Join our insiders club today and get a free printable guide to follow along with the steps outlined in this article! Our prayer for you is that when you study the Bible with us that you will have your own Bible Breakthrough! As an insider you will also get exclusive content and be invited to our private Zoom events. We’ll see you on the inside! Once you join watch for an email from Breakthrough Ministries with a link to download the guide!
5 Steps to Your Bible Breakthrough: Pray, Research, Observe, Interpret, and Apply
We have a simple process we follow when consuming, or studying, the Bible. You will see this format play out in our podcast and vlog as well. It might be helpful to print this blog article out so you can make a habit out of this way of studying the word.
Pray – through prayer, believers have access to the guide, who, just so happens to be the author of the book we are studying. So, we pray and acknowledge His presence, recognize His expertise, and trust Him. He promises to lead us into all truth, so we pray and ask him to do just that.
Research – we do a little research to discover the context. Context is like a frame that surrounds the Scripture. It provides information that leads to greater understanding. Both Prayer and Research prepare us to receive what we will read.
Observe – What does it say? As we read Scripture, we make initial observations with the goal of understanding what is being said. Naturally, we begin to gain clarity around who, what, where, when, why, and how. We look for keywords or phrases, repeated words, summaries, and conclusions.
Interpret – What does it mean? This is something that generally happens naturally as we observe. But ultimately, we seek to uncover, discern and understand the primary meaning of the passage we’re looking at. A question you might ask yourself is “What sinful condition is being addressed?”
Apply – What should I do? Consider how the passage applies to you and then apply it to your life. For me personally, the greatest breakthroughs occur when I understand the context, read Scripture, and then conduct a process of inductive study that draws certain conclusions from the information and leads me to discover the application.
It’s that simple; Pray, Research, Observe, Interpret, and Apply.
As we journey through the Bible, whenever questions arise, it will be important to seek our answers first within the Word, other words, let Scripture speak for itself whenever possible.
Leave A Comment