Inductive Bible Study & Lectio Devina

Hello! Over the course of the last two Charge meetings, we have been learn and practicing ways to read the bible and pray.  As the core disciplines of the Christian faith, it is essential that we focus on them.  Reading the bible is one way that God speaks to us, and prayer is one way we can talk to God.

Inductive Bible Study
We learned how to study the bible by practicing inductive bible study.  Inductive, for all of us who need a definition, means "characterized by the inference of general laws from particular instances."  We read the bible and marked up the passage on paper, asked questions, answered them from the passage we read, and then made applications to our lives.  We used a passage of scripture without verses.  But don't let that stop you, verses or no verses, print out scripture from such websites as biblegateway.com or blueletterbible.org.  Use whatever you have - colored pens, pencils, highlighters, etc.  And use whatever coloring scheme you like.  The steps are pretty simple, yet we got some fairly deep questions and answers out of our study.  Maybe you don't feel you have time or you feel you are not spiritual enough.  Any friendship begins by asking the person their name (hopefully).  And back in the day we asked each other what our favorite color was.  Get to know God.  Be honest with who you are and the questions you have.  There is no question too hard for God.  Take it at your pace.  You do not have to do a whole book at once!  However you go about it, you will do great.

Here are a few resources for questions and approaches to take when doing inductive bible study:
1. InterVarsity's Inductive Bible Study Hints: http://www.intervarsity.org/bible-studies/inductive-bible-study-hints
2. Basic Questions for Inductive Bible Study (great for different writing styles found in Scripture) http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~tim/study/inductive.pdf

Lectio Devina
Lectio Devina is a form of concentrated prayer.  Instead of being hands on with pencils and print outs of scripture, the bible is read audibly several times.  The first time is just to listen.  The second time is to listen for something that stands out, and the third step is to focus on that aspect.  Then we pray it back to God telling Him what we have focused on.  I don't know about you, but when I pray like this, it is almost magical the way God comes and speaks to me.  Somehow He tells me how to apply what I have focused on to my life.  Or He tells me something deeper.  Anything is possible with God.  I encourage you to try this in your quiet time (daily bible reading habit), or try it with some friends.  We only spent about 5-10 minutes doing it too.  God will lead you.