5 DEVOTIONAL/STUDY TIPS
We have a biblical literacy crisis amongst believers. According to Lifeway Research, In 2019, 32% of Protestant churchgoers who attend regularly said they read the Bible every day, while 27% read it a few times a week. However, 12% only read it once a week, 11% a few times a month, and 5% once a month. Additionally, 12% said they rarely or never read the Bible.
So we can ask ourselves: How do we develop a meaningful devotional/study time?
STOP PLAYIN’, SCHEDULE THE TIME. I think a lot of us believe that we’re too busy to study God’s word or devote time with Him. We’re not. We can fool ourselves into believing this lie because of one small fact: If we don’t show up when we say we’ll show up… we have to reconcile with the incongruence we carry. I’ve been there. There are times when I’m more committed to making my hair and nail appointments than spending time in God’s word. When I see my screen time, I’m reminded of the time I could have been in the “secret place” with Him. I think the first step to a devoted life to Jesus is admitting that we have the time, but need the Holy Spirit to empower us. We might have to get creative. We may have to set boundaries with family and friends. If we’re not being honest about ourselves, then we betray ourselves.LET GO OF THE SPIRITUAL PRETENSE OF PRAYER. You can pray in your car. You can pray in the shower. You can pray on neighborhood walks. The bible says to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thes 5:16) and we shouldn’t limit God’s ability to communicate. Imagine this: you’re walking down an empty street in the middle of a beautiful, sunny day. Suddenly, you see your best friend walking toward you on the sidewalk! What a surprise! You wave, smiling. She waves back. When you finally approach her, she starts to speak and you put your hand up, “Aht. We can talk when I get back to my bedroom. I’ll give you a call.” How strange. Take advantage of the time you have with the Lord! Imagine the revelation, the intimacy and the joy that we can experience when we approach Jesus as the friend that he says we are (John 15:15).THE 3-WAY LEARNING: There's a really interesting approach to learning something new (especially when it's dynamic and multi-faceted like the Bible). First, you should take the time to read the word and interact with it. Some people use the SOAP method and others take different approaches. Make sure to write down your questions! Secondly, one of the best ways to retain what you read in the word is to discuss it with other people. You're bound to come across some complicated themes and you need community to keep you excited and accountable. Third, find a trusted place to learn from biblical teachers. The bible talks about teaching for a reason-it's a need for the body of Christ. If you can find a teacher who embraces your questions and wrestles with your hard thoughts, you've struck gold.FOR ALL OF MY ESTHETIC GIRLIES: Buy the highlighters. Buy the tabs. Buy the notepads and the pens that glide like butter. Don’t let these people shame you lol. Some of us haven’t studied since college and it’s fun to embrace studying like it’s the first day of 7th grade! I’d also advice getting a bible with margin space so you can jot notes and thoughts as you read. Do what you need to stay engaged, motivated, and inspired.TOOLS, TOOLS, TOOLS! One of thee most intimidating things about my study time was the feeling of being ill-equipped. Sure, I could google questions that I had… but sometimes, it felt icky and I like to discover for myself. Concordances are a great tool because it works as a huge word index. You wanna know where the bible talks about prostitutes? That's your business and it's in the concordance LOL. Bible dictionaries are great to help break down some of the "Christianese" too. So here are a few apps and tools that can help:
APPS: Logos Bible App, Bible Project App, Blue Letter Bible (a little old school looking, but good tool)
Physical study aids (because sometimes the girlies are handsy lol): Concordance , Bible dictionary
