hi. i'm struggling to study my Bible.

Diving into straight scripture can be very intimidating. Do you find yourself feeling unequipped to open and studying? You’re not alone! So many people struggle with this exact issue. I definitely did! So how did I move past this issue? Support from my community.

Okay Paige, that sounds awesome. But what did you actually do?

I’ve been very blessed to be surrounded by many God-fearing people. I’ve turned to many of them for help in this area. One of the best pieces of advice I received seems like a no-brainer. Ask God for the desire to learn about him through his word. James 4:8 says, “draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you.” God wants us to pursue him. Therefore if we ask him for help in pursuing him-he will aid us. Lysa Terkeurst writes, “ Ask God to open your spiritual eyes like never before” referencing Ephesians 1:17-19, “I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insights that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with lights that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he has called-his holy people who are rich and his glorious in here today. I also pray that you understand incredible greatness of God‘s power for the us who believe in him.”

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

Now, how do I actually get anything out of these passage that I’m reading? My biggest tool that I use when reading is cross referencing. Every Friday I get together with a couple of friends for bible study. Yesterday, we sat down and read Romans 7:1-6. This passage talks about bearing fruit for God. Does that make you think of anything? It made me think of the fruits of the spirit. So we then flipped over to Galatians 5:16-26, where we learned more about what these fruits are. More discussion on fruit led us to John 15, the passage about the vine and the branches. Going back to the Galatians passage, I took special notice of verses 24-25, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of our sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives” reminded me of Ephesians 4:20-24. So we then popped over there to read that passage. Each of these scriptures are linked to one another by a few words. Don’t worry if your brain didn’t lead you to those passages without a little direction. Knowledge of the Bible takes time and practice! A simple Google search of a verse regarding “fruit” will bring you many different options.

This method of cross referencing is just one of the methods that I like to use. If it doesn’t work for you right away, do not be discouraged. Give it another shot! If this entire idea seems too big to take on by yourself, reach out to those around you. Go on this journey with someone near to you! Let’s do this together.