13 Ways to Study Your Scriptures

The Savior and His servants have encouraged us to read, seek, search, ponder, study, feast upon, and treasure up His words (see Isaiah 34:16; John 5:39; 2 Nephi 31:20; 3 Nephi 17:3; and D&C 11:22). The number and variety of invitations suggest that there are different ways to study the scriptures. My own experience confirms this. Sometimes I like to read from cover to cover. At other times I search for answers to personal questions or challenges. Often I study topics listed in the Topical Guide or Guide to the Scriptures. I also enjoy researching how the Lord uses a specific word throughout the scriptures. When I am really serious, I mark phrases, underline words, or write notes in the margins of my scriptures. Occasionally, I relish in learning the Greek, Hebrew, or dictionary definitions of scriptural words. There are even times when I rush home on Sundays after church to open the scriptures, anxious to verify something taught in a lesson. One thing is certain: there is no one right way to study the scriptures. (February 2009 Ensign "Getting the Most Out of Your Scripture Study" by David B. Marsh)

I used many resources to teach my lesson on Sunday, Sept. 5th. The main resource I used was this article in the September Ensign.

LDS.org - Ensign Article - Ten Scripture Study Tools

#11: Compare Scriptural Events ot Our Own Lives One way to liken the scriptures to ourselves is to compare events in the scriptures to events in our lives. One member who learned how to liken the scriptures to himself told of his experience with Ether chapter 6. The first few times I read the chapter, I saw only an account of the Jaredites’ journey across the ocean. However, as I read it again one day, it occurred to me to liken their journey across the ocean to my journey in mortality. As I did so, I discovered insights that strengthened my faith in Jesus Christ. The stones that gave light so the Jaredites would not have to cross the ocean in darkness reminded me of prophets, scriptures, and the Holy Ghost that give me light so I won’t have to go through mortality in darkness or confusion (see Ether 6:3). I likened the wind from the Lord that moved the Jaredite vessels “towards the promised land” to the experiences the Lord provides that help me progress toward heaven (see Ether 6:5). It seemed to me that their being under the water was like my trials or times of stress (see Ether 6:6). But just as prayer persuaded the Lord to bring them ‘upon the top of the waters’ (Ether 6:7) for fresh air and sunshine, so I could pray for relief from my trials and stress.

#12 Find the Principle Being Taught Another way to liken the scriptures to our personal lives is to look past the story and find the principle being taught. For example, Nephi was commanded to build a boat. Though he had never done such a thing, he went about his task with great personal effort and received divine help. We may not be asked to build a boat, but we may be asked to do things that seem beyond our abilities. Like Nephi, we can exert our personal effort to “go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded” and exercise faith that the Lord will “prepare a way for [us] that [we] may accomplish the thing which he commandeth” (1 Nephi 3:7). One principle taught in this story is to be diligent in obeying the Lord’s commands. We can liken Nephi’s example to ourselves by diligently obeying the things the Lord asks us to do. (March 2009 Ensign "Likening the Scriptures To Our Personal Lives")

#13 Bridging the Gap Imagine a bridge. One side of the bridge is anchored in the past and is made up of three parts: (1) they—the prophets and people of the past, (2) there—the place where these people lived, and (3) then—the time period when they lived.

The other side of the bridge is anchored in the present and is made up of three parallel parts: (1) I—who live in the present, (2) here—the place where I live, and (3) now—the time period I live in.

The goal is to build a bridge from they-there-then to I-here-now, identifying common parallels between their day and ours.

Elder Jay E. Jensen explains this in further detail and with charts in this article LDS.org - Ensign Article - Scripture Stories as Patterns for Our Lives

President Hinckley said "As you read, your minds will be enlightened and your spirits will be lifted. At first it may seem tedious, but that will change into a wondrous experience with thoughts and words of things divine."