This morning I was reading my Bible in a local restaurant, when a local wrestling coach came up to me and asked what I was learning. I shared with him that I had just written in my daily journal, that the nephew of Abraham, Lot appeared to be a wimp in his response to God. As God called him to leave the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, he was told to flee to the mountains. This was Lot’s response as he requested to go to the small village of Zoar:
“Oh no, my lord!” Lot begged. “You have been so gracious to me and saved my life, and you have shown such great kindness. But I cannot go to the mountains. Disaster would catch up to me there, and I would soon die. See, there is a small village nearby. Please let me go there instead; don’t you see how small it is? Then my life will be saved.” Genesis 19:18-20 NLT
As I was sharing this insight from my Bible reading and what I had written in my journal, he shared with me that he has been using the SOAP method of Bible Reading. Here was his explanation of this approach to journaling personal insights from the Bible:
Scripture – Select a scripture from your daily reading that speaks to your heart and mind. Write the Bible verse in your journal to personally reflect on this portion of God’s Word.
Observation – Write down your personal observations and comments regarding this Scripture as you understand it.
Application – Contemplate the Scripture and your personal observations and then write in your journal personal application from this Scripture for your life and relationships with others.
Pray – Following this journal exercise, spend time in prayer seeking the LORD’s help in making this application to your life and relationships.
I found this to be a helpful acronym to remember the importance of not simply reading the Word of God, but also seeking to apply it to our lives. My hope is that this will be helpful to you as well.
Thank you for posting this. I love how this method is simple, structured and can lead to further insights and understanding.
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