Experiencing God online Bible study groups are back! This is one of the most loved studies around the world. This online Bible study for Experiencing God will take your breath away. Many people have experienced a renewed relationship with God after completing this online Bible study course.
“If you are experiencing a time of spiritual dryness in your life, you may be trying to do things on your own that God has not initiated.” Henry Blackaby
Experiencing God online Bible study groups are an invitation for learning God’s will and hearing His voice inside your heart. Take the time to study these lessons with the Bible Cafe™ Community. Our team of mentors and leaders will walk beside you in the journey to experienced God.If you are worn out by your faith, or feeling lukewarm in your faith- this study helps you rejuvenate your relationship with GodFor the Experiencing God online Bible study groups, you will read a daily lesson. These lessons point your heart and mind towards God. They help you KNOW God in a fresh and new way. Spend time with God and listen for His heart. What does He desire for your life? How does He help you in your relationships, finances, career, and home? Find the answers -week by week- as you look for where God is working around you.
Experiencing God Bible Study Resources
Required Book: Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God (MEMBER BOOK) by Henry Blackaby, Richard Blackaby, and Claude King. Make sure you get the WORKBOOK/MEMBER BOOK available from Lifeway, Amazon, ChristianBook or favorite bookstores. Optional: Teaching videos are copyright protected and available through Lifeway.
IMPORTANT: YOU WANT THE WORKBOOK- ALSO CALLED A MEMBER BOOK. DO NOT ORDER THE DEVOTIONAL, CHAPTER BOOK, LEADERS BOOK, TEEN BOOK. Inside the book your table of contents will have 12 WEEKS of lessons.
Bible Cafe™ Ministries LLC facilitates online Bible study programs. We are not affiliated with this author or publisher.
After leading 100 online Bible studies, we learned what helps you study the Bible. Bible Cafe™ members have suggested these helpful tips. Arranged from A to Z. These Bible study tips are helpful for beginners and experienced learners. When you share our list of A to Z Bible study tips please remember to attribute the list to our community members! They have experienced what works best for Bible study.
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A-Z BIBLE STUDY TIPS
Always Pray: Before you begin the daily lessons or join small groups, pray. Invite the Holy Spirit to illuminate the key concepts and to help you apply the lesson to your own life.
Apply: To get the most from reading the Bible, learn to apply what you discover. Look for application methods. Pray about the meaning and the application for todays modern world.
Audio Bibles: Download a free audio Bible from BibleGateway.com and listen to the scriptures. You will find this helpful for names and places that are difficult to pronounce. Use it to improve your memory and understanding.
Basket: Keep a study basket with your Bible, notepaper, journal, study book, prayer cards an, color pens and pencils.
Beginning: In the cover of your study book, write the day you are beginning the study. Journal why you decided to study this topic or write a short letter to God.
Comparison: Do your best and do not compare yourself to someone you think has better answers. We each have different experiences and needs. God will speak to each of us in different and unique ways through our study.
Community: Pray for your Bible study community. The most successful Bible study groups are knitted together through prayer. Write prayer cards for each member of your group, and during the week pray for her by name.
Dates: Place the dates and times you will work on your study into your calendar as an appointment with Jesus. Set alarms and remind you this is an important event.
Expectations: Be careful on your expectations with your Bible studies. There are many study formats and each ministry have a unique method of teaching. Attend the introduction session or launch party and discover the methods being used.
Falling Behind: If you fall behind on the lessons, come to the groups. You will benefit from the discussion and the focused topic even if you have not read the lesson for the week. There is no shame in falling behind on the study.
Five Daily Lessons: There are five daily lessons in most Bible study workbooks. Plan to complete one lesson per day Monday through Friday. If you miss a day due to illness or a schedule conflict, you have the weekend to complete the missing lesson.
God: Our focus for each Bible study experience God. Make sure when you read the Bible you look for revelation about God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. Learn about His heart and His will. Cultivate a Biblical view that surpasses the temptations of a worldview.
Habit Stacking: Look at an existing habit you are doing now: such as drinking coffee/tea, feeding the cat, walking the dog, or driving kids to school. Stack your Bible study immediately after the existing habit! This helps you create regular time for God in your daily schedule.
Intentional: Be intentional about your Bible study time. Say no to the worldview distractions of social media and television, until after you have finished your daily Bible lesson. Learn to recognize the voice of God, through reading His Word.
Jesus: Bible study is discovering Jesus through the Old and New Testament. Make room for Him in your life. Seek Jesus and know His voice as you read the red letters.
Journal: Keep a prayer journal, gratitude journal or Scripture journal. Record what God is doing in your life throughout this study.
Kids Are Watching: Your kids (and husband) are watching as you dedicate time to Bible study. They observe your relationship with Jesus and your commitment to learn. They see you make God a priority in your busy life. They watch you chose a Biblical view over a worldview.
Leaders: Do not elevate the leaders or Bible study authors into positions of idolatry. The purpose of Bible study is to draw closer to God, not to an author, ministry, or leader.
Learn: Become a self-feeder of God’s Word. Do not depend on others to keep you accountable.
Memory Verses: Get a 3 x 5 spiral index card system and write down your memory verses. Or record your memory verses with the memo feature on a smart phone. Write then on the bathroom mirror. Make them visible.
Monday Start: Begin the workbook lessons on Monday each week, regardless of when your small group is meeting. This helps you maintain a consistent reading schedule Monday through Friday.
Music: Some women enjoy soothing music as they study and read the Bible. YouTube, Spotify, and streaming music have playlists with “instrumental Christian” music. If you struggle to focus, look for background music specifically designed for ADD/ADHD.
Name: Add your name into the Bible verses and personalize it. For example: (your name) can do all things with Christ who strengthens her.
One: We have an audience of One in prayer and study. An intimate relationship with God is one on one!
Prioritize: If you wait until you are exhausted at the end of the day, your Bible study will not get done. Know when you are most alert and prioritize your time to study during that time each day.
Quiet Places: Sometimes it helps to find a quiet place without interruption. Do not try to study at the kitchen table while your family is watching television.
Quotes: When you find a powerful quote in your Bible or study book, mark the letter Q beside the sentence. At the end of your study, copy those quotes down and share them on social media or in your small group discussions.
Remember: Look for at least one key point to remember each day of your personal Bible study. What is the Lord teaching you today? How can you apply it today? If you journal, write this down: God, what do you want me to remember today?
Research: Sometimes you will want to research a lesson deeper. Use online sites such as BlueLetterBible.org to find original Greek and Hebrew words. You may want to buy a commentary or Strong’s Concordance for home use.
Slow Down: Read and reread the verses until you understand them. Sometimes you may need to stay on the same page for longer than usual, as you allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate the lesson for you.
Small Groups: You’re going to connect with women in small groups and develop friendships! Get a prayer journal or prayer box going and each week write down their names and prayer needs. Begin to celebrate answered prayers, intercede on difficult prayers, and watch Jesus move. This is your spiritual family with sisters in Christ. Get to know them.
Spiritual Warfare: When you draw closer to God through Bible study, the devil comes near to. He will tempt you with discouragement, deception, and distrust. Pray through this and ask your small group to pray for you too.
Theology: You’ll find different theologies in non-denominational study groups. Look for the lowest common denominator where you find agreement. Encourage one another to ask your pastor, priest, minister, or rabbi for further clarification on theological issues.
Tote Bags: If you seem to spend a lot of time waiting (carpool, doctor appointments, kids’ events) then carry a tote bag with your study book, markers, and pens.
Translations: There are numerous Bible translations today. Look at the verses through different translations and see how they are interpreted. Consider a parallel Bible for long term use.
Unfinished Work: God can teach you things even with unfinished Bible studies. Keep challenging yourself with each new study. God is more interested in time and relationship with you than He is in a perfectly completed workbook!
Verses: When a Bible verse touches your heart, write it down. Anchor yourself to God’s Word.
View: Keep your Bible study materials in view, ready to go. Do not stash them in a corner pile.
Word Associations: Pay attention to the pictures and metaphors used in the Bible. They are helpful tools for remembering and understanding.
X Mark: Use a Bible reading plan and place an X mark on those books which you have studied and read.
Your Own Voice: Use the memo feature on your smartphone and record the Scripture memory verse in your own voice.
Zone: Bible study is a no-shame zone. Share within your comfort level but do not feel that you must expose your deepest secrets online or in person.
Zoom: Remote Bible study groups meet by phone or video, using Zoom. Install the Zoom software on your computer, tablet, or phone before the first meeting. Test the lighting, sound, and background. Watch the tutorials on how to use Zoom.
I just landed at the airport. As we were making our descent I was struck with how little the world looks from this view. Gazing down I imagine people like ants, racing along the little roads in bug size cars that are taking them to their miniature houses. Life doesn’t skip a beat, it moves with a rhythm—day in and day out synching up with people that God created and loves.
And though life races along day by day…life is short. None of us are in a dress rehearsal. Today when you woke up, you had some choices to make about how your are going to live out this day in your one and only life. Being you were created to love God and love others, perhaps that’s where we start and stop….over and over again.
Each of us are in God’s development process. We are women in life-long development. Day by day, situation by situation, step by step, God is working in us. We might not see his work, but he is at work, completing the good work that he started in our lives ( Philippians 1:6)
All of the next dares have to do with how we treat other people. They are challenging and practical. They might grate against your flesh, snap your very last nerve and frustrate you….but if you will push yourself to explore your heart and expose your actions before the Lord, you will experience
God in the practical place of relationships.
Loving people sounds poetic and lovely until we have to love a real person who disappoints us. Forgiveness is great in theory but harder to practice when there is a real person or situation to forgive. Putting others first sounds heroic and spiritual until we just don’t want to do it! You get the picture!
My prayer has been to love from the center of who I am, and if the center is ugly and negative, then the outflow will not be that of the beauty of Christ. Being accountable for my mouth is to love in a way that impacts the center of me.
Years ago I had a friend who stopped at a mini-mart while on a road trip. Looking for some quick energy she picked up a candy bar, and continued on her way. Without looking at the candy she ripped into the wrapper and sunk her teeth into the chocolate…only to find that in the center were maggots. Yuk.
The chocolate was wrapped right, appeared to be the right thing…but the center was spoiled, rotting with bugs. In the same way, we can look right, appear to be the right-Christian, and be spoiled on the inside of us…rotting away with things unspeakable or with things spoken in private conversations, ugliness can permeate us from the center place.
This last week is the time to pay attention to your mouth, your words, your attitude, and the idea that kindness in speech can be a blessing to help in the wholeness and healing of other people.
I would like to close with a word of thanks….
God knew I needed each of you. It’s humbling to be so vulnerable but I know it’s what I am to do. I need to thank you. Because as you all signed up to do The Faith Dare, I have decided to join you. This time each dare struck me differently than they have in the past. My reference point is now tender, grateful and appreciative. As bad as cancer is, the softening of soul that comes with a cancer diagnosis makes everything seem different than before. This summer, more than ever, I have needed this accountability and challenge. I have also needed your prayers.
As a result, I am handling a real life drama very differently than I would have if my perspective was not focused on truth. On September 4th I will begin 6 weeks of daily radiation treatment. This will be followed by a drug that I am scheduled to take for 5 years. The prayer is that the cancer will not come back. Why is this a concern? Because, with the what I have, it often does. Can I change things by worrying over them? No, but just as the world below me looked so small from the plane tonight, my problems seem little when seeing things from above the problem rather than trying to push up from underneath.
I hope you have enjoyed setting aside 30 days towards having a more focused heart. It is my prayer that the ripple effect of these dares will begin to draw people to Christ through you. Bless you, my sisters, together our lives can make a difference. Because, Jesus is the difference maker!
Assignment For This Week
Pray for Debbie as she goes through six weeks of daily cancer treatment starting Sept 4. Put a reminder on your cell phone. Pray for Carla Brooks our ministry leader also going through breast cancer treatment.
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These past dares probably hit home for most of you. The way we, as women, view ourselves is usually through a negative and faulty lens. This view breeds insecurity. Insecurity sneaks into all our relationships and daily situations. Insecurity even affects the way we view life, the way we handle change, and whether or not we surrender to God.
This has been the summer of surrender and change for me. I could kick, scream and fight my way through my circumstances or I could practice letting go and yield my pieces to the peace that is available to me through Christ. Most of us know how to throw a tantrum, but many of us need to practice living in a place of yielded peace. I am finding that it happens when I take my current circumstance and all it’s raw emotion and stop the train of negative thoughts. I exchange the negativity for a stream of praise and prayer. In this place I can practice embracing the good, and accepting the things that I can not change. I am having lots of practice rounds with this breast cancer piece. I can spend my days feeling terrible about my change in appearance and the way my body feels without its beloved estrogen—or, I can turn my thoughts to a place of embracing this life change and asking God to enable me to surrender more fully. My circumstances don’t have to define me.
Just when I thought I was handling disappointment pretty well, one more came across my path. My dear friend let me know her family was moving away. Emptiness. That is the emotion that wrapped around my heart. Off to Los Angeles they go, creating new memories, making new friends, and yes, following Jesus and His path for them. But for me, the emptiness hung like a cloud. Changes once again left me feeling insecure in the circumstance. Surrender to another change? Another disappointment? Is God big enough to be working in this? Yes!
Surrender is not a hugely popular subject. It sounds a bit barbaric but it is actually beautiful for those of us who are surrendering our lives more fully to Jesus. It’s only through surrender, the letting go of self, that we can become the woman that He had planned all along. These past dares have had much to do with surrender: not living for self, not thinking ugly things about ourselves, not fearing change, not looking at life through the wrong mirror, not letting our mind sit in the wrong stuff, and surrendering to the power of praise and thanks no matter what circumstance we are in.
Believe me, some powerful things can happen in our lives as we surrender, or yield to God’s way.
But, sometimes we don’t want to! We want to focus on the negative because we know how to do that, right? Learning to praise and turn our thoughts around takes energy, often energy that we don’t think we have left in us. The secret is this: when we turn our thoughts around to the good, we ARE energized in ways that we could never imagine.
Here’s truth again: Life is filled with hard times. Period. Jesus let us know. Paul reminded us through his teachings, James told us to count it all joy. Life is hard and we have the privilege of learning to surrender to the power and love of Jesus. This surrender is the only unchanging thing in this life.
How do we praise in hard life? We make a choice. We pray for the grace to learn to live above our circumstances. We open our mouths and repeat something positive. Scripture reading out loud helps, daily affirmations help, praising God that He is with us works. Whatever it takes for you to turn your mind around, refocusing on the good of God rather than focusing on the bad of your circumstance.
I am going to Hawaii in a week. I will sport a lopsided breast, a fluffier body thanks to the drop in estrogen, but my goal is to sport a positive attitude as I make sure that I bring my mind in focus to what really counts in life. When all is said and done, the most important things are what Christ said and what He has done to pave the way for freedom.
Dear friend, may we learn to live with a new surrender that is fueled by a security in His love for us. This love is a love that has planned for each of us from the beginning of time. This love is the foundation on which all else stands. This love can move mountains, heal the sick, raise the dead and give people new hearts. This love is calling out to us today.
“But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” Jude v.20
Keep yourself in the love of God. It’s a choice to remember. It’s a choice to surrender to that love. As women unite in surrender to God, the ripple effect will change the world!
Practicing living as an overcomer…one day, one choice, one thought…at a time.
Ten Dares. Ten themes. Ten steps of obedience. Still three things running through my thoughts today…
Time. Make time to pray and seek. Yes, I know it’s important, but I need to be reminded.
Connection. Make sure there is not a kink in the cord and every prong is plugged into the power source.
Mind. After time and connection, the rest of the day revolves around where my mind is camped out.
All three are easy to talk about but harder to practice. Each of us have habits of living that must be addressed and challenged. Change doesn’t happen with one day’s dare. One day gives a taste of the victory and life change that can happen with focused living. Lasting change happens with choices made one day at a time, over a long period of time.
I like this quote that I found by Rick Warren on an internet devotional: “ Becoming like Christ is a long, slow process of growth. Spiritual maturity is neither instant nor automatic; it is gradual, progressive development that will take the rest of your life. God is far more interested in who you are than in what you do. We are human beings, not human doings. You must make a countercultural decision to focus on becoming more like Jesus. Otherwise other forces like peers, parents, co-workers, and the culture will try to mold you into their image.”
These dares are choice prompters to make that counter cultural turn in many different practical areas.
Why counter cultural? Because we are bombarded, whether we realize it or not, to live for instant gratification, feelings based results and quick fixes. A current magazine cover promises I will find 122 quick changes for health, body, home and happiness. I must admit, I am a sucker for this stuff. It also promises that I can lose thirty pounds without even trying and redo any room in the house in just forty-eight hours. I like the promises.
Unfortunately promises for quick fixes leave us hopeless in the end.
The Apostle Paul held out real promises.
“Being confident of this, He who began a good work in you will complete it” Phil 1:6
This is a promise I can count on, sink my heart into, and not be disappointed in.
The other promise I can count on is in Day 9—that God gives good gifts to His children. When my prayers are not answered in a snap, when two weeks turns into two months or two years—has God been unfaithful? No, the truth is, His timing is perfect and he will not give me, or you, the snake instead of the bread. ( Matthew 7:7-11) If we could wrap our lives around that truth principle we would frame each of our unanswered prayers much differently. We must realize that some of what we want would not be God’s best for us, or the timing that we want it in,would not be good for us.
This brings me to one last thing….our minds….. Dare 10 is a pivotal point in our journey together. “Bad thoughts are like flies. They dog us, change the way we view things, and come in like a swarm to discourage us.” Oh, Jesus give us grace to guard our minds!
Can I pray for you, for me, for those who will be touched by the ripple effect of this Faith Dare?
Father, I am asking you in Jesus name to do within us something supernatural. Take your word and make it real to us in ways that apply to us as individual women whom you love. You know our hearts, lives and circumstances. You know our needs, fears and failures. You stand with arms outstretched bidding us to come to you. Give us the courage each day of this Faith Dare to take a step in your direction. If we are having problem with finding time, show us how. If we forget to connect in the morning, remind us. When our mind is drifting into the negative places of fear and doubt—bring us around to focus. And, Jesus may we be so touched in this fasting of self, that your light shines in us in a way that ripples love and hope to all whom are in our personal ponds. Make our waters fresh with grace and our lives filled with love. We love you and want more of you! Amen
Praying for you my dear Faith Sisters!
Assignment For This Week
Read the daily dares in the Faith Dare book
Join a small group discussion at the Womens Bible Cafe™
