Finding Bible Verses by a Particular Subject

As a pastor, I have been putting together bible studies for many years. It comes second nature to me. However I realize that not everyone has been leading bible studies or home groups for as many years as I have so I thought I would give some very easy tips on how you can put together a quality bible study to use for your family devotions, Sunday school classes or home bible studies.

• Step 1 - Prayer If you are like me, when you learn something new you rush right out and try it out. But remember that with a bible study, you are leading God's people, even if it is only yourself. It might be a good idea to get some direction from the One who is really in charge first! So spend some time asking the Lord what He would like to speak about and reveal to you and others.
• Step 2 - Do the Work yourself! In our world of microwave dinners and TIVO we have gotten used to everything being instantly available to us. This is true in the church world as well. It is so easy to just find a website, copy and paste and "ding" we have a bible study or sermon at our fingertips. This short circuits the process needed to lead a good bible study because it eliminates the time you spend reading and meditating on what the word of God is speaking to you. Remember God cannot work through you what He has not worked in you.
• Step 3 - Use tools to get the complete picture of what the bible says. You might not be aware that there are great tools to use to help you in your bible studies. Both offline and online. A few I recommend are the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible and the Nave's Topical Bible. These are both offline resources that you can pick up at your local bible bookstore. There are also a couple of great websites you can use as well. One is called Bible Gateway and the other one is biblestudytools.com. Both are great resources for you to use.
• Finally let the study sink into your spirit for a few days. I have found that an important part of the preparation process is to allow God time to speak to my heart about what I am about to teach. I may go through situations through the week that become poignant illustrations of what I am about to teach, or He may even deal with an issue in my own heart that needs to be addressed before teaching the subject to other. Whatever the case may be, give the study some time to brew before teaching it.

Finally if you are looking for some examples of topical bible studies I have put a few online that you can take a look at. My favorite is bible verses about strength. You will find some great keys to having strength in the midst of hard times with that lesson.

Blessings!
Pastor Duke

Although this article is original, the lessons have been taken in part from an original article I published called Bible Study Topics found on my website called Taber's Truths Christian Blog