How to Get Into the Word by Holly D. Sands

How do you get in the Word? To begin with, you have to thirst for it. Peter tells us to “desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2). The psalmist tasted it and called it “sweeter than honey to my mouth” (Psalm 119:103).

Here are some practical ways to start, wherever you are right now.

Start With Prayer

Before you open your Bible, ask the Lord to enlighten the eyes of your understanding (Eph. 1:18; Ps. 119:18).

I recorded a prayer in the front of my Bible years ago. To be honest, I can’t remember if I adapted it from someone else or if I wrote it myself. It really doesn’t matter. It’s a good prayer to pray. It says:

“Father, do not allow my mind to be clouded that I miss and resist the force of the Scriptures. Open and unveil my mind and illuminate my heart, that I may understand what You have revealed. Make my heart fertile ground and sow Your Word into it, that I may not be a forgetful hearer, but a doer of it. Show me what You would have me see and learn today, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.”

The Holy Spirit is the One who guides us into truth (John 16:13). Reading without asking for His help is like reading with the lights off.

Use Good Tools Well

You don’t need a seminary degree to dig into the Word. You need a few good tools and the patience to use them in the right order.

Read it more than once. Read the passage several times before you reach for anything else, then read it in a second translation. I am currently reading from the ESV, and I keep Young’s Literal Translation and the Amplified Bible close by for comparisons.

Follow the cross-references. Let Scripture interpret Scripture. Most study Bibles have cross-references in the margin. When one verse sends you to another, read that one in its own context too.

Look up the words. Strong’s Concordance gives every Hebrew and Greek word a number, so you can find the original word behind your English and see everywhere else it’s used. Vine’s Expository Dictionary helps you understand what the word means. One warning: a word doesn’t carry every definition in the dictionary at once. It means what it means in that sentence, so let the context decide.

Take it online. Many of these tools are free online. I am old school and always prefer to have a physical book in hand, but many enjoy reading things electronically. Bible Hub, Blue Letter Bible, and STEP Bible are all free and good for word studies, cross-references, comparing translations, and reading commentaries. If you want to go deeper, Logos is the heavyweight. My husband uses it and loves it. It not only has Bible tools, but it gives you access to thousands upon thousands of books, articles, and teachings. It has a free version to start with, and you can add books as you grow.

Read the commentary last. Commentaries are wise teachers, not the final word. I would advise you to use them only after you’ve wrestled with the text yourself. Let the commentary check your work, not do it for you.

Keep a notebook. Write down what you notice, what you’re asking, and what the Lord shows you. You’ll be surprised how often an old note answers a new question.

Hide It in Your Heart

“Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You” (Psalm 119:11).

Memorizing Scripture is how the Word goes with you when your Bible isn’t open. It’s what you’ll have in the hospital waiting room, at 3 a.m., and in the moment of temptation.

My husband always writes out verses on index cards. He carries a stack with him daily to review, and he has become quite notorious for handing them out to people he encounters in his day. You really would be surprised what a blessing this is to people!

Start Small, Stay Steady

Remember Hebrews 5:14: our senses are exercised “by reason of use.” The word there means habit, something practiced until it becomes part of you. That doesn’t happen with occasional reading. Fifteen minutes every morning will do more than three hours once a month.

You’ll miss days. Don’t quit when you do. Just open it again tomorrow. Habits take longer to form than most of us think, so give it time.

Why It Matters

Here’s a sobering thought. You can do everything in this article: pray, read the passage twice, look up the Greek, fill a notebook. And you can still miss the point.

The Pharisees knew the Scriptures better than anyone in Israel. Jesus told them, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:39–40).

The Bible isn’t the goal. Jesus is. We read to know Him. “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). And as we behold Him in His Word, we’re changed. We “are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

The Word also keeps us on solid ground. When Paul told Timothy that Scripture makes “the man of God . . . complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:17), he had just warned him that “evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived” (3:13). His answer to deception was to stay in the Scriptures. A believer who knows the Word isn’t easily “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14). Like the Bereans, you can search the Scriptures “to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).

Psalm 1 paints the picture. The blessed man’s “delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither” (Psalm 1:2–3). The ungodly are not so. They “are like the chaff which the wind drives away” (1:4).

That’s the difference the Word makes. A tree with its roots by the water stands when the wind blows. Chaff goes wherever the wind takes it. The hard seasons of life, false teaching and sudden bad news will prove whether you are a deeply rooted tree - or chaff. 

So open your Bible. Ask the Lord for help, dig in, and keep coming back.

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About the Author

Holly D. Sands has walked with Christ since 1983. She writes at He is My Song, helping fellow believers walk faithfully through every season with biblical encouragement, sound doctrine, and honest reflection.  She lives in South Carolina, where she and her husband, Shane Sands, are members of a local Baptist church. Shane's been called by God as an evangelist and leads United in Christ Jesus ministry. At home, they're joined by their idiot cat, Mister Bojangles, whose main contribution to the household is sleeping and eating treats.

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