One of my favourite things to do is to write out the Bible, book by book. I started with writing out themed Scripture challenges and then one day, I sensed the Lord whispering to me to write out whole books of the Bible. Wow! So, now, I am writing out whole books of the Bible and I invite others to join me as we accept the challenge to write them out together.

But, the question is, is this just an activity to do because everyone else is doing it, or, is it something that will benefit my spiritual growth? What about you? Why do you write out Scripture?

Well, let’s talk about that today, how writing out the Bible can help your faith grow. Before we answer that question, let’s turn the pages of the Bible to see what the Scripture says about writing out the Bible.

The Bible Says “Write”

The first instance the word “write” is used in the King James Version is in Exodus 17:14:

And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you know how I love to keep verses in context. So, this verse, when read in context, is about the time when Joshua was fighting Amalek and would prevail as long as Moses’ arms were lifted up to heaven. To help him with that, Aaron and Hur held his arms up until the battle was won.

There are principles for us in this powerful account. God instructed Moses to write this for a memorial so that others would learn from it.

There are many verses describing who was to write and what was to be written. In fact, there are 82 verses in the KJV with the word “write” in it 91 times! These extend from Exodus through to Revelation.

Writing out events was important to God. This is how He intended the Hebrew children to remember their history. Moses wrote the Books of the Law, also known as the Pentateuch. We can be thankful for their obedience or we would not have the Bible to read today!

Write the Book of the Law

There is a verse in particular that I want to show you. Turn with me to the book of Deuteronomy 17:18:

And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:

Again, let’s look at this verse in context. In Deuteronomy 16:1-22, Moses wrote about the various feasts, what they were and how they were to be conducted. In Deuteronomy 17:1-13, we learn how justice was administered. In the next few verses, Deuteronomy 17:14-20, we read about the expectations of a king.

You can read about it also in this post, Why We Should Handwrite the Bible but I’ll go over it again here.

When God appointed a new king over Israel, God expected certain behaviour from them.

• He wasn’t to gain horses to himself
• nor was he to provoke the people to return to Egypt
• he wasn’t allowed to have multiple wives
• nor could he gather silver and gold to his treasures
• when he became king, he was to take on the task of writing out a copy of the Law for himself

Ah! There! That’s it! The king was to set about writing out a copy of the Bible, rather, the Law, for himself! But not just for himself, he was to lead his people in living according to the Law and Commands, to love and honour God in everything.

Let’s examine why God instructed kings to do this task.

The Reason for Writing the Bible

Do you think God intended for us to write out the Scriptures thousands of years later? Would it be beneficial for us?

Let’s look at the benefits of writing out the Law according to these verses.

• He shall read the Law all the days of his life
• so that he may fear the LORD his God
• and so he may obey and do the law and statutes

Well, that’s a nice tidy little summary. Can we also reap the same benefits that the kings reaped?

How Writing the Bible will Help Your Faith

Ah, now it’s time to look at you and me. How does writing out the Bible help grow your faith?

Well, your faith grows in three ways when you read, write and study the Word. Let’s look at each of them.

Read the Word

First, I have a question for you. When you read the Word, are you trying to get as much read as you possibly can each time you sit down? Or, do you read slow enough to absorb what you’re reading?

I strongly suggest that you read slowly, even read out loud to help slow yourself down. You may not cover as many verses or chapters, but you will absorb what you’ve read.

I remember the first time someone suggested that I read my Bible out loud. He quoted this verse: Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, Romans 10:17. When I’m by myself, it is good to hear the Word and that means to read out loud. My take on that, anyway.

Have you thought of using a journaling book or pages as you read? You can write out key questions about the text, your observations or even a general overview of the passage. This will help you retain the gist of the passage or text as well. This acts as a memory jogger rather than an actual study.

If you’re a busy mom, I know that reading more than one chapter a day may be a stretch for you. If you’d like, you can sign up to receive my Small Chunks Bible Reading Plan which is a 3-year reading plan delivered to your email Inbox over 6 weeks. Each week for 6 weeks, you will receive a small chunk of the entire reading plan. That is, you will receive a 6-month plan along with journal pages, and bonus bookmarks or Scripture cards.

Reading the Word is vital to your understanding of who God is. And when you learn about His character and qualities, you will see how important it is to live a holy life.

So, reading His Word is instrumental in your spiritual growth. You will remember it, obey it and do it.

Write Out His Word

Writing out His very words from the Bible is another way to grow your faith.

Along with reading the Word slowly, writing out the word also involves a slowness. There is no rush to completing each day’s portion of writing.

Here’s what one woman says about her second day of writing out the Book of Galatians:

What a blessing to slow down and savour the Word!

Cindy C. B.

Other women have said that they are noticing details they previously missed reading and that this helps their memory, too.

And here’s a comment about noticing the details enough to ask the basic questions of who, what, where, when, why and how. At this point, definitely write down on another notepaper these findings so you can come back later to study in full.

Getting to focus on each word. It is so easy to see the 5W’s and the H coming alive. So glad to be a part of this study group.

Therese D.

Not only do you notice the details of all the text, you are now in a place to hear the Spirit speak to you. Some verses may seem like they are standing out on the page, or, Holy Spirit may simply quicken your spirit to take particular note of something.

It’s been a real blessing writing out scripture, a good way to end my day with such peace and quiet meditation!

Yen Nee K

However Holy Spirit wants to speak to you, it is because you are taking the time to slow down and write out the inspired Word of God. It really is something you don’t want to miss out on.

Practical Tips for Handwriting the Word

Here is a great short post with 7 tips for your writing time. Quick, click on the link to see how easy these tips are.

Here are 7 other tips for those who participate in our study group:

1. Get yourself a new notebook. I picked up several at the local dollar store as I use them for my Bible Book Writing Challenges and journaling.
2. Or, use the journal pages provided or other loose-leaf paper.
3. If you don’t have a favourite pen, pick one up at the local stationery store. I came across one from Zebra, F-301 Fine point and I liked it so much, I bought a few more.
4. Decide which Bible version you are going to copy from. Personally, my favourite version is the King James and I use it for inductive study, reading, and writing the Bible.
5. Join the Facebook group, Deeper in God Bible Studies so you can get the link to the Private Library.
6. In the Private Library, check out the Writing Plan list and download and print the current Writing Challenge.
7. In the Facebook group, post a pic of each daily entry in the threads provided by the group leader. This helps you with accountability plus you get to see that others are taking this challenge with you.

However, from my experience, the most important tip is to find a quiet place so you can focus on your writing. Pray first, seek Holy Spirit’s presence as you write so you can see the truth in the Word. And, as has been mentioned above, read/write slowly so you can take it all in. This isn’t a race to the finish so enjoy the process.

Study the Word

There are so many ways to study the Word. You can join a Bible Study group at your local church or maybe in your neighbourhood. Maybe you could host a study group in your home with someone else facilitating it. These are sometimes called “life groups” or “cell groups” when they are held in homes.

Another option is, and this might work great if you are unable to leave your home, and that is to find an online Bible Study community. Facebook is full of them. You may notice when you are scrolling through your newsfeed, that there are some suggested groups in the panel on right-hand side (if you use a computer). Or, you can search for “women’s Bible study groups” in the search field to see the results. A lot of groups may not even have the phrase Bible Study in their name so you’ll really have to do some digging.

Or, you can join my group which is called Deeper in God Bible Studies. Our main focus is two-fold: we write our whole books of the Bible together in challenges and then we study together.

At the time of this writing, we just started a 10-Day Writing Challenge to write out the whole book of Galatians. When you join, you can participate in whatever the current Writing Challenge is or the current Bible Study.

Here’s a bit about our studies,

• you are provided with a step-by-step Study Guide through the current book of the Bible
• this Guide is based on the Inductive Bible Study Method, teaching you how to study inductively
• all Study Guides are provided at no cost to you

You may already know how to study inductively and if so, you’ll still love the simplicity of these Study Guides. Each study follows the Writing Challenge so they are closely connected but yet separate.

Study as you Write

Another option for you is to study the Word as you write it out. If you’re familiar with the 5Ws and H, you may ask yourself those questions as you are reading and writing. The purpose of writing out the Bible is simply to write it out but I know that this act will excite you to want to study it at the same time.

If you decide to do that, you may want to have a separate notebook, like worksheets, to record your findings as you come across them in your writing.

Personally, though, because I know I will be studying this book after writing it out, I don’t combine both activities together. But, the choice is yours and you do what you have time to do!

Wrapping this Up

The Word…Read it. Write it. Study it. Pray it. Do it.

This is the core of growing your faith. Writing out the Word can be a whole new way to sit still and enjoy the Presence of God. It is another way to draw close to God.

Take your time, write as much as you can each day. It isn’t a race but is meant to be an encouragement to you as you grow in faith.

Do you currently write out Scriptures? Are you following a monthly themed plan or do you write out whole books of the Bible? I’d love to hear from you!