There are so many good ways to go through the Bible. Through different seasons of life, we study the Bible in different ways. Sometimes we can fit in a quick scripture and others we need to really dig deep. God can speak through all of them!
I will be going through the Bible in chronological order and will be posting every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. There is a Bible app that I am using, but you can also print this out. Whatever works best for you. This is technically a one year plan, but I’m going through it much slower to really get a lot out of it. Below you will find three options to work through it will me.
We will also be using the The SOAP Method, which I have found the be one of the most effective ways to dig deep into the Bible’s content. It has allowed me to catch new themes and lessons from scripture that I’ve read many times before. That’s the amazing part about the Bible! All you need is a notebook and a pen. Here is how SOAP works.
S – Scripture: Write out the verses that stick out to you and that you want to explore more.
O – Observation: Jot down the facts and themes that appear in the text. Summarize in your words what the text says.
A – Application: Ask yourself how these scriptures and observations pertain to your life. How can you apply these principles with realistic action steps today? Are you feeling convicted by the passage and need to pray for forgiveness? Do you want to explore the concepts further with other verses, books, or people? Be prayerful and let God guide and teach you in this section. Be open-minded on where He leads you.
P – Pray: Write out your prayer. I am amazed at what comes out sometimes! Allow yourself to write what’s on your heart, even if it is ugly. Give it to God. Sometimes just getting it out there lifts a weight off. This will be a great way to look back on how God provides and answers prayers.
The beauty of this method is that it can be split up based on how much time you have. There are days where it might be hard to sit down for even five minutes. So here are a few options that give you some grace but are still effective.
5-10 minutes: Focus on the Scripture.
Day 1: Read or Listen to the section. I use the Bible app on my phone or iPad and in most translations, there is an audio version. If you can’t sit and read, turn it on in the car on your way to work or dropping the kids off. If you get the chance, write out a verse that really stands out to you. Read it over throughout the day and pray about how it can work into your life.
Day 2: Re-read or listen to the section again. Or finish the section if you weren’t able to get all the way through. (There is a lot of grace here!) Pull out a new verse, or maybe the same, and pray on it and practice it throughout the day. Maybe check out what I learned in the blog post and find some other inspiration.
The 2-Day SOAP Split:
Day 1: S/O – Read or Listen to the section. Write down the Scriptures that stick out and your Observations.
Day 2: A/P: Review the day before and add the Application and Prayer sections to it. Check out my blog post for further inspiration.
SOAP Deep Dive:
Day 1: Read or Listen to the section. Do the whole SOAP process.
Day 2: Repeat Day 1 and add new verses, observations, and applications. Or, look up there resources that support yesterday’s work. For example, if a them you found was on hope, look up other verses that speak about that. Draw new themes and applications from them.
Again, there is a lot of grace and flexibility in this process. The point is to just to get into the Bible no matter how much time you have. Get creative on when you read or listen. Ideally we’d all like to sit for 30 minutes every morning and have some quiet time with the Lord. Maybe you do need to make that a priority. But if you can’t, just start where you are able. God can speak to us whenever and wherever we are.
I’d love the hear which method you are going to try! Please fill out this quick survey below.
Also, if you have tips and tricks that work best, I’d love to hear them. They might help someone else!
A Whisper In Winter 