Unruffled - Session 1
PRAY, READ, THINK, WRITE, PRAY
Unruffled - Session 1
Grow deeper in your quiet time
How to use this Bible Study
If you are in a group: Complete the sections that have a white background together by reading outloud. The sections with a peach background should be completed individually. Then come back together and talk about what you have written.
If you are doing a solo devotional: Read through and complete the homework as usual, and use the discussion questions as an additional journaling prompt.
Opening Prayer
Dear God,
We ask You to support us through this study as we learn how to read our Bible well. Please bless our time together. May we honor You with our words. Thank You for giving each of this time to spend together. Help us to put all other distractions aside and focus on Your Word.
Amen
Introduction
Over the next five weeks, we will be learning how to grow our practice of quiet time and Bible reading. Even with all of the resources we have available to us, making quiet time a regular practice can be difficult. The goal of this study is to help each individual identify the hurdles that stand in the way of spending time with God consistently.
There are three common problems that prevent us engaging in a quiet time routine.
The First Problem: You probably have no plan. You pick up your Bible and read any page that falls open. Or you rely on whatever study your church is doing to fill your Bible-reading-cup. Or you open your Bible to Genesis 1:1 and get hung up on all of the weird and confusing things in the first 10 chapters and abandon the endeavor. Or maybe you don’t even know where to start or when to read. It’s just not a part of your day to day life. So, you say “I should read my Bible more.” and never take a step forward. Whatever part rings true for you, the common thread is that you have no plan. Part of this study is to help you figure out how to make Bible reading and quiet time a regular part of your week. And to identify what type of plan will work best for you.
The Second Problem: You don’t have enough tools in your Bible-Study-tool-belt. The Bible is full of strange stories, confusing language, and hard truths. If you don’t have a way to understand these difficult parts, you are going to give up, because no one wants to read a book that doesn’t make any sense. Throughout this study we will walk through some tools to add to your quiet time.
The Third Problem: Your approach doesn’t match your current stage of life. Many women dream of a peaceful, early morning quiet time with a hot cup of coffee. Or maybe your ideal quiet time is over lunch in a bustling cafe. Or you might dream of mountaintop quiet times as the sunsets. Maybe you don’t have any idea what quiet time is supposed to look like, and all of these ideas are foreign to you. Whatever you think quiet time is supposed to look like, it won’t always be that perfect. Challenge yourself to let go of what you think quiet time should look like. Make the priority spending time with God, not a particular time or setting.
In a moment, we will pick a reading plan to follow over the next five weeks. This study is written in a way that allows each person to follow their own individual reading plan. Or you may choose to follow the same plan.
Each week will focus on a different aspect of Bible study that you will put into practice with that week’s reading. The practices included in this study are: The Pray-Read-Think-Write-Pray method, Cross Referencing Translations, Author Research, and Verse Mapping. Think of each of these weeks as a tool in your belt. In the future, when you make time to spend in God’s Word, you will have a handful of tools you can reach for to enrich your quiet time.
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You can choose to have the group follow the same reading plan OR you can let each group member pick their own reading plan.
If you all follow the same plan:
The benefit of following the same plan is that you can deep dive together on questions about your reading. I would only recommend following the same plan if you have a group that has similar commitments outside of group or similar enthusiasm for completing that particular reading plan.
If you all follow different reading plans:
The benefit of following a variety of reading plans is that you will get to learn a little bit about a lot of different books of the Bible. And it might spark an interest for what you want to read next.
If you have a group where some members are eager to dive into a long reading plan, and others are overwhelmed by reading even twice a week, I would definitely recommend this option.
You know your group best.
Make a decision based off the needs of the group.
Print Reading Plans
If you have the ability to, print a copy of the reading plan for each group member. If you are all reading different reading plans, print a few options that you think would work well for your group.
➤ Complete the “Identify Your Barriers” Worksheet
Picking a Reading Plan
Below are some reading plan options to pick from. If these don’t work well for you, There are thousands of options online. Search the internet for a theme or book of the bible + “reading plan”. Or, at the bottom of this post, you will find additional resources for reading plans.
When choosing a plan, look for one that is a minimum of 4 weeks long.
Pray Read Think Write Pray Method
During your reading this week, you will practice the Pray-Read-Think-Write-Pray method of quiet time. This method is very straightforward. It is an easy fall back or default way of having quiet time. Each day of your reading plan, do the five steps of this method in order.
Pray
Pray over your quiet time. If you don’t have a lot of time, ask God to make the most of your time. If you are overwhelmed, ask God for peace and rest. If you are feeling scattered, ask God to use this time to focus you. Bring to God whatever is going on and lay it down.
Read
Read the passage from your reading plan. Read it from your printed Bible, or your phone, or use an app to read it out loud to you.
Think
Think about what you have read. Did your reading bring up any questions? Was there a verse you read before that makes more sense now? What happened in the story? Did you disagree with what you read? Did you understand it? Do you need to read it again?
Write
Write down your questions. Or write out a journal entry with your thoughts on the passage.
Pray
Close your quiet time in prayer. Thank God for the time. Talk to Him about what you learned or ask him to point you to answers to your lingering questions. And talk to God about the rest of your day. Ask Him to continue to walk with you.
Read Aloud Together
Ask a group member to read out loud:
Psalms 119:105-112
Discussion Questions
What wisdom can we gain about quiet time from the Psalms 119 passage?
What does your quiet time or Bible reading look like currently?
What is your biggest struggle when it comes to consistent quiet time?
How would you describe your ideal quiet time?
What reading plan did you chose and why?
➤ Close in Prayer
Homework
Follow your reading plan. Each day of you reading plan, practice the Pray-Read-Think-Write-Pray method.
In the PDF download for this post, there is a homework worksheet you can use as a guide.
Extra Resources
YouVersion Reading Plans
Bible Gateway Reading Plans
Bible Project Reading Plans
All Sessions for Unruffled:
More Studies:
