INTRO TO READING YOUR BIBLE

What is the Bible?

• The Bible is the inspired, perfect, authoritative Word of God, revealing His love for the world.
• God is the Author of the Bible, and He used people to write it.

Why do we read the Bible?

• Spending time with God through His Word, the Bible, is how we become more like Him and get to know Him. God’s Word is His primary way of communicating with us. If we don’t know His Word, we won’t know Him.

How do I read my Bible?

Pick a consistent time and place to read your Bible every day. Make a commitment to form a habit of daily Bible reading. This reading plan is a great way to start! Every day of this Bible reading plan will be divided into sections that will help you understand what you are reading and you can repeat in future Bible studies. Here is what some of those sections look like:

BEFORE YOU READ

• This section helps you research the background of the section (or book) of the Bible you are about to read so that you can better understand what you are about to read.
• We provide context on the book and chapter so that you know what is happening in the story you are reading.

R – READ

• Now you are going to READ the text, with a few other instructions.
• Show yourself what God is doing in the text by marking it up. You can highlight in the Bible app and take notes on things that stick out to you as you read.

E – EXAMINE

• This section asks you questions to get you thinking about the text you just read and the lessons that it teaches. There are no wrong answers; just give it your best shot. Feel free to go back and look the verses you just read in the Bible as you answer these.

A – APPLY

• This section asks you questions that help you apply what you learned from the text to your daily life.

P – P.R.A.Y.

• You will pray using the P.R.A.Y. Method (Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield) with prompted prayers. We hope this method will help you become more comfortable with prayer as you grow.

How do I use my Bible?

• The Bible is made up of 66 different books. To find a book in a paper Bible, open to the Table of Contents to find the page number of the book you are looking for in that particular printed Bible. In the Bible app, you can search by Bible verse address or keywords or click the link to the verse (also called Scripture) referenced on every page. For example, on today's reading, Day 1, the Scripture is John 1:1-3.

What are chapters and verses?

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. -- John 1:1-3 (NIV)

Take a look at John 1:1-3 above. In the address of that verse (John 1:1-3), the first large number before the colon is the chapter of that book. So the text above is from the book of John, chapter 1.

Why are there numbers in the middle of the text like 2 and 3? The numbers after the colon in the address and before some of the words in the text represent verses that are in the chapter. Verse 1 normally does not have a verse number next to it. The text above is John 1:1-3; it is normally written as John 1:1-3 (its address that is the same in any Bible you use, paper or digital).

If all of that makes sense to you, it's time to jump into our Bible study content on Day 2! If you need help or have questions about how to read the Bible, ask your pastor, a believing family member, or a trusted Christ-follower.