You’ve done it. 

You finally found the perfect pen and highlighter set, you have a beautiful notebook, and you’ve sat down with your Bible to begin studying Scripture like all of those beautiful women on Instagram. You’ve seen their aesthetic photos everywhere: a latte (probably with Jesus’ face engraved in the microfoam) on the table next to an open Bible. The Bible has a verse highlighted and even though you can’t read what they’ve scribbled next to it, you feel it’s probably very smart and very holy. Ready to experience that for yourself, you flip your Bible open. You eagerly begin to read. 

Annnnnd…nothing jumps off the page at you.

Actually, you’re suddenly feeling overwhelmed with names you can’t pronounce (who names their kid Mahershalalhashbaz?!), rules that don’t seem to apply to your life (Deuteronomy + Leviticus coming in hot), and an overwhelming feeling of “I don’t really know what’s going on in this story.” 

You start to feel like perhaps everyone else understands the Bible and you somehow just missed the memo?

Sister, let me tell you, we’ve all been there. Scripture is beautiful—it is the word of God after all—and yet can be incredibly complex. And for all of our good intentions and eagerness, we often jump in and immediately feel like we’re drowning.

St. Gregory the Great said, “Scripture is like a river…broad and deep, shallow enough here for the lamb to go wading, but deep enough there for the elephant to swim.” Maybe you feel like you’ve jumped into the deep end of the Bible without knowing how to swim, and now you’re flailing among the elephants. But that’s not failure. So, let’s talk about how to wade in with the lambs and practice studying Scripture, perhaps for the first time. (We also have some recommendations if you’ve been studying for a while and want to go deeper!)

Don’t Start in Leviticus 😂

When you first venture into Scripture, it’s good to start with the stories that are familiar. You’ll spend less mental energy figuring out what’s happening and build confidence in your comprehension. You’ve probably heard most of the Gospels just by attending Mass, so we suggest starting there.

The Gospel of Mark is the shortest and most straightforward, and many people pick that as their starting point, though any Gospel will do. The book of Acts is another good place to start. It’s written as a narrative about people who are probably familiar to you. Another suggestion for your starting point is the stories of the Old Testament that you were told as a child. The creation story, Adam and Eve, Noah and the ark, or Daniel and the lion’s den are all examples of stories you may have heard in your Bible storybook or at Sunday school. We made a couple printables of the 30 most commonly known stories in the Old and New Testament (feel free to grab them here and work your way through!). 

Now that you’ve decided what you’ll read, decide when you’ll read it. Perhaps you’re hoping to read the entire story in one day, or maybe you’d like to break it up into several days. For example, the Gospel of Mark has 16 chapters, so perhaps you’ll decide to read two chapters each day and have it finished in just over a week. Choose a realistic goal for you and for the part of the Bible you’ve chosen. Remember, we’re just wading here, so keep this part simple!

Before beginning to read your Bible, pray. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your thoughts as you interact with the Word. This can be a simple prayer: “Come, Holy Spirit. Enlighten my mind to gain what You want me to know in this reading.” Whatever we obtain through reading Scripture is always given to us. We do not take these things for ourselves, rather, we receive them from our Father, who lovingly meets us in the sacred text. (cf Dei Verbum 21) Just as we must be given the Eucharist (we cannot take it ourselves), we must be given the gifts of insight into Scripture. So, adopt a posture of receptivity in your heart, and expect that God will show up in His Word.

Finally, you’re ready to begin. When reading Scripture, it’s good to remember that quality always trumps quantity. It won’t matter how many words you read if you don’t take the time to let them sink in and ponder the message of them. Don’t be afraid to reread sentences, look up words you don’t know, and pause from time to time to ponder the meaning of what you just read. Reading Scripture isn’t a race to the finish line; it’s a multi-course meal of which we should savor every bite.

3 Questions to Ask While Reading Scripture

There are many technical things that a well-versed theologian could say about studying Scripture. For us lambs, though, carefully wading into the river for the first time, we’ll simply ask three questions about what we’re reading:

1. What is happening in this passage? The answer to this question is just about the facts of the story. Who are the characters, what did they do, what other details are at play, etc. Try to recap the story in your own words.
2. What does this passage say about God? You may have to think a bit to answer this and the following question, but ask the Holy Spirit to help you. Consider God’s action in the story, His reaction to the people’s activities, and any words He may have said. What can you learn about God by reading this story?
3. Finally, ask what the passage says about you. Again, ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. Does this passage tell you how you should feel toward God? Does it give you a deep sense of God’s love for you? Does it convict you to make a change in your life? Is there a person in the story whose example you want to follow (or not follow)? Are there words in the passage that you’d like to use as your own prayer?

Don’t get discouraged if you can’t perfectly answer all three questions every time you read Scripture. Remember that it’s a river of gradual depth, and some passages really do live in the deep water category. As we said before, there are some stories that are familiar to us and therefore easier to pray with, and there are some which are unfamiliar and difficult to understand. The more you practice with the familiar stories, the more confident you will be to swim out to the depths and tackle more and more complex passages.

If you’re like me, you’re prone to forgetting what you read as soon as you’ve moved on to the next paragraph. That’s where our highlighters, pens, and journals can help us. While you can have a color-coded method for perfectly marking up your Bible, it’s also perfectly acceptable to just use a pen or one highlighter to mark the things you like. If a particular verse speaks to you, make a note of it. Then, come back to that verse and ask the Lord why you liked that verse so much. Perhaps He wants to reveal something to you through those words.

If you really like a verse or phrase, memorize it, and repeat it to yourself often. You might find that God wants you to have those words with you as you go about your day. When I first started reading my Bible, I was in the book of Daniel and found what is still my favorite verse: “Fear not, beloved, you are safe…” (Dan 10:19). I memorized it (phew, a whole six words!) and replayed it in my head over and over. I was a very nervous driver at the time, and I just knew that God had given me those words to reassure me every time I got into the car. In the years since then, it’s been a mantra for me in so many scenarios, and I’ve been able to share it with others as well.

Into Deeper Waters

As you gain more comfortability with reading Scripture, you’ll want to start venturing into deep waters. The next step of studying the Bible is to begin to get a sense of how the Bible is actually one story told about God and His Love for His people (including you!). There are many incredible resources that illustrate this, and we encourage you to do some digging on your own. To start to read the Bible as one cohesive story, you’ll need to start with the covenants. This isn’t as overwhelming as you might imagine; there are only six major ones, and there were made with Biblical figures you have most certainly heard of:

1. Adam
2. Noah
3. Abraham
4. Moses
5. David
6. Jesus

When you read the story of the covenants, remember that each one was made with the same group of people as before plus others. Each covenant gets a little bigger, until the covenant made through Christ encompasses the whole world. As you read, try to answer two questions: 

1. First, what did God promise in this covenant?

2. Second, what were the people asked to do? By learning the stories of the covenants, you’ll begin to see your Bible as one story of God making promises to His people, showing His loving care for them, and never stopping in His work to draw His beloved children to Himself.

Finally, once you feel comfortable with the way that the covenants frame the story of the Bible, you’ll be ready to read all the other parts and fill in the details of how these covenants were (and weren’t) lived out. But don’t feel discouraged if you don’t yet think you’re ready to take in the entirety of the Bible. Just start with what you can, and keep trying. Rely on the Lord to help you, and He most certainly will speak to you in Scripture. The book of Hebrews tells us “The Word of God is living and effective” (Heb 4:12). God lives in the pages of your Bible, and He is waiting to move your heart when you meet Him there.