53. What questions should you ask while reading the Bible?

Asking the questions we talk about in this episode will help you dig deeper into the Bible and move past just reading it and staying "surface level".

Using Bible journaling is also super helpful as you are asking these questions to become more engaged with the Bible.

Starting small, even with just asking one of the right questions every time you read the Bible or writing down a takeaway, can significantly improve your understanding of the Bible and grow your faith.

If you have been asking questions like:

• What questions should I ask during Bible study?
• How can I use Bible journaling?
• How can I dig deeper into the Bible?
• Why is asking the right questions during Bible study helpful?
• What process should I follow when I am reading the Bible?

Then this episode is for you!

Take the Next Step on Your Bible Study Journey:

1. Bible Study Made Just for You is a 6-week 1:1 coaching program with Whitney where the Bible transforms your life and takes your faith to the next level as a Christian woman. *only 5 spots*

2. The Bible Study Made Simple community is where you learn about the Bible and make it a priority so your faith grows as a Christian woman.

3. The Bible Study Made Simple guide is where you learn what to do every time you read the Bible, so you actually understand it.

4. These are the best Bible study tools on Amazon that will help you start reading the Bible with confidence.

5. Follow Whitney on TikTok @stepintoboldfaith for simple Bible study tips, encouragement, and practical help to grow in your faith.

Transcript

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Today, we are going to be talking about how a lot of women read the Bible, but they still feel like they're staying surface level. I know for me, this whole concept really changed the game for me, and it was all about really asking the right questions and starting to dig deeper and just really starting to actually do some Bible journaling. And so today, if you've been struggling with kind of staying surface level or not really getting a lot from what you're reading or having a hard time understanding it, I definitely think that this episode is going to help you a lot. And personally, this again was something that really helped me so much was really being able to understand the Bible and start applying it to my life through asking the right questions, through being able to dig deeper. And so that is really what we're going to be talking about today. So I'm so excited you're here with me. So welcome to Step Into Bold Faith. This is the podcast where I help Christian women study the Bible so it can transform their lives and grow their faith. And I'm so happy that God brought you here. I definitely know that if you're listening to this, that you're in the right place at the right time. And I'm so excited that you want to really invest your time into learning more about the Bible to really trying to understand it, to study it. So thank you so much for being here. So I'm so excited. I really feel like this is so, so important to start digging deeper, to really get into the Bible, to not just stay surface level, to move beyond just reading it and really trying to have a deep understanding. It's so, so important. So this is definitely something at the very beginning of my journey that I did not do. I did not Bible journal. I didn't even know what that was. I didn't ask any questions. Like I would read the Bible and then wouldn't ask any questions, and I would just be like, okay, well, I read my Bible today. Like that's enough, right? So, and then I started, like when I actually started to truly learn and understand it, when I started implementing all the steps that I teach, when I started to really just go all in and really make it something where I really wanted the Bible to transform my life. I wanted to become transformed by it. And that's when I implemented all of these steps that I teach. This is when I started using all of these different methods like Bible journaling and asking the right questions and trying to dig deeper. And that's really when things started to change, when I felt more connected to God, when I felt more connected to the Bible, when I felt more like my faith was growing, like I was actually becoming transformed by it because I was asking the right questions. I was trying to invest my time in it, I was digging deeper. So I really feel like if you're ready to do that too, this is going to be really, really helpful. So before we get into the content, let's talk about the tools that we need. So when we are Bible journaling, we definitely need a physical Bible in our hands that we enjoy reading. So I have a Bible study tools you need to buy on Amazon right now, linked in the show notes. And it's this great free Google Doc. You go on the Google Doc and it has like an explanation of all the different tools with links. I have my personal Bible linked on there that I absolutely love. I use it every day. But having a good physical Bible that you personally feel connected with is so, so important because you want to pick up your physical Bible and number one, want to read it, but also feel like connected to it in a way too, in that it's simple enough to understand, but you're still getting enough of the context and the meaning from the original versions that are harder and more complex to read. And my Bible personally has a whole section for Bible journaling at the bottom, which is really awesome because then I can just like write notes on each individual page. But if you don't already have a Bible, uh a Bible that has a journaling section, you'll definitely want to get a journal. And you'll also want to get pencils. So I don't use pens when I Bible journal. I use pencils because if I do want to erase or have a different thought or something comes up later that I want to go back to, I like being able to erase things. So I also have some really cute pencils on there that I use. So you can get the Bible that I use and the pencils that I use on that Google Doc on the Bible study resources you need to buy on Amazon. So those are like the basic tools you need. But really the next thing that is super, super helpful when you have this is Bible highlighting as well. So I also on that sheet have my Bible highlighters linked. And I also have a full podcast episode where I go over Bible highlighting. It's really, really crucial and very valuable. And I think that that's even sometimes more important than Bible journaling because I'll go off of what I Bible highlighted and then Bible journal. But you can do this even without Bible highlighting. This is just like a side note. If you really want to get into the word, definitely do Bible highlighting. I highly recommend that. So so many good resources and tools, but those are the ones I definitely recommend that you'll need for this episode in order to start Bible journaling and Bible really asking the right questions. So now let's get into the actual content. So I really feel like a lot of women stay stuck on the surface of their Bible because they're trying to read it too fast or they feel the pressure to get through it in a certain amount of time. They're trying to keep up with a reading plan. They're not actually pausing to reflect. They're just reading it like a book and they're not actually getting it anything from it because they're they're in that mindset of trying to get anything from it. And they're not asking the right questions. So much about personal development, about growth, about growing your faith. It's about asking the right questions and really slowing down enough to even think like what's working for me, what's not working for me, and actually trying to do something to fix it. So, Bible journaling, it really helps you dig deeper because number one, you slow down. It's helping you notice what stands out. It's giving you room to process what you're reading, it's helping you remember what God might be showing you or what you see through your Bible journaling. And it's making Bible study feel a lot more personal. It's also helping you remember certain things and process things better because you are taking time to write things down in your notes section or through a journal. And it really doesn't have to be super complicated. It can really be so simple. And even just like a few notes, a few questions, a few takeaways every time you read your Bible can be so, so helpful. So that was just a little bit of an overview of why I feel like this is so important and how we can move past that if you're staying stuck right now. And so some questions that are my favorite to be asking while I'm reading is we're gonna go over, let's see how many I have. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. So there's eight different questions. You don't have to feel overwhelmed by starting with all eight. Maybe just take one of these that you're most excited about. And tomorrow, when you start opening your Bible and reading it, take one of these questions and you can start there. So number one, question number one is who is this about? So when you read a passage or you're reading a book, like who is this book about? Like who are the main quote unquote characters in it? Who wrote it? What's their backstory, right? So that's number one is who is this about? Number two is what is happening, what is actually going on in the passage? What if you had to summarize it to somebody, what would you tell them? Number three is what is God trying to show me? So a lot of times my favorite part about reading the Bible is seeing what God is revealing to me through his word. And I just love that so much because it really does make the Bible feel so personal and like it was made just for me when God is definitely speaking to me through the text by like repeating different things or showing me different things, or I'll literally ask him and be like, hey, where do you want me to go right now in the Bible? Or like what, you know, what questions should I be asking today? And he'll reveal things to me. And then the fourth question is, what should I do next after reading this? So actually taking the time to think about what you should be doing after you read this? What is the step that you were given today? What is the thing that was revealed today? What do you feel like you really learned from it that you need to take and apply to your everyday life, right? So what should I do next after reading this? That was number four. Number five is where is this taking place? So a lot of times within the context of the Bible, the locations, the physical locations are super, super important. So where is this taking place could really matter a lot and give you a lot more context if you actually understand that. And then number when is this happening? Also knowing the timeline of when in the Bible was this written, what was going on in the historical context of like what this was actually when this was actually happening, right? And knowing at least kind of like a timeline in your Bible. And then number seven, yeah, that was number six. Okay, so number seven is why does this matter? Like why is what you why is what you're reading right now, why does this matter? Like in the actual passage, in the whole book and in the whole Bible, because there's many stories throughout the whole Bible that are all broken up. And so your book individually could have like a mini story within a mini story within a mini story, right? So why does that mini story or why does that passage even matter? And then the last one, number eight, is how does this apply to my life? How can you take what you just read and actually do something with it and actually make it apply to your own life? So I know that was kind of a lot, but number one was who is this about? Number two is what is happening? Number three is what is God trying to show me? Number four is what should I do next after reading this? Number five is where is this taking place? Number six is when is this happening? Number seven is why does this matter? And number eight is how does this apply to my life? So again, these are like really awesome questions to ask yourself, but you need to go slow and just even take one of these tomorrow, like I said, and start actually like doing this as you're reading is asking yourself these questions for every passage that you or section that you read, or even if you get through, you know, a good chunk, however much you get through, ask these questions as you're going through it. So when you actually go to start doing this, right, you could just like this could be your process is like you read the passage slowly. And I always Bible highlight, but if you don't Bible highlight, you can just write down what stands out. You could ask a few questions about it, um, or if you're if you already know what questions you want to ask about it, like what I just said above, like the right questions to ask, use one of those questions, then start like writing the answers in your journal or at the bottom of your Bible in the journaling section. And then also again, write down what you think that God may be showing you and end with one takeaway or one way to actually apply that to your daily life. Like that is such a great flow that you could do is reading a passage, writing down what stands out, asking a few questions about it, write down the answers, see what God is trying to show you, and then end with a takeaway or how to apply it to your daily life starting that day. So that is just such a great flow for you to start doing. And this again, it does not need to be perfect. It doesn't have to take super long. You don't need like to overcomplicate it, right? It's more about just slowing down, paying attention, and starting to ask better questions and really trying to have this as a part of your routine is asking these questions, trying to dig deeper, knowing even what questions to ask, like we just went over, right? And so this is just such a great way to start doing this. So again, I really want to make sure that starting tomorrow, you start with just one of these questions. You start journaling at the end of your Bible reading session. And hopefully this really helps you to start digging deeper and get off the surface level and really just start feeling a little bit more connected to your Bible and like you're taking one step forward towards really understanding it. So, again, today we talked about how this is gonna help you, why journaling in your Bible really matters, the right questions to ask, and a simple flow for you to start doing tomorrow when you open your Bible. So I'm so excited and I really feel like this is gonna help a lot. I would love to know if it does help you. Definitely send me a DM at Step Into Bold Faith on TikTok to let me know. And so now let's end in our prayer. God, thank you so much for each and every woman listening to this right now, Lord. Thank you for her wanting to take the time out of her day to listen to this and really try to understand her Bible better and dig deeper and ask the right questions, Lord. And I just pray that you connect with her and meet her exactly where she's at, and that you provide everything that she needs in order to really feel like she is asking the right questions and that she can better understand the Bible, Lord, and that she just remembers that I'm a great resource and that I'm happy to help and I'm always here when she needs me. And I truly hope that this podcast is bringing her the value and everything that she really needs on her Bible study journey. We love you, we worship you in Jesus' name. Amen. So I would love for you to make sure to check out that Bible study resources guide that you need to buy on Amazon that's linked in the show notes. It's that Google Doc to make sure that you have all the right tools and then just start doing your Bible journaling tomorrow and really start asking some better questions. So I'm so excited for you. I can't wait for you to come back next week and keep learning about the Bible with me. So I'm so excited. So until next time, I hope you have a great rest of your day and bye for now.