Before you begin Bible study

"Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God" (John 8:47). Many people fail at Bible study before they ever begin. One of the main reasons for this is they do not fulfill the prerequisites required for effective Bible study. A "prerequisite" is "a thing that is required as a prior condition for something else to happen or exist" (Google Dictionary). A prerequisite for effective Bible study is actually belonging to God. Most of us have heard the phrase, "We're all God's children. That sounds good, and it might make you feel good, but it's not true. We're all God's creatures, but we are not his children until you "declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. [Then] you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved" (Romans 10:9-10 NIV). "Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12 NIV). Until you receive him, you are not his child. "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires" (John 8:44 NIV). If you want to understand the Bible, I highly recommend getting to know its divine author first. "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:20-21 NIV). When you receive Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside you. Then you can begin to understand the Bible in ways you never have before, as God not only helps you know it but illuminates it to you so that you can apply Scripture specifically to your life. Jesus said, "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you" (John 14:26 NIV). Thus, we have not only been given good Bible teachers to learn from. We have the Holy Spirit inside of us so we can discover God's truths ourselves. Our faith should not be secondhand but real and personal.

The Apostle Paul wrote in his first letter to the church at Corinth, "Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly" (1 Corinthians 3:1-2 NIV). Likewise, he wrote in Hebrews 5:12-13 NIV, "In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness." Spiritual milk is the elementary truths of the Bible that all believers must know. It's sort of like the training wheels of faith. "But [spiritual] solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil" (Hebrews 5:14 NIV).

There are three steps to moving from milk to solid food:

1. "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation" (1 Peter 2:2 NIV).
2. "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says" (James 1:22 NIV). David wrote, "I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts. I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might follow your word. I have not departed from your laws, for you, yourself have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore, I hate every wrong path" (Psalm 119:99-104 NIV).
3. "My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God" (Proverbs 2:1-5).

You crave the milk, are obedient to what you learn in the Bible, and then you search for solid food. 

Three of the best Bible study methods for accomplishing this goal are:

1. Studying the Bible by books
2. Studying the Bible by chapters
3. Studying the Bible by subject analysis