Bible & Prayer Tool

Bible Study Question Generator

A small group leader once told me the difference between a good Bible study and a flat one is the questions. Here is the toolbox. Same three categories every time, in order: what does it say, what does it mean, what does it mean for me. Pick a passage. Ask one from each group.

Observation — what does the passage actually say?

  1. What is happening in the verses immediately before and after?
  2. Who is speaking, and to whom?
  3. What words or phrases are repeated?
  4. Are there contrasts (but, however, yet) — and what are they contrasting?
  5. Are there commands? Promises? Warnings? Questions?
  6. What is the tone — joyful, urgent, sorrowful, instructional?
  7. Are there time markers (when, then, after, until)?

Interpretation — what does it mean?

  1. What did this mean to the original audience?
  2. How does this passage fit into the broader story of the book?
  3. What does this passage tell us about who God is?
  4. What does it tell us about people?
  5. Is there a key word here worth looking up?
  6. Where else in Scripture is a similar idea?
  7. Is Jesus mentioned, prefigured, or implied?

Application — what does it mean for me, this week?

  1. What sin does this passage warn me to turn from?
  2. What promise does it offer me to hold onto?
  3. What example is here for me to follow?
  4. What command is here for me to obey?
  5. Who in my life needs to hear this?
  6. How does this change what I will do this week?
  7. What can I pray, based on this passage, right now?