Question: How to get more out of your Personal Bible Study

Drew tells me I can use a lot of words to express an idea which doesn't need as much explanation as I provide.  So I'll try to be brief, but thorough.

First, reading the Bible is a good thing to do.  Even if you aren't doing in depth study and reading it as you might read a novel (devotionally), that is a very good and  important method of reading the Scriptures.  I like to read the Bible through over a year or two because it helps remind me of "the big picture."  The Bible app by YouVersion that is available for smartphones and tablets has a several helpful plans to do just that.  One is a Chronological Plan that has you read the Bible in the order that the events happened (so it may have readings from several books on the same day).  There are others that just go from Genesis to Revelation.  Again, this is good to get the "whole story."

Another way to study that is very helpful is to take one book at a time and read through paragraph by paragraph.  The headings above the passage in your Bible help break it into units for study.  After reading each section (possibly one a day), you can do a couple of exercises that will help you get more out of your study (these come from a Bible Study workbook by Priscilla Shirer, Can We Talk, [LifeWay, 2008]): 

1. Pore & Paraphrase: Read & Reread the paragraph, then paraphrase or summarize the passage.  Answer the questions like a news reporter: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? (Not that every passage will need an answer to each question.) 
2. Pull-Out: Determine the main point of the passage.  Ask "So what?" "Why did God include this in the Bible?" "What is He revealing about Himself?"
3. Pose: Ask yourself if you are living the principles gleaned above.  "Does my life reflect what these verses teach?" and/or "How can I apply the main point of this passage?"
4. Plan: Determine actions you can take to apply the lessons of these verses.

When studying the Bible, it is good to have the right translation.  I have started using the Holman Christian Standard Bible for preaching.  Most translations that include "standard" in the name are literal translations, which means it is closer to being word for word from the original Hebrew & Greek texts.  The HCSB is a newer translation so it is easier to read also.  I would recommend a more literal translation for Bible Study.

A study Bible is good to have also because it can provide introductions to the book and notes to help give the context and the meaning of hard to understand words or ideas.  If you are having a difficult time choosing one of these, I can recommend a Study Bible also.

They are now making a "Journaling Bible" that has an area for notes in the margin.  Drew and I each have one of these and they are nice to make notes, write thoughts, or even doodle during study.

There is one final resource I would recommend.  It is a very helpful book by scholars Gordon Fee & Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth [Zondervan, 2014].  This is the fourth edition of their work and it appears to be considerably expanded from their third edition, which is the version I have read.  They address the differences in Bible translations (and the rationale behind each translation theory) and the interpretive approach to different biblical genres.

Hope this helps and if you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask via comments or e-mail.