“VIDEO — Add To Your Faith | Dan's Tips for Better Bible Study”

Friday, April 04, 2025

Transcription / Notes:

Last week, Jonathan gave three tips for better Bible study. Here are four more from me, in order to "add to your faith... knowledge."

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1) Read whole Bible books.

I find it very helpful to read books of the Bible as whole books, similarly to how we read novels. I find that there is great power in the flow of thought from the beginning to the end of books like Isaiah or Romans. I find that the totality of the narratives is compelling in books like Judges or Acts. So I recommend reading them beginning-to-end on a regular basis.

2) Read without line numbers.

The Bible’s chapter and verse markings were added long after the documents were written. When I learned that, I wanted to find out if it would make any difference to read without them. For me, the answer was, “YES!” Chapter and verse markings are like the line numbers in a legal document—they’re useful for quickly finding a phrase or a thought, but they don’t have a bearing on the meaning of that thought. I’ve bought a couple of “Reader’s Bibles” in different translations, and I find them to be immensely helpful, letting the thoughts continue or break where in more natural ways, rather than where a particular line number may dictate.

3) Look for repeated ideas.

I often mark up my study Bibles with different colors, which helps me isolate various motifs, items, sayings, and concepts that the Holy Spirit is repeating. For two examples: the repeated mentions of belief in the whole Gospel of John and of resurrection in the whole book of Acts. Isolating these makes me take a mental step back to ponder why they were so important to the author, which helps me realize why they should matter so much to my walk with God.

4) Watch for God to act.

Especially in stories, don’t just look for what the human characters are doing—look for what GOD is doing, even if it’s behind the scenes. Early in life, we’re right to look at the human characters as the good or bad guys/girls. But as we get older, we often realize that: 1) human morality often isn’t so clear-cut as that, and 2) the humans often aren’t the main characters in a story anyway—God is. So watch for what he’s doing, and you will learn a lot about him, which is one of the things we should want most in our Christian lives (cf. Mk. 12:28-31).

- Dan Lankford

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