent to your email: