I’m going to admit something right at the start today: I “stole” today’s post from one of the little booklets my mom wrote: “The Death of a Dream” (available for Kindle by clicking here). I have seen her personally use and publicly share this five-step method for Bible study for many, many years.

Today, I’m simply going to list this method as one of the suggested ways of having your personal time with God. Tomorrow, we’ll look at some other options. Then, on Wednesday, we’ll look at putting it all together for an impacting time of praise, Bible study, and prayer. So, here are her instructions regarding the five-step method (not original with Mom, as she would be the first to tell you):

Begin your time with the Lord with memorization. Psalm 119:11 says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” We hide it in our hearts when we memorize. Work on portions that will be a blessing to recall during those sleepless times or when a lost soul needs direction to a loving Savior. Psalm 91, John 3, and John 14 all could be a blessing to you.

Then have a brief time of prayer just asking the Lord to show you something from His word that will be a blessing to you today. [She often refers to this as the “prayer for guidance.”]

Follow this with your Bible reading. II Timothy 2:15 says, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” This may be a time to do a word study on God’s everlasting and unchanging love. As you find verses that are a blessing to you, make notes about them in your notebook. As you have asked the Lord to show you, in a planned search, make your time with the Lord and His Word the highlight of your day.

Have a notebook. When you have finished and taken time to meditate on what the Lord has shown you, write the answers to two questions. The first is simply: What did I read today? Then: What did God show me through what I read today? Answer each question with only one or two sentences.

Conclude your devotions with your prayer time. You may wish to take one page in your notebook and line it into seven columns. At the top of each, list the day of the week. Then list those for whom you need to pray on that day. One lady shared with me that she used this method, then she had a praise section right after her prayer list page. When God answered prayer, she wrote the blessing down, so she would remember it. How prone we are to recall our heartaches and forget our blessings.

Okay—so it’s me (Brenda) again: Did you get those five steps that you complete with a Bible, a pen, and a notebook?

1. Memorize Scripture

2. Pray for guidance

3. Read your Bible (maybe look up verses on a topic you want/need to study)

4. In your notebook, record brief answers to these two questions:  What did I read today? What did God show me through what I read today?

5. Have your prayer time

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