How I Study the Bible

Engaging with Scripture is a vital part of growing in your relationship with Christ. But what we want you to understand is there is no one right way to study Scripture. How your best friend spends time in the Bible, how your pastor studies Scripture—it may look different than the way you engage with the Word.

"How I Study the Bible" is a semi-regular series on The Bookery. We'll sit down with various people from all walks of life to learn how they approach their time in God's Word and what they've learned as they continue to practice the discipline. Let us introduce you to Megan Redman.

Megan is originally from Kentucky and grew up in the church. With parents who served as children and youth leaders throughout her childhood, she was literally at church every time the doors were open and sometimes when they weren't. “I was blessed to be surrounded by the teaching of the Scripture and the gospel,” she says, “and I surrendered my life to Christ at an early age.” A talented singer, athlete and self-described theater kid, Megan says she found herself at a loss when it was time to decide what to do about college. " I realized that I had long ago stopped communicating with God," she recalls. "Through many different ways, God drew me back to Him and I rededicated my life to serving Him.” Today, Megan—who once dreamed of being a country music singer—works in music royalties administration and also serves as a worship leader at Recovery Church Nashville as well as a substitute teaching leader with Bible Study Fellowship.

At The Bookery, we encourage women (and all people) to consistently spend time engaging with Scripture. What does that look like for you?

Studying and meditating on Scripture has looked differently for me in different seasons of life. When I was in college, I would sit for hours at a time reading through Scripture, and then writing in my journal all my thoughts, questions, confusion, and so forth. I met with a mentor who discipled me every week, and we would go through Scripture together, and I would ask her some of those questions and doubts I had. In my current season of life, I will typically pick a book of the Bible in either Old or New (I like to switch off) and just take one chapter a week until I study the whole book. Every week I take each section of that chapter and break it down: What are the plain facts/story? What’s happening and who are the players? Then I start asking God to help me see the bigger picture: What is the author trying to get their audience to learn? What is God trying to get ME to learn? What attribute of God do I see at play? Are there warnings or encouragements? How can I apply this to my current situation? What’s my big take away? After I study each section, then I step back and look at each chapter as a whole, then step back again and put each chapter in context with the whole of the book. Putting things in context is key! It’s been so helpful to really meditate on how the chapter flows from the previous and into the next - When I meditate on Scripture in those stages. God has shown me so many different nuances of His heart, truths, teachings, and promises that I had never before understood or considered.

What are some practices that have helped you to grow?

I didn’t always find studying Scripture to be a fun pastime, and I’m pretty sure we all struggle with a desire to spend time in God’s Word from time to time. But for me, it started by asking and pleading with God to make His Word alive and active to me, to open my eyes to actually understand what it said so that I could live it out, and God did. I asked and cried out to God for this because I knew choosing to study Scripture was important. 2 Tim. 1:6 says, “Fan into flame and gift of God,” and Psalm 1 says that the blessed man has “his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night.” Those two passages have challenged me and encouraged me that studying Scripture is both a choice and a blessing. It may not happen overnight, but God promises to hear our cries and answer our prayers according to His good will. It is His glorious will for us to know Him, have a heart for Him, and be in restored relationship with Him, so we can have hope and trust that when we faithfully ask, He will answer—so keep asking!

The tools that have helped me grow the most are my journal and Bible highlighters/micro-tip felt pens. I’m a note taker at heart, so when I read something that’s important, I highlight, star, and even bracket it occasionally. You know I’ve studied some of the books in my Bible a lot because of all the markings I have on those pages! Don’t be afraid to study Scripture just like you might a school textbook—it’s much more important material!

My journal has been my gateway to express my thoughts, feelings, questions, doubts and fears to God as I’ve read His Word. As a very visual person, I have to write it out and see it on the page to feel as though I’ve expressed my thoughts. It’s also been a way to look back and see just how much God has answered my prayers in ways I never remembered or could have imagined!

Discipleship has played an important role in your faith journey. Can you tell us more about that?

For several years, I met faithfully every week with a mentor who walked through Scripture with me, helped me wrestle with questions or doubts, and challenged me to be stretched in my faith. After a while, she then challenged me to find someone younger, and meet with them weekly to walk with them through Scripture, helping them wrestle with questions, encouraging them to be stretched by God. That grew my faith and challenged me to know Scripture WELL. This wasn’t just something she challenged me to do, but this is also a challenge given in Scripture as we share the gospel with people. Consider Matt 28:20: “and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Then also again, back in 2 Tim. 2:2, Paul tells Timothy again: “The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.”

Maybe you’re new at this whole studying Scripture thing, or maybe you just don’t have the greatest self-discipline and need some accountability or someone to encourage you to keep seeking—find someone trustworthy that’s been walking with the Lord for a little longer than you and ask them to study Scripture together. Get invested in Bible studies at church (if you don’t have a church you regularly attend, I urge you to find one!). Or maybe you’re the opposite, you’ve been studying for a while but you're unsure what to do with what God’s taught you? Find someone a few steps behind you (maybe a college, high school, or middle school student depending on your stage of life) and invest in them. Ask them to study with you—you just might learn a thing or two from them!

If you could give advice or tips to someone who is trying to build a practice of studying Scripture, what would you suggest?

Don’t let yourself get discouraged easily! Every day is different, and God isn’t concerned about you getting it perfect, but that you have a heart to know Him. That may look like a 10 minute quiet time or an hour quiet time. The seasons of your life will fluctuate, so be willing to adapt—don’t just think it has to be one way and a specific time for the rest of your life. That being said, give studying Scripture priority. I will never forget being told by a mentor, “You will always have time for what you prioritize in your schedule.” That still hurts a little writing that even now… So prioritize it, but also don’t beat yourself up if you don’t do it perfectly. Don’t let one missed day or a perceived “failure” stop you from reading or studying at all. God's mercies are new every morning.

What practices have helped you to spend more time engaging with God's Word? Share the with the community in the comments.