Seven Steps to Doing Your Own Bible Studies

This site is dedicated to teaching everyone how to study the Bible.  It is a simple process used for thousands of years.  Here is Biblical proof that God wants us to study His word and understand it.

The column on the right contains a list of studies and a pull down menu with studies filed in categories.

KJV 2 Timothy 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

KJV Psalms 25:4-5
4.  Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. 5.  Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

KJV Luke 24:44-47
44.  And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
45.  Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, 46.  And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47.  And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

KJV 2 Corinthians 4:3-6
3.  But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4.  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 5.  For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6.  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

KJV James 1:5-6
5.  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6.  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

KJV 1 John 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

KJV Matthew 13:10-11
10.  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
11.  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

KJV Mark 4:13
13.  And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?

Seven Steps to Doing Your Own Bible Studies

Step Number ONE

Pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit.

Step Number TWO

Identify the text you want to study. This works great for parables, which are the easiest to recognize. Often times parables are easily identified in the Bible.

KJV Matthew 13:33-35

33. Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. 34. All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: 35. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

Another way to recognize a text to study is to ask yourself if the text is defying any natural laws. Following are a few examples.

KJV Daniel 2:45

45. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

KJV Luke 10:19

19. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

KJV Luke 11:33

33. No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.

KJV Matthew 8:22

22. But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

Daniel 2:45 is a very good example. We know that the symbols used in Daniel 2 are symbolic. They are explained in the same chapter. This prophesy was placed in the Bible for a reason. This is a guide to show interpretations for symbols are to be found within the Bible. Often times symbols are explained within the same book of the Bible. Other times symbols may be explained in other books of the Bible.

When we look at the physical aspects of the other three texts above we can see, most people do not walk on serpents and scorpions, nor do they light a candle inside of a closet and dead people do not bury other dead people. Since these do not lend themselves to physical explanations they must be spiritual. Here is where you will be shown how to interpret spiritual meanings for key words in just about any Bible text.

Step Number THREE

Write out the physical aspects of the text in your own words.

As an example we will use Luke 10:19.

KJV Luke 10:19

19. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

If there is a word you do not understand, look up the meaning in a Concordance and substitute a word that is easier to relate to.

Tread: Strong’s Ref. # 3961 pateo Pronounced pat-eh’-o

from a derivative probably of GSN3817 (meaning a “path”); to trample (literally or figuratively):

Paraphrase:

I (Jesus) will give you power to trample upon serpents and scorpions and over the power of the enemy and nothing shall hurt you.

We can see by the paraphrase this verse is talking about walking (trample or tread) upon creatures that are known to cause harm since they are known to be poisonous.

As seen in the example above, the paraphrase should agree with the original text. You should also write out your understanding of the text. Answer the question, “why isn’t this physically possible or why does this sound strange?” This is where the Holy Spirit will work with you.

Step Four

Identify the KEY words in the text. These will most likely be nouns, the names of people, places or things. Most likely things.

The key words in Luke 10:19 are serpents and scorpions. (Tread may also be a spiritual word.)

Step Five

Look up the key words in a concordance or on a computer Bible search and copy the text.

Serpent

KJV Genesis 3:13

13. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

KJV Psalms 58:3-4

3. The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.

4. Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;

KJV Revelation 12:9

9. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

These texts show the serpent is Satan and his followers.

Scorpion

KJV 1 Kings 12:11

11. And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

KJV Revelation 9:5

5. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.

We can clearly see the word scorpion is associated with torment which can also be a trail. Ask yourself questions concerning the text. What is a trail? Who causes these trails? Who will torment you? Will it be God’s followers or those that oppose God? You know you are on the right track when you see a spiritual link forming between the key words.

Step Six

Substitute the spiritual meaning of the key words for the physical.

Serpent = Satan and the wicked people that follow him

Scorpion = torment from sinful people

Step Seven

Paraphrase the text using the spiritual meanings for the key words.

KJV Luke 10:19

19. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Paraphrase:

I (Jesus) will give you power to walk (tread or trample) upon Satan and the wicked people that follow him (serpents) and the torments they will send (scorpions) and nothing can hurt you.

Interpreting scripture is that easy. It takes practice to identify verses containing key words and verses identifying the spiritual meaning of key words. Practicing about once a week should get you up to speed in a couple of months. Keep a list of the key words you find. These will help you to quickly understand other texts. I will be adding a list of texts to study. Many of the texts you can interpret as a beginner can be found in Psalms and Proverbs along with many of the spiritual meanings to key words. The parables of Jesus are a good place to begin, as they contain spiritual words and teach the rules of interpretation.