Read Scripture with TBT

Encouraging personal and prayerful devotional times in the Scriptures

The normal way to either come to faith, or to grow and mature as Jesus-followers is through the Spirit-inspired Scriptures which reveal what we need to know (and trust) of God’s character and plans and purposes.

So, The Bible Talks KZN prioritises a ministry of evangelism, personal discipleship, and public preaching that opens up the Scriptures for men and women. We do this trusting God by the Spirit to work through the Scriptures which are all about Jesus.

As part of that, we’re eager to see our Christian students and Alumni regularly enjoying personal time in the Scriptures and in prayer with God.

In some circles these are what are called ‘Quiet times’ or ‘Devotional times.’ Sometimes these set times can become too much of a marker of how someone is doing spiritually, and open us up for pride or false guilt. And yet, we’re still convicted that they’re a good way to encourage growth and maturing as followers of Jesus.

Our Read Scripture with TBT initiative aims to help you get into the Scriptures for yourself!

Got questions?

See our answers below

How does it work?

-        The TBT Leader in charge of taking you through a particular book or section of the Bible will have broken the book or section into smaller readable portions.

-        These are then assigned for you to read them on certain days of the week: perhaps Mon, Wed, Fri. Or even Monday to Friday. This is the Reading Program.

-        The idea is that you then read and mediate and pray through the passage assigned for that particular day.

What do I actually do when I read the Scriptures?

Can we suggest 3 practical things for you to do as you come to the passage for the day.

  1. Pray BEFORE you read the passage

    Ask God to help you understand what you are about to read, and to bless you time in the Scriptures. And by understand, we don’t just mean facts and figures, we mean you growing in knowing and loving God, and in what it means to follow Jesus as Lord.

  2. Meditate ON the passage

    By ‘meditate’ we don’t mean the Eastern mysticism of emptying your mind! Instead, ask questions of the passage (we’ll give you some examples now), and wrestle with how it works and fits together, and what it tells you about God and you. Meditation is active wrestling with the Scriptures and ways of God.

  3. Pray OUT of the passage

    The Scriptures are the one sure promised location of God speaking to us by the Spirit from the Scriptures about his Son. Now that you have heard some of what HE has to say, why not pray to him based on what you have heard?

    • What can you confess?

    • What can you thank or praise God for?

    • What can you pray for others?

    • What can you pray for yourself?

It’s not meant to be complicated!

Simply ask God for help, actively read the Scriptures, and pray in response.

(For more see: Daily devotions during COVID-19: learning from George Muller)

Can you help me with that second part, the meditating and asking questions?

There are lots of ways of doing this. But at the heart is to prayerfully and actively read the Scriptures. And one of the best ways to do that is to ask questions. What kind of questions? (What a great question!) You might like to try these:

Any insights 💡 from that passage?

A WOW! moment where you have learnt or noticed something new or been reminded of something important.

Any questions ❓from the passage?

A HUH? moment, something you don't understand, or want to know more about.

Any applications ➡️ you need to make to your life?

An OK! moment where you say "OK! God, I hear you and will obey." For your head, heart and hands.

If you just did those three - asking what 💡 WOW!, ❓ HUH?, or ➡️ OK! moments are in the passage - you would be fairly actively engaging with the Scriptures!

Reading Scripture by yourself, and with others via Whatsapp

We’ll run each ‘season’ of the Read Scripture with TBT out of a whatsapp group set apart for that book or section of the Bible.

-        On the assigned day the TBT Leader will remind you of the passage for that day and encourage you to read it.

-        TOP TIP: you may like to set apart a time on that day to do that. Mornings (first thing from when you wake up) are often best because you’re getting in before the rest of the day crowds things out. But other times can work eg lunch time, or later in the evening.

-        Read the Scriptures using the basic plan mentioned above: Pray before the passage, meditate on the passage, pray out of the passage.

-        Your TBT leader will also encourage you to perhaps share some of your WOW!, HUH?, and OK! moments in the group during the day. Do it, not to show how fancy or smart you are, but to sharpen and encourage others. Even raising any questions you might have can be very helpful for others.

-        Finally, your TBT leader will end the day by posting a 2-5 minute voice note of his/her own insights and applications from the passage. Or they will simply post their own version of WOW! HUH? OK! moments.

And that’s about it!

We pray these ‘seasons’ of Read Scripture with TBT will encourage healthy patterns of time in and under God’s word – for your good, for the good of others, and mostly to the praise of God’s glorious grace.

Want to join the latest season?

  • Season 1: TITUS with TBT – October 2021 (complete)

  • Season 2: NEHEMIAH with TBT - November 2021 (complete)

  • Season 3: HEBREWS 1-4 with TBT - December 2021 (complete)

  • Season 4: EXODUS 1-4 with TBT - January 2022 (complete)

  • Season 5: ROMANS 1-4 with TBT - February 2022 (complete)

  • Season 6: PHILIPPIANS with TBT - March 2022 (complete)

  • Season 7: PSALMS 1-9 with TBT - April 2022 (complete)

  • Season 8: MARK 1-7 with TBT - May 2022 (complete)

  • Season 9: 1 THESSALONIANS - July 2022 (complete)

  • Season 10: JAMES - August 2022 (complete)

  • Season 11: EXODUS 5-12 - September 2022 (complete)

  • Season 12: 1 PETER - October 2022 (complete)

  • Season 13: Mark 8-16 - November 2022 (complete)

  • Season 14: ROMANS 5-8 with TBT - December 2022 (complete)

  • Season 15: EPHESIANS with TBT - January 2023 (complete)

  • Season 16: COLOSSIANS with TBT - February 2023 (complete)

  • Season 17: 2 PETER with TBT - March 2023 (complete)

  • Season 18: 1 John with TBT - April 2023 (complete)

  • Season 19: Galatians with TBT - May 2023 (complete) 

  • Season 20: John 1 -7 with TBT - June 2023 (complete)

  • Season 21: 1 Samuel with TBT - July 2023 (complete)

  • Season 22: Habakkuk with TBT - August 2023 (complete)

  • Season 23: Philippians 1-2:4 with TBT - October 2023 (complete)

  • Season 24: 2 &3 John with TBT - November 2023 (complete)

  • Season 25: Haggai with TBT - December 2023 (complete

  • Season 26:

  • Season 27: 1 Thessalonians with TBT - February 2024 (Complete)

  • Season 28: 2 Thessalonians with TBT - March 2024 (Complete)

  • Season 29: 1 Peter with TBT - April 2024 (Ongoing - Join here: )

Final TOP TIP:

If the reading program is only on certain days of the week… why not fill in the other days with:

  • re-reading passages you were particularly struck by

  • passages of Scripture that you did or are coming up for church

  • passages of Scripture related to your TBT discipleship times, or TBT’s Friday sermon hour

  • another book or portion of the Bible. For instance, why not read a Psalm on the ‘off’ days?