Journaling through Proverbs

One of my favorite things on earth is Bible study. I did my first study book while still in grade school. When I had my first child we lived far from family and I found comfort in my evening study time. I joined my first ladies Bible study about 15 years ago. It was life changing for me.
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We were a small group who prayed, encouraged and worked our way through Beth Moore's Breaking Free. I was hooked. The ladies were of all ages and walks of life and they taught me so much about living and loving and the Bible.

Wednesday night we have a ladies Bible study at our church. We have traveled many journeys together in our classroom. In the last 12 years, our study has taken us through nearly every book of the Bible, in depth. 

Some of the authors we have used are Beth Moore, Ann Voscamp, Francis Chan, Kelly Minter, Pricilla Shirer. These are just a few. Pictured aAbove are the books I had at hand. There are many more tucked away. I got something from every study. 

This summer we decided to not do a traditional study and go old school. Yup, we are journaling our way through a book of the Bible. Proverbs. It is amazing! 

How are you doing this, you ask? Well, we take a few chapters a week. We read a chapter and choose a few verses that stand out to us. Write out those verses, then write out any observations about them. Next, we write out how it applies to us in our everyday living. Finally, we write or say a prayer over what we learned. 

I know, it's the SOAP or SOAK  method of studying.  The thing is it really helps a person break down the scripture and think about personally.  Everyone chooses the verses they want to focus on.

When we meet in class on Wednesday night, it is time to discuss. This is the BEST part! Everyone gets something different and we share it. God teaches us all, and in personal ways but it is useful for everyone.

Not everyone has time to get all the homework done but it doesn't matter. The discussion catches us all up. I take lots of notes on what the others share. There is always a few Ah HA! moments in every class. 

At home, I pray, read, work through the chapter, and draw something in my journal. For me drawing is part of learning. It isn't for everyone though. It is personal. Some do bullet points, color code, or write pages and pages of thoughts and prayers. 

The prayers are personal. We seldom share that part. I did share an example in class of turning scripture into prayer just to help some who hadn't done this type of study before.

The front of my journal has the SOAP method explanation glued in along with our schedule for class.

 

There are some nice journalling resources. The one pictured below is Quieting your heart journal the link will take you to Amazon. If you click from the Time Warp Wife it will go to her website. She has lots of nice resources. 

I do regular Bible reading as well. But if life gets crazy, the organized study keep me in the Word. I am accountable to the ladies in class. Being on a Wednesday night also helps me conquer my week. It's like a midday snack. It fuels me to keep going the second half of my week. 

I hope this inspires you to try some old fashioned Bible journaling. It is great for all levels of learners. 

I have treasured Your word in my heart so that I may not sin against You. 

Psalm 119:11