That One Sick Girl

A word study is a type of Bible Study in which you pick one word to focus on and listen to what God is saying to you through that word. While reading Mark 4, I noticed the word parables was used on several occasions. Below is a list that I have compiled of all that comes to mind when I think of the word parable. Remember to pray before doing this exercise. Ask God to give you the wisdom to understand what he is trying to say to you. Abba, I thank you for bringing light into my life and making sure that I know that I am loved by you. Thank you for guiding me today as I study your word, and give me the strength and wisdom to understand what you are telling me. Amen PARABLE Story Jesus Message Understanding of what we could not understand before An act of love Teachings Instruction Confusion Love of the deepest kind The story of God The prodigal son returns Prayer In my list I notice a few key themes. Parables are definitely a way of teaching. I also notice that they are...

This type of study is normally done in partners, but, if you have no partner, I will do my best to adapt the study to you.  Opening Prayer:   O Blessed Lord, who caused all Holy Scripture to be written for our learning. Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our savior Jesus Christ. Amen. 1.  Read the passage out loud, slowly. If there are more than one of you, only one person needs to do the reading.  2.  Once finished, identify words and/or phrases from the passage that caught your attention. If you are in a group, each of you must do this, but don't share until everyone has had a chance to take in what they have just heard. If you are having trouble just focus on the first thing that comes to mind. This portion of the exercise should only take about 1 minute.  3.  If you are doing the study alone, you ...

NOTE: for this study I recommend getting the selected passage from an online Bible source and printing it off.  Step 1: Read the selection over twice (reading out loud has proven to be very helpful for me). Step 2: After the second time, read the passage again, highlighting/underlining/circling anything that sticks out, is repeated several times, or seems like it could be a theme. (example in the attached passage) Step 3:  Based on what you have marked, break the passage into parts. Write one sentence in your own words that sums up each section (for example, I broke up the first and second segments of reading between Mark !:10 and 1:11 and stated that the theme of the first 10 verses was that John was to come before Jesus to prepare the way from the beginning.) Step 4: After all of the previous steps have been completed write a paragraph that sums up the entire selection and pray over what you believe God is teaching you through the passage. The beginning of the gospel o...