Questions are wonderful things. If you ask the right questions, if you ask them often you will discover more than you ever expected. This is never more true than when you read the Bible. We must push beyond just reading; we should push forward in our understand by interacting with the the text by asking questions. In order to get you started I offer the following list of questions. In addition to some that are common to various Bible study systems, I have collected a few more from Rick Warren, Steven Lawson, Andy Rau and Doug Britton (
thanks guys) and I now offer them to you. May God use this to open His truth to you in new and life-changing ways.
- Is there a command to obey?
- Is there an exampe to follow?
- Is there a promise to claim?
- Is there a sin to avoid?
- Is there a principle to follow?
- What did this Scripture mean when it was written?
- What is the timeless truth behind what God is saying?
- How does it apply now to me?
- What do we know about the context and origin of this text?
- Does this passage respond to or challenge any specific events, trends, or behaviors?
- What does this passage reveal about God and his purposes?
- And how does the glimpse of God seen in this passage compare to depictions of God elsewhere in the Bible?
- Where does this passage fit into the “story” of the Bible?
- What Bible stories came before this one, leading up to it?
- What stories come after, building on it?
- What picture of God’s people does this passage paint?
- What values and ideals does this passage hold up for us?
- If the passage criticizes God’s people or shows them behaving badly, what values can we identify by their absence?
- Does this text point us to the future?
- What promises, foreshadowings of future events, or other groundwork does this passage lay down for us?
- What questions about your own faith today do you want to ask of, or introduce into, this passage?
- What questions does this passage ask you?
- What do you think is the key message of this chapter?
- What did you learn from this chapter?
- Which point in this chapter spoke to you the most?
- Why do you think God included this chapter in the Bible? What’'s the point?
- Do any of these truths written thousands of years ago apply today? If so, which ones? How do they apply?
- Are there truths in this chapter that contradict the ideas we hear in the world? If so, what are they?
- Is there something in this chapter that surprised you? If so, how were you surprised?
- Are there any verses in this chapter that confuse you or that seem to contradict other parts of the Bible?
- In view of what we have read, what changes do you think God would want you to make in attitude, words, or actions?
